A simple homage to all those hardworking Bloggers who have not yet made the cut - no fuss sundried tomato and cornbread muffins


I believe most bloggers are really very hard working, persistent people. People who simply don't have it in them to give up. People who go to lenghts in order to do what makes them feel fulfilled. I do applaud bloggers for their resilience, their belief in themselves, their constant strives and efforts. But as far as I'm concerned, not everyone who has a blog is a blogger.


I usually divide Bloggers into two categories: those who are professional bloggers: their income comes out of their blogging activity, blogging is their job, their career, their blogs are their breadwinners. I suppose these people work long hours, and very very hard, but at some point they may or may not be able to afford some help, in certain specific areas. But the truth is they became bloggers out of their hard work, the hours they put in, and all they had to figure out how to do alone,;they had to learn by themselves how to do... well, everything!


Then there's the non-professional blogger. People who have blogs but don't make a living out of that, because they are not sufficently well known or generating sufficient visits and traffic to their blogs to get them noticed when it comes to numbers. They might or might not even have a full time job outside their blogging activities, and - even though the former category have all started here - these are the ones who I believe work the hardest. They work for the love of it, or to one day achieve a goal, whatever that one might be, but they work on hope and hope alone, they put in so much effort and hours into their blogs, and they are truly one man bands: they do the shooting, the styling, the designing, the editing, the writing, the marketing, the social media rounds.


These people, they should be given much more credit and attention. How many of them are stuck in jobs where they are not being recognized at all, when in truth they are very adaptable people, fast learners, who can navigate a lot of things at the same time, able to do the work of seven or more people all on their own, full of enthusiasm and creativity. But they are no seen that way on their regular jobs, or on their offline lives, being looked at sometimes as if they are failures because they never get that promotion at work, or can't even get and hold a job. Yet, if their bosses, their future employers, their friends and family were to take a deep look at their blogging activities, they might be surprised with the abbilities and the talent some of them have. Normally, friends and family tend to think their blogging is silly and they will grow out of it and eventually invest on a proper career.


Then there's the folks who I don't consider as bloggers, despite having a blog. I also tend to divide these into two categories, and in my eyes, they far outnumber the Bloggers. Because having a blog does not equal being a blogger, and because blogging may be seen as an easy way to get noticed or get freebies, there are a lot of people getting into it just for the sake of it. Still, not much time and not much effort is put into the actual blogging by the person who has the blog, and thus there will be a lack of quality in the content, and a lack of genuinity on the whole blog.


The first category of these non Bloggers is the ones who have a blog because they want a hobby, or they want freebies and sponsorships but they cannot be bothered. They will update the blog with shallow content and press releases if they're on the hunt for freebies/sponsorship; they will use the blog as a hobby of sorts, an outlet, a way of coming across like minded people and link to those, but they will not put in hour after hour of hard work and strive and toil at it as if their lives depended on it. Because to them it is but a hobby, even if they wish they could get more views and more comments and get "famous". It is still seen as a hobby, something that cannot come before their "real lives", and that, in my eyes, means they have a blog but aren't Bloggers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you.


And then there's the bane of every Blogger, that one person who is usually already (somewhat) famous, either a TV personality or a socialite, who decided having a blog would be a good platform to become even more famous and get even more access to certain markets and events and people, so they open up a blog where they do not do the shooting, do not write the posts, do not style the shoots, do not edit the photos, all they do is sign their names and lend their faces to the project. These are not bloggers. Other people are doing all the hard work for them, and yet, they get all the credit and all the pageviews. Yes, this is unfair. Because there a lot of very hardworking Bloggers out there who are actually very talented and creative people and who are the ones doing everything on their own blogs and they don't get any recognition from the world at large. The public is busy giving their recognition to folks who actually don't do anything on their blogs except be famous already.


I have a hard time coming to terms with that, really. It's sickening, as sickening as the Panama Papers scandal, and in some ways it resembles that same situation. Those who do not "need it" are the ones to get it. Anyway, I'm not averse to the easy route, I cannot lie about that, and I actually believe that sometimes great results can be achieved with minimal hard work, or no hard work at all - and I do believe that constant hard work does not guarantee that you'll get results any time at all. These cornbread muffins, for instance. No hard work involved, easy as it comes, and yet, the end result... you'll not want to put them down once you start eating them.


In order to make them, you'll need:
  • one cup flour
  • one and a half cups cornmeal
  • one and a quarter cups of milk
  • four tablespoons melted butter
  • one egg
  • two tablespoons sugar
  • two teaspoons baking powder
  • half a teaspoon baking soda
  • half a teaspoon salt
  • half a dozen to eight sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
Turn on the oven at 180º, and line the muffin tins. I used silicone mini bundt tins that do not require anything to be done to them. See, no hard work so far is involved. Beat the milk, the egg and the butter together until they are fully combined and start adding the dry ingredients, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture is smooth, pour the batter into the tins and bake in the oven for about half an hour, but keep a close eye on them. As soon as they're golden and done, let them cool completely before unmoulding. Still, there is no hard work involved from start to finish, yet the taste is so delicious! Have these as a side dish or entrées or appetizers, they're small enough for it, and share with friends and family. My homage to those hardworking Bloggers who do it all alone, hardworking their asses off for the sake of it, and who get no recognition whatsoever for their talents and their work. Have some cornbread muffins and a glass of good wine, and tell yourselves you're doing one hell of a good job. By yourselves. With no help.



Comments

  1. Olá Ruth,
    Muito obrigada pela tua simpática visita.
    Amei estes bolinhos. Tenho ali uma forma de mini bundts que ainda não usei e esta é uma receita perfeita para o efeito, pois adoro!!
    Olha, quanto à minha salada de sushi, eu vinha dizer-te precisamente o que tu escreveste, ou seja, podes não utilizar a alga..., pois na salada não fará diferença.
    Um beijinho,
    Lia

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    1. Oh Lia, great minds think alike é o que é ahahahah, hei-de experimentar sem a alga!! Olha, desde que tenho as mini bundts que fiquei viciada em fazer bolinhos pequeninos!!

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  2. Gostei muito deste teu texto... e percebo-te muito bem. Life is unfair most times...
    Ainda assim acho que devemos ser persistentes e continuar a acreditar e evoluir no nosso trabalho, sabes porquê? Porque as modas passam, o sucesso é efémero na maioria das vezes e um blog assente apenas nisso não durará muito ainda que tenha um pico em determinado momento.
    Já o bom trabalho, aquele que vai melhorando sempre de dia para dia, cuja pessoa do lado de lá tem inteligência de saber escolher o que vale e o que não vale a pena ... esse fica para durar e acredito que eventualmente a recompensa chegará. Em última instância a concretização pessoal de ver um trabalho crescer e ganhar qualidade ao longo do tempo ;)
    Continua... :)

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    1. Concordo inteiramente com tudo o que qui disseste, em teoria e na práctica também. Mas a mim falta-me o discernimento, a maturidade talvez, para entranhar essas noções que são as que eu me apregoa constantemente. Mais a mais, sou Balança e o karma da justiça vs injustiça atinge-me diáriamente, para meu desgosto ahahah. Mas sim, a concretização pessoal de se olhar para o que se fez há um ano, dois, e ver uma evolução crescente e palpável é algo que me aquece a alma e que me deixa feliz, no entanto também acho que o ser humano necessita de reconhecimento por parte dos seus pares para sentir que existe, que realmente faz algo de jeito, percebes? Mas anyway, eu queria mesmo prestar uma homenagem por pequena que seja a uns quantos blogs e bloggers que na minha opinião se estafam a trabalhar e têm muito talento mas não têm a divulgação e o reconhecimento merecido, fazendo com que poucas pessoas os conheçam. Olha, uma coisa é certa: que bom ter dado contigo no Instagram e depois com o teu blog porque sinceramente é daqueles que a mim me enche as medidas, adoro as imagens, as palavras, a forma como te expressas, a elegância simples e depurada patente no que fazes. Enfim, fan girl mode on ahahah, não leves a mal!!

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  3. Adorei este teu texto. Concordo ctg. Concordo mesmo, principalmente qd dizes q ter um blog n faz d ti blogger....Tal como ter uma máquina fotográfica de topo n faz de ti fotografo. O que me incomoda mais, nem são as pessoas q fazem maus blogs, cheios dfe press realeases e merdaSformatadas, a esses nem vou lá. O q me faz mm espécie são os blogs dos famosos.........Q nem um comentário devem saber/querer aprovar/responder. N são eles q escrevem os blogs, arranjam os posts..........Enfim, NÃO há qq sentido em associar isto a ser blogger. E na fase que estou, tudo me irrita e me faz querer ser mais e fazer melhor

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    1. Bom, as últimas palavras que escreveste: TUDO!!! E só queria mm ver-te a fazer mais e melhor porque acho que tens o je ne sais quoi para isso. Como tu disseste, sim, isso dos famosos com blogs mexe com os meus nervos, mesmo, e tantoooooooo que eu poderia dizer acerca disso, principalmente num país como este, num mini mercado como é este em Portugal...

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    2. FAZ POST SOBRE ISSO, quero muito : D hahahah

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    3. gostas de ver o circo pegar fogoooo looool!!!

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  4. Estas formas deixam os bolinhos mil vezes mais apetitosos aiii!
    Lá na loja, muitas vezes aparecem-me clientes a quererem fazer determinada roupa porque viram no blog da Cristina Ferreira (tou-te a dar este exemplo mas há mais - apesar deste ser o mais comum). Falam dela e do blog como se fosse a coisa melhor da internet, achando mesmo que ela está atrás do pc a tratar daquilo... E eu ali só posso sorrir e acenar, mas se isto me enerva, ai enerva!

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    1. Pá, se enerva, fogo!!! Enfim, dava mesmo muito pano para mangas, eu nestas cenas penso seeeeempre na letra do Chiclete dos Taxi.

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  5. dizes sempre coisas tão acertadas, miúda, é por isso que és uma blogger de mão cheia e fizeste uns treats de se lhes tirar o chapéu!!!

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    1. aha, treats muito perigosas pq quando começas já n paras de comer!!

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