Mushroom Mania is a month-long celebration of mushrooms that is held in July. Essentially, we work with thousands of food service venues throughout Australia to encourage them to put inspirational (not to mention tasty) mushroom dishes on the menu. We then go out and tell our mushroom lovers all about it. And to help us spread the mushroom mania love we have some of Australia’s top food bloggers review some of these venues and tell their readers all about what is happening. We let them choose the venues and their posts are written “without fear or favour”, because we are confident that the great mushroom dishes can speak for themselves.
In case you are wondering just who is out there blogging about the 2012 Mushroom Mania venues, then wonder no more. Just read on to find out a little more about our Mushroom Mania bloggers. Visit their sites to read the Mushroom Mania reviews, or come back here and we will post links to the stories so you don’t miss out.
NSW
Fig & Cherry – http://www.figandcherry.com/ 
In her health-conscious food blog, Fig & Cherry, Christie expresses her love of cooking, eating, photography and travel. Her stories draw on her heritage of Lebanese and Hungarian culture and cuisine, plus her daily family life as a busy mum. She enjoys sharing her healthy, everyday family recipes along with a few trickier and fancier ones thrown in for good measure, with her global readership.
As well as all this (and because sleep is for the dead!) she also co-owns an online marketing company, Morning Agency, writes another blog about motherhood, Poppy Seed Baby, runs a consultant service for brands and PR agencies recruiting bloggers for campaigns, and can occasionally be seen whipping up a storm on Channel 10’s national Breakfast Show.
Souvlaki for the Soul – http://souvlakiforthesoul.com/
My name’s Peter and “Souvlaki For The Soul” is my baby! I started the blog during a period in my life where I was seeking to do something creative. I come from a Greek background where food has always been a passion and has played a big part in defining who I am.
I’m very lucky as I get to travel for a living and this has allowed me to see and eat a lot of the world!! When I first started the blog I had no idea which direction it would take or where it would lead me. I now find myself being invited to private masterclasses with famous chefs, cooking with exotic ingredients on tropical Thai islands and photographing restaurants and food commercially.
Blogging has been a good education tool too. It has taught me a lot. I’m a firm believer that one should never stop learning. I’m also grateful for what I have and try to say thanks. Oscar Wilde was once quoted as saying ”We are all lying in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Well I can tell you, the stars I can see are covered in a dark couverture chocolate!
VICTORIA
Footscray Food Blog – http://footscrayfoodblog.blogspot.com/ 
Lauren Wambach is a writer living in the western suburbs of Melbourne. She has always loved food and the rituals associated with both dining in and out. She thinks she may be the only person who was overjoyed to get a rice cooker for her 16th birthday. When not eating and writing, she is a busy mum to three boisterous daughters.
Footscray Food Blog has been running since 2009. Footscray and the surrounding western suburbs have always been the poor cousin to the other quadrants of Melbourne in terms of representation both in the blogosphere and the mainstream media. When I first moved here in 2006, I became frustrated that there was precious little online content about the western suburbs dining scene. Very few blogs chose to cross the bridge and check it out. So I thought, “Fine, I’ll start my own food blog then!”
Since then, the blog has mapped many eateries within the western suburbs that were previously little known outside of their immediate communities. I’m thrilled to get lots of good feedback from new residents who said they didn’t know where to start before finding the blog, and even people from the other side of town saying they have been inspired to start looking for new digs in the west.
I’m passionate about the western suburbs’ multicultural mix. Gentrification is happening and while there are many aspects of it I like (good coffee for one!), I’m keen to not lose the underlying diverse nature of the western suburbs. I’m inspired to continue the blog as I feel it encourages residents to get out and enjoy the perhaps somewhat hidden gems of Footscray and surrounds. That, and it gives me an excuse to eat far too much, far too often!
Kitchen Wench – http://www.insanitytheory.net/kitchenwench/ 
My name is Ellie and I am the madness and magic behind the Kitchen Wench food blog – a blog that covers everything from tantalizing French pastries to old-school Korean recipes from the homeland. Originally from South Korea but having grown up in Australia, my life and blog are a confusing mishmash of both cultures which come together either deliciously or tragically – depending on the day!
The Kitchen Wench food blog started as a university project and is still going many years after it’s inception. It is an outlet for my kitchen madness as I can always post my recipes and photos there long after my friends have politely asked me to stop talking about my most recent kitchen success or failure. In this day and age of fusion cuisine with increasing global interest in traditional Korean fare, the blog’s secondary purpose is as an avenue to educate and share our family recipes which come straight from the homeland via my mother (who is quite a traditional cook).
But since it’s a personal blog, it also means that readers occasionally have to put up with rants about drivers who pick their noses in cars, supermarket stupidity and my growing annoyance at people who feel free to stick their grotty hands into my bowl of cake batter!
QLD
Claire K Creations – http://clairekcreations.com/ 
I am Claire and I love food. Well I do now.
Until I was two years old I would eat just about anything. When I turned two, according to mum I shut my mouth and my list of acceptable foods shrank to the following: chicken (breast only), carrot, beans, cabbage, broccoli, steamed rice, potatoes, bread, cheese slices, vegemite and dry cereal. That is pretty much what I ate for almost 15 years.
In 2010, on a trip to Europe with my now husband Will, I discovered the world of food. Since then I will try anything and absolutely love everything to do with food from growing it, creating and sourcing it to cooking, serving, eating and photographing it.
I started Claire K Creations as a way to share my love of food with others. I source my recipes from magazines, books, other blogs, friends and family and make lots up myself. I have to admit that I can be very lazy. If there’s an easy way to do something with the same result I’ll take it. I’m not one to spend hours slaving over a recipe so you’ll mostly find quick and reasonably easy how-tos with the odd trickier recipe thrown in if it’s really worth the effort, like chocolate eclairs. I try to keep them as healthy as possible but always have a few treats.
As much as I love cooking I also enjoy eating out and writing about it afterwards (so I get to re-live the meal). Gadgets and appliances are a-plenty in my kitchen so I write about them sometimes too. Basically, if it’s food-related I’ll write about it. Sometimes I’ll throw in a post about another of my non-food creations and I love writing about my holidays too just to spice it up. I love sharing my food adventures!
Delicieux – http://ledelicieux.com/ 
Jennifer is a self taught cook who lives in Brisbane, Australia and the author of Delicieux. She is obsessed with food, from reading about it, watching cooking shows and day dreaming about what to cook next. Jennifer likes to focus on delicious fuss free vegetarian food, however the sweet tooth inside her often takes over and she loves nothing more than creating delicious desserts. She believes life is too short not to be able to make cake and eat it too.
WA
The Food Pornographer – www.thefoodpornographer.com 
TFP lives in Perth, Western Australia with her partner Jac and two cats, greedy Pixel and irrepressible Truffle. The Food Pornographer blog combines the three things TFP loves to do the most: eat, write and take photographs. Blogging is not her full-time profession but it is her greatest passion. TFP likes her prawns bursty, her egg yolks gooey and her SPAM fried to crispy. She prefers eating to cooking, chicken thigh to breast, and has a voracious appetite for mushrooms.
The Food Pornographer was established in 2005 and is one of Western Australia’s longest running and most popular food blogs. It has a loyal worldwide audience that continues to grow, with largest readerships in Australia, US, UK and Singapore.
The blog features stories and photographs on food, restaurants, food events, producers and markets, family meals and TFP’s travels around Australia and the world.
ChompChomp – http://chompchomp.com.au/ 
My blog Chompchomp was created nine months ago to share my discoveries of restaurants that are willing to go that extra mile for us food intolerant customers and make our meals just as delicious and enjoyable as those of our less intolerant companions.
Up until recently I was always so proud to be one of those people who would eat nearly anything. However my world was to change dramatically after the humbling diagnosis of gluten intolerance and fructose malabsorption. On the up-side, my diagnosis has resolved many of my chronic ailments and has further developed my appreciation for fresh ingredients and skilful cooking.
Although some may say my one track mind tends to always steer toward food, my other passions are cats, running, shoes and more cats. I am big animal lover and a self-confessed crazy cat lady. I have a shoe collection to rival Emelda Marcos and I truly believe you can never have too many shoes. I hope my blog can help others with food intolerances maintain their love and passion for food and continue to have wonderful experiences dining out in Australia and beyond.
SA
The Hungry Australian – http://hungryaustralian.com/ 
The Hungry Australian celebrates modern Australian cuisine with delicious, fuss-free recipes, restaurant reviews, useful articles, and interviews with Australian chefs, producers and food lovers.
Three recipes that originally appeared on The Hungry Australian will be included in ABC’s updated Foodie app for Ipad alongside recipes by Australian chefs like Simon Bryant and Poh Ling Yeow. The Hungry Australian has also been profiled by Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn, Yummly and Foodista, and regularly appears on Tastespotting, Tasteologie, Foodgawker and Serious Eats’ Photograzing.
Obsessed with food and writing, I started blogging in mid 2011 as a way of getting back into work after an extended maternity leave. It has been an amazing journey so far and I’m enjoying every minute of it. When I’m not blogging I am a freelance writer, recipe developer, consultant and photographer – you can read about my current and past projects at my portfolio site if you like.
I am the Australian & NewZealand food expert for About.com, part of the New York Times Company, and the Dining Down Under columnist at HonestCooking.com, winner of Saveur Magazine’s prestigious Best Group Blog 2012 award. I have written about food, dining out, lifestyle, entertainment, and the arts for Sumptuous, Gram, The China Daily, That’s Shanghai, SH Weekly, Arts Hub, Rip It Up, dB and On Dit.
I love what I do and I work flexible hours around my kids – I call that having my cake and eating it, too.
She Cooks She Gardens – http://shecooksshegardens.com 
Adelaide born and raised, Erin is an old hippy in civilian clothing. She is passionate about local produce, vegetarian food, organic gardening and her cats. She writes about all of these things and more on her blog ‘she cooks, she gardens’.
‘She cooks, she gardens’ is a blog borne out of necessity. I am constantly making a mess in my kitchen, creating new dishes and re-creating the recipes of the masters. I also love to garden and grow my own food. A notorious ‘check out what I just made’ camera phone grabber, I decided to take a giant leap about 18 months ago and start my own blog – ‘she cooks, she gardens’, which chronicles my adventures in the kitchen and the veggie patch. I enjoy the constant challenge of creating; be it with my camera, a hand trowel or an electric mixer and hope to continue this journey for many years to come. For more information and to see some of my work, head over to my blog and become a subscriber.
