Shelby with her two sons Justin and Christopher
Behind the Blogger Spotlight: Meet Grumpy’s Honeybunch! Shelby and her blog, Grumpy’s Honeybunch are the focus of our weekly Food Blogger Spotlight – you will enjoy getting to know her as much as we did and did I mention her fabulous recipes? They are fantastic!
MEET GRUMPY’S HONEYBUNCH
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Interview Questions
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How long have you been blogging?
I have been blogging since December 27, 2007! My 8 year blog anniversary is just around the corner.
2. Why do you blog?
I started to blog because I was being sentimental on that day. I was feeling a little low. Christmas had come and gone, my boys were grown and gone and my youngest had just turned 21. I was thinking about my nanny who had been gone a few years and how I wished I could just go down the road that morning like I would do many years in the past for a morning cup of coffee with her. I knew of bloggers from allrecipes that I had conversed with and decided to start my own blog. It really wasn’t intended to be a food blog, but that is what it turned into very quickly!
3. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
When Grumpy and I first were together, one of the comments he made at the beginning of our relationship was “I never knew anyone who was so chipper in the morning.” My response to him was “I never knew anyone who was so Grumpy in the morning!” We have very different upbringings and are complete opposites. However, as the years pass (we have been together 15 years now) he gets more mellow and I realize he is probably not any “Grumpier” than anyone else. Many people who have met him have said to me “Grumpy’s not so Grumpy!”
4. What do you wish that you had done early on with your blog that you didn’t understand until later?
SEO, better quality photos and food styling!
5. Do you have any advice for new bloggers?
It’s a big world of blogs out there. I started when blogging wasn’t really that big. Don’t stress yourself out trying to be the “best” one because you will only frustrate yourself with such large competition. I guess my best advice would be – be yourself, be true to yourself. Don’t write about something just for the money. Write about it because you believe in it. Also, find a group of like minded bloggers and become friends with them and stay with them. I blog as a part of Sunday Supper Movement because Isabel (Family Foodie) and her mission is something I completely believe in. It’s all about Family for me. Making money is just an added benefit.
6. What is your favorite recipe on your blog and why?
This is a tough one considering I’ve been blogging 8 years! Although I have a lot of sweets on my blog, sweets are not my “thing”. I can usually do without them for the most part and a lot of the time give away what I have made. I’m more of a “sweet heat” person. I love spicy food with just a little bit of sweet to it. That said, my favorite recipe happens to be one I created myself. Sweet Chili Lime Chicken with Cilantro Couscous. I put everything I love flavor wise into that dish. I also need to remake and re-photograph that one!
7. Name a few of your favorite blogs
That is a tough question! It’s kind of like “who is your favorite blogger”. I will say, there are a lot of amazing blogs out there, but my favorite ones are the ones where I have actually gotten to know the blogger behind the blog. I have known Katrina from Baking and Boys and Patsy from Family, Friends, Food for as long as I have been blogging. I am also very close to Marion from Life Tastes Good, Renee from Renees Kitchen Adventure and Michele from Flavor Mosiac. I have met 3 out of the 6 in person! Its very possible I could be meeting the other 2 in the next year.
8. If you were a fruit or vegetable, which would it be and why?
Well, Grumpy would be “she’s not either. She’s a nut.” He has been known to call me a “real sweetheart” but probably wouldn’t admit he has. If I were a fruit, I would have to say I’m a peach. Peaches are sweet and fragile. I don’t have a mean bone in my body and I would do anything for anyone, but I can bruise easily. My skin’s not as tough as Grumpy’s and I’ve been known to say many times “I’m not mad, I’m just hurt. Hurt real bad.”
9. Favorite band or singer?
Travis Tritt. I don’t listen to country anymore but I have always loved him and his music. He won me over with his song Anymore years ago.
10. Favorite movie?
Groundhog Day! Why? Because I love how Phil (Bill Murray) gets to relive everyday over and over and until he gets it “right”…. and because he gets the girl (Andie MacDowell).
11. Anything else you would like to share about your blog – please feel free to write as much or as little as you want!
As I have evolved, so has my blog. It always is and always has been about my family and those I love, good times, sad times and the food that revolves around it all. I never dreamed that I would still be blogging 8 years down the road, but so many good things have come from it that I couldn’t stop if I wanted to. It has become a “family affair” now. My oldest son, Justin, has become my “blog boss” as I like to call him. He revamped my blog and knows all things technical. He found the artist who created my new header and now will proof my posts and keep the background of everything working. I basically write the stories, make the food and take the photos. My youngest son, Christopher, will be joining me in the future as a blog author. It makes my heart feel good that both of my sons have taken a real interest in being a part of my blog and I love that my sons and family members go to my blog to look for recipes to make AND when they do this, they usually take a photo and text it to me! Puts a big smile on my face.