Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Call it get to know us before you pitch your blog. Manners?

We like to get to know people before we offer advise. How about we start over and you get to know us.

no suggestions, but can't wait to read it!

My only thoughts were this: Come up with your own name...it's your blog. Do you me to write it for you too?

Hey, I'm having a bad day...does that excuse my rude response? Jerzee can say whatever she wants. She knows her stuff AND she's got seniority here.

Wow, what's the point of being a member of this community if you can't ask a question like that and not get nasty responses? If I ask for a Midtown NYC restaurant suggestion, should no one answer because they might be pimping a certain eatery???

wow! Sorry you received such snappy comments!

Your blog sounds interesting! I would think of something along the lines of "melting pot". Keep in mind to have a rather short name for your blog so people will have an easier time remembering.

When I came up w/mine (MangoTomato), I did so b/c Mango is my favorite fruit and Tomato is my favorite "vegetable." Two word names are super popular ;)

PS: I lived in Seattle for 8 years!

Phamily Foods is good! It applies to what you want to do/ how your interest in food developed and incorporates your name. I also like Heart's suggestion of a subtitle.

Well alright!!! I'm happy to see some people come out of the woodwork to defend this girl for asking a simple question! Yes...I made a snarky remark myself and after it was posted realized that I was behaving the exact same way I thought others on this site behave sometimes (you know who you are).

I come here to read about food and share thoughts on food related subjects and to ask and give advice to the best of my ability. I'm no expert....and anyone here who says they are is full of it because if they were then they would be too busy to be here in the first place.

This goes back to the recent post "Disgruntled Foodie". This is food...it's not rocket science. If you have a lot of experience cooking then share it with those of us who want to learn from you. There is no need for arrogance. This isn't high school. If this is about cliques...then I'll go hang out with the nerds or something, NOT the snooty cheerleaders.

@hppz - I apologize to YOU for my stupid comment. And I do like Phamily Foods. ; )

@Heart - Smarty Pants! ; ) Thanks for the levity....I'll shut up now.

I'm going to vote down Phamily foods because it sounds like its a blog about homecooking and such. Since you travel and like food adventures this doesn't quite fit what you're going for.
I have a similar problem (I'm chinese but love all types of foods...).
I'll keep thinking and see what I can offer later.

Can I suggest that if new posters are going to be attacked for posting something they don't realize is taboo, to add a sticky "FAQ - Read this before posting" rules topic to the Talk section? It certainly seemed like an innocent post to me...

@engmcmuffin, I love the "The Phamished ___" idea! Not sure what to put in there either, unfortunately, though I do think it would sound best to go with alliteration. Is there some type of Vietnamese food that starts with an "F" sound? Maybe could go with "___ and the Phamished Foodie," though that might be getting kind of long...

I like "the phamished" and orchid's idea of picking your favorites and coming up with something random.

i'm so glad to see other sticking up for this post. i should have yesterday.

Let the moderators make the rules on here. Seniority doesn't mean squat.
This is a public forum and people shouldn't be jumped on just because they start out with asking for blog names. Why does she have to "get to know us"?? Not everyone who visits this site sees it as their second home. It's a SITE on the INTERNET, not someones living room. Don't take it so seriously. Unless a new person is breaking some kind of rule or spamming then I think their question should be answered with respect. If it rubs you the wrong way, simply don't answer. No need to be rude.

Welcome philadooklyn!! I'm finsbigfan and I am from the Tampa Bay area. Being from Florida (born and raised) I welcome everyone to come and join the family. Good and helpful food talk is usually what you will find here. Don't be discouraged just start talking and enjoy.

agree with @cycorider -- maybe there should be some guidance for new people? of course the kona coffee and the obvious sales posts/comments are annoying and we treat them with disdain, but it doesn't seem fair that people who just come to serious eats for the first time with a real question should get caught in the crossfire.

Yes--I agree, that was what I meant--comments and posts should speak for themselves, and while of course we all love to hear from the 'usual suspects' I have really enjoyed some topics posted by people with only limited posts. I know very little about Vietnamese food and was interested in the post because it is a cuisine I would like to learn more about. I also think the issue of naming food blogs (and restaurants and menu items) is interesting given that there are so many nowadays and it can be hard to make anything stand out.

SE isn't an exclusive club. All are welcome, and should be made to feel welcome too.

How about "The Phamished Phoodie"?

@NYCEater - Phamised Phoodie...that's it!! Hppzz - You listening?? That's the one.

(Now, should we start negotiating on the finder's fee?) ; ))))

Phamished: Around the World with an Asian Twist.

Phamished Dishes: We got 'em. You make 'em.

Something about the Phamished thing seems to work!

Good luck, have fun and welcome to SE!

And Ed, thanks for your SE gavel to weigh in so nicely on the etiquette side of things here in Talk.

I can agree and see the taboo here, If someone came into your restaurant and said "hey I want to open a restaurant" and started asking questions and polling your customers I could see the anger! Especially if they plan in operating in direct competition! But as was said, this is a public forum and all are entitled to their opinion, so those who have no issue please continue. And to the new entrepreneur I offer only the best of luck! its a tough world out there!

Hi All,

Wow, I had no idea my post would generate this much discussion. Thanks to all for your supportive comments. True, it was only my first post, but definitely not the first time I've read the site (one of my friend contributes to SE as a columnist).

It was also true that that after the first exchange I didn't even want to follow up on this thread, but I knew better. Having read other threads before, the SE community is extremely creative and knowledgeable and that it would be a shame if I let the first exchange dissuade me from seeing other opinions in SE.

Like some of you have said, this is all about the sharing the love of food. I will chose my own blog name, but I see nothing wrong with asking for suggestions for and bouncing ideas from other foodlovers. It's not my goal to write a cookbook or get rich from this.

while making alot of mom's traditional home Vietnamese recipes will be a big part of it, I don't want to be pigeon holed into just Vietnamese cooking.

how about "Phamished Foodie: Ravenous adventures of a novice cook".
too wordy? what about

-"BitofThis&BitofThat" that's how my mom would describe her recipes to me as she did everything from memory and never wrote down recipes.

-Braised&Battered: Adventures of a novice cook.

Thanks again!!

I think a FAQ or ettiquette section would be fantastic. I lurk in a lot of places, including for MONTHS here before I started posting. I would have been pretty p*ssed if someone responded to me in this way the first time I posted. If in fact asking for a blog name is considered gauche...then there has to be a gentler way of cautioning someone. There are differences between web communities and I for one would love to see some guidlines about what is and is not appropriate here instead of people getting slammed for crossing lines that appear to exist solely in the minds of the cool kids.I am not sure who made up the rules of 'seniority', but it's getting to be that the most innocent questions are being treated with derision and contempt.

I've got lots of ettiquette questions. For example: What's the policy on linking to recipes etc that exist on other sites? I've seen people apologize to Adam for that. What about schilling your own blog with a signature link every time you post? What about linking to your blog if it's relevant? What about re-posting a topic that has come up in the past? What about a tag for issues that are only tangentially food related but which might be more personal--I recall someone looking for strategies to take over food prep from an ailing and non food safety conscious elder relative. It was a great thread and I believe helpful to the poster. Or a 'silly stuff' category to keep the whiners from calling this place a waste of time when we chime in about childhood memories etc.

@BananaMonkey, I think the "rules" for this place are spelled out in the terms of service, and generally you're not supposed to post things of a commercial nature and it should be food related. And it shouldn't be nasty or offensive. Something like that, anyway.

Whether something is noncommercial and/or related enough to food can be in the eye of the beholder. The ones that are truly out of line usually get pulled pretty quickly by the staff.

Just because someone gets a negative response to a question, it doesn't mean that the question was out of line. It could simply be that someone misinterpreted the question or was in a particularly cranky mood that day.

Asking for help with a blog name is interesting, because sometimes that's just a cover for sending traffic to an existing blog, which might be interpreted as a commercial post. In this case, there is no existing blog, though.

As far as posting links, if it's part of a signature, it seems to be allowable. Or if it's in answer to a question, that's fine, too. Or if it's a news item/video/whatever that's fodder for discussion, that's fine too. But if someone posts, "I just found this wonderful thing on this website!!!" and posts a link, that's commericial. So links depend on the context.

I think Phamily Foods is cute. Good luck on your new blog.

db, i don't think greenbean was referring to you. i think greenbean was referring to the original response to the post. or perhaps also to people who share the same mindset as that contained in the initial response.

i love pham-tastic!

@hppzz... For what it is worth, I'm with Ed on "Phamished" one word, short and sweet, with the benefit of being easy to remember.

As far as the other hubub is concerned Hong, don't be offended. The people here are great (with me being the greatest of course) and usually pretty friendly. Feel free to post early and often, as your comments and topics are always welcome!

@bananamonkey...I, too, hung out in the shadows of this site that I found last summer. I just contributed in March and was very timid about it. I enjoy gleaning and sharing and I think we might remember "The Golden Rule" before we type (my mom was a congregational Baptist-sorry). Welcome, @hppzz, good luck and maybe you will share more about yourself and your cooking here as well as your blog.

@kumasi46 - Absolutely. So welcome to SE and so sorry that your first post had to be about common sense politeness we all should have learned long ago. I am here to learn from and share with everyone, regardless if you have been posting for years, or if it is your first post! No on has to court me or comment a certain number of times before I will answer a topic question of theirs. Each and every one of us has something to bring to SE - that's what is so great about this community. So, there's no need to be nervous, with at least most of us here I think. Please, share away.

"I'm Phamished"

I love the idea "Phamished", simple, easy to remember, to the point, not at all boring. BTW, I'm new too, cooking at ya from Portland Oregon, for what's it's worth, I didn't take your post as a pitch, but we left coasters tend to be rather laid back not to mention thrilled to be asked for our opinion on anything. Sounds like a fun read... keep me in the loop when you start it I am always looking for new food ideas in the kitchen, (but do so off this board apparently).

Thank you all for your suggestions! I decided using the synonym of famished and came up with (Ravenous Couple: Cooking up Life) to include my sig other as she will be posting too...I just made my first post on Com Tam Suon Bi Cha (Vietnamese Broken Rice with Pork Chops). Don't want to be accused of flagrantly pimping my blog, but for those interested in this classic Vietnamese dish, the link to the blog is in my profile.

How about naming your blog: "Phamtastic cooking"