Hi, there! My name is Avidan Ackerson. I'm another guy on the Internet with a food blog. You're probably asking yourself: Hey, why is this blog any better than those other food blogs I've seen? Well, random person, that's a reasonable question. I've read a lot of food blogs, and many of them are quite good. You can even see a list of some of my favorites on the side. And I can't say that my blog is better than most of them. But I do think it's more entertaining.
See, if there's one thing I'm really good at, it's making spectacular mistakes when I'm working in the kitchen. The kind of mistakes that are really funny to talk about with friends of mine. Then one day, I thought to myself, "Avidan, why not put those stories online so the world can join in the fun?" And I said, "Why am I talking in the third person?" But after some thought, and with encouragement from my Twitter followers, I launched this blog. It went through a number of different names until my friend Erik (@sjcaustenite on Twitter) suggested "Baking It Up As I Go Along." It's very appropriate, since most of the time, I have no idea what I'm doing. So all credit for the name goes to him.
Most of my posts are about desserts or similar foods. Every now and then, I venture into "real cooking," but I've got a huge sweet tooth, so I primarily focus on cakes and cookies instead. Often, I'll take a stab at confectionary work, but it tends not to go so well. Sometimes, I try little experiments with food, like ingredient substitutions. I also keep kosher, so I frequently have to adapt recipes to stay within those guidelines (such as replacing dairy for desserts to be served with meat meals). If I ever get a hold of some liquid nitrogen, you better believe there will be a lot of posts forthcoming (once I defrost my fingers). You can look at the "Future Projects" page to see what I've got planned for later attempts.
As for my own background, I'm in my mid-twenties and living in New York City after a few years of living in Washington, DC. I do have a day job as a software engineer but it's very boring and believe me, you don't want to hear about it. When I'm not making a mess in the kitchen, I'm usually on Twitter talking about lots of random things at @TalkingTV (this is why my @BakingItUp account is food only so you get the random clutter on the other account). Otherwise, I lead a fairly uneventful life. If you really want to know more about me, feel free to ask.
Meanwhile, sit back, relax, and laugh at my mistakes. And hopefully, you'll learn something in the process.
