The Guild of Food Writers: Instagram Challenge

This February is the Guild of Food Writers Instagram Challenge – #TheGFW2021. As the digital officer on the GFW committee, it has been my pleasure to set the challenges. It has been an absolute pleasure to see so many pictures posted each day. We are seeing about 150 posts per day so far.

People take the theme I set and post their own picture, along with the main hashtag and a daily tag – so today we are on #TheGFW9 for example. Everyone is welcome to join and post as much or as little as they want. So feel free to pop over if this is the first you’ve heard of it. And of course you can follow me at Morrighani and check out how I am interpreting the themes on my own timeline!

I am finding the challenge to be a real tonic. On a cold, snowy day in the middle of lockdown, my Instagram timeline is alive with vibrant (and tasty) images. I am absolutely loving being transported by peoples’ carefully selected images. Yesterday the theme was ‘liquid’ and the photos were just so evocative. Obviously I write a lot about drinks so this was already close to my heart, but there were so many beautiful images of delicious drinks around the world. Everyone has been reminiscing about better days, myself included! My picture was a pint on a sunny waterside in Birmingham. So close to me but ultimately so far away! A day out on the train and summer feel so far away now.

Tickety-Boo Timeline

I also loved a crisp picture of drinks at Chamonix – not too distant snow capped peaks looming large in the background against a brilliant blue sky. In the foreground the vibrant, translucent hues of a chilled glass of rose draw the eye. It brought back memories of our road trip to Piedmont and back a couple of years ago soaking in the breathtaking views of the Valle D’Aosta as well as making our way home via the St Bernard Pass.

We had controversy over World Nutella Day, although most people realised it was a provocation not an endorsement! However, if you want a great recipe for a choc hazelnut alternative, search that day’s hashtag – #TheGFW5. Today I pre-empted comment over my use of the American ‘spilled milk’ rather than ‘spilt milk’. In actuality though, I’ve been fascinated by how people interpret the phrase “don’t cry over spilled milk”. I’ve always seen it as don’t get upset over something trivial. Hence my own caption about not sweating the small stuff. Other people are talking about letting go of thins that have already happened – move on, the milk is spilled – too late to change it now. Another excellent discussion is how our mistakes and spills are rarely photographed or shared on Instagram. How do you interpret it?

Anyway, I am writing this blog mainly so I can have a little wade through my photos while Bam Bam naps on me. I can’t wait until I can take her out into the world to experience all of these flavours for herself!

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