Foodbuzz is holding a contest in search of the next “Food Blog Star.” The contest, designed around having contestants compete in a series of challenges, awards the winner with the title “Food Blog Star”.

I have been having a great time writing this blog, and thought “What the heck, I’m game!” I decided to hop on board and give it a shot. After all, with $10,000 at stake, why not enter?

My first challenge is to write a post that defines me as a blogger and gives reasons why I should be the next Food Blog Star. Therefore, here it goes.

I decided to start blogging after I was in the running to be a contestant on the reality show Master Chef. I have always loved to cook and enjoyed the push the Master Chef competition gave me to step out of my culinary box. Though ultimately not picked, Master Chef lit a fire in me to do more with my passion so I created my blog “What You’re Missing KC!”

“What You’re Missing KC!”, is a blog that highlights great things regarding the KC food scene. One of my favorite places in Kansas City is the restaurant Yia Yia’s; their gnocchi dish there is amazing. I thought, “You know if someone has not tasted this, they are really missing out.” Hence, the name “What You’re Missing KC!” came about.

I believe Kansas City has a great culinary scene that can compete with some of the best cities across the country. I am making it my full time mission to eat, drink, cook, shop, and explore my way around KC. I want to check out all the great things about food our fabulous city has to offer. I have met some amazing people and have had some neat opportunities.

I have found a passion for supporting our locally owned restaurants and business in and around Kansas City. I see the drive and commitment these people put into their businesses and the quality product they strive to produce. From what I have tasted and experienced, you can tell the difference in their commitment.

Kansas City has great local producers: farms, orchards, dairies, bakeries and more. These producers provide us with a variety of quality products and ingredients that are available at local markets. There are also great tasting restaurants in KC, many of which use local and seasonal ingredients in their dishes.

It is my goal to share these finds with my community to promote a more conscious way of eating. When we know where our food comes from, we can make better choices and the bonus is the extreme difference in taste along with supporting our neighbor.

Though writing a blog and searching the city for those hidden gems is keeping me very busy, I still love to cook and want to add more recipes to my blog that use local ingredients. I am in the kitchen using fresh finds to develop these recipes.

I am often asked, “How do you make your money?” My answer is, I am not in this for the money. I do this out of the passion for and my belief in locally owned businesses. Now, I’m not going to lie, to win the $10,000 as the next “Food Blog Star” would be nice and helpful in reaching my goals. But, I also want to be the next “Food Blog Star” to gain more exposure as I continue to spread the word about our great city and inspire other cities to do the same.