‘How To Cook That’ started when I needed a way to keep my mind active and my body awake during night feeds with my third son. I loved cooking desserts and people were always asking for my recipes, so the topic was an easy choice. As obvious as this sounds if you intend on starting a blog make sure:
1. It’s a topic that you enjoy.
2. An area that you are trained in or have experience. If it a how-to site you’ll need more knowledge than the average bear.
3. You LOVE it. If your blog is a success you are going to be producing the same topic of content for years to come. It should be fun for you.
You are still reading so I assume you are passionate, excited and have more ideas than you have time to write about. Welcome to the world of blogging. I’ve made a video to guide you through setting up your new website. Don’t worry, it’s easier than you think!
1. Click HERE to follow along with the video and set up your website.
(Disclosure: I get a small affiliate commission if you buy hosting through the above link, commissions are small so please don’t let that influence which company you choose to host with, go with whatever suits your needs the best).
2. CHOOSE A DOMAIN NAME
A domain name is your website address. For example the domain name for this site is “howtocookthat.net”.
3. ADD HOSTING
Buying the domain name is like putting that web address on hold so no one else can use it, BUT you are not yet using it yet either. To actually use your web address you need ‘hosting’, a company to store your website information and send it out to the world.
4. INSTALL WORDPRESS
Wordpress is free and totally customizable and you don’t need to know anything about coding (HTML/java etc) to use it.
5. CUSTOMIZE
Choose a ‘theme’ for the website. The theme is the general layout of the site. Click through the many ones available and choose one that will work for you. You can always come back later and change the theme at any time. Make sure you choose a theme that is ‘responsive’, which means it works on any size screen from mobile though to desktop.
Add various ‘plugins’ as you need them. Plugins are like mini tools or apps to help you do things on your blog. If you want your website to do something specific like have a shop, play your music, add a page of youtube videos, a gallery for your photos, share buttons… there is bound to be a plugin for it. You can add a plugin, test it out and delete it if it is not what you want, just like you would do with an app on your phone. Like apps there are heaps of free and paid versions of plugins.
6. CONTENT
Now it is time for you to add content to your website. Just a word on copyright. You can not copy or use other people photos or text without written permission. Every picture you find on google images has been taken by a real person and you can’t just steal their photos, you need permission.
7. GO LIVE
On the dashboard / admin area it will say “your site is currently being displayed as coming soon click here to launch it”. Click it and it is live.
8. ENJOY
Enjoy creating your very own piece of the internet.
Hi Ann, I may be being a bit thick but I want to make your Thomas cake for this weekend and in your video you refer to templates that are available on your website and for the life of me I can’t find them. Please can you post the link?
Hi Gillian, here’s the link to the shop where all the templates live 🙂 https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/shop/?orderby=date
Thank you!
Hi Anne..I love your website..and your recipes are so tempting..You explain so well in your videos and I like your voice. Your 2 ingredients brownies are in my oven right now. Hope they turn out well. I have left over condensed milk at home..Can you please tell me some quick and easy recipes to use it.
Waiting for your reply
Hi Fatima, Condensed milk can be turned into caramel. Pour it into an oven proof dish and place in a water bath in the oven. Bake at a moderate temp till it turns into caramel.
Hi Ann I am going to make your 3D teddy for my grandsons Christening, I could not see on your instructions how long to cook the mixture in the Pyrex glass Bowles. I have just found your site and very excited about it
Beverley
Hi Beverly, Use a moderate oven. Ann finds that giving exact cooking times a challenge because ovens will vary. She prefers you check them to see if they are cooked through. You have 3 different baking containers used in this recipe, so check the smallest around 15 minutes and see how the others are going at the same time. The larger bowl will take longer than you expect.
does this mean i have to pay money each month for my website?
Hi RWL, A website needs to be ‘hosted’ somewhere so you would usually pay for that in some form unless you have a suitable server of your own. Payment methods and periods vary from company to company.
Hi Ann,
I live in the desert in Quartzsite, Arizona. We are 130 miles away from Phoenix, which is the nearest city and nearly 40 miles away from the next town. We don’t get to the bigger towns often, so we need to make our own entertainment.
I have twin 15 1/2 year old boys that love sports, especially basketball, they play on our high school team and want to play professionally! They are both very good! One of my boys is High Functioning Autistic, and basketball is how he expresses himself when he can’t find words, or when he needs to work out the frustrations of teen life.
Do you plan to make any sports/basketballs themed cakes? I’ve been binge watching your YouTube channel on my TV here since I found it a few weeks ago, and still haven’t gotten halfway through it! ? I’m a single mother living with MS and baking is/has always been my passion. I make and decorate some elaborate cakes for friends occasionally, I learned how from my mom since she did that for her friends and family too!
I digress, back to basketball. Please let me know if you intend to do so!
You’ve inspired me so much.
Thank you for loving what you do and sharing it with the world!
May God bless you and your beautiful family!
I would like to see a sewing machine for a fashion designer as anniversary, birthday cake or perfect seamtress.
Hi Jill, It is lovely to hear a little about your family. Ann is always coming up with new ideas for cakes and no doubt there will be sports themed cakes down the track. Keep watching and I am confident that there will be something that could be helpful inspiration for your own creations.
good morning i know this is probably one of the weirdest questions you will receive but in the video you posted on the 4th of November you had the skewer lean against a red bottle while you were working with it are those bottles still available for safe where you are? and what the one thing you would recommend someone who is visiting Australia for the first time do?
i love all your creations and videos!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Ann, I am so inspired by you as a cook and as a mom! I love atching your easygoing style and appreciate the simplicity with which you create your recipes for us all so that we can be successful aswell. A while back your rose apple pie stole my heart and I’d now like to make one but I can’t find the recipe on your website anymore, can you post it again for us all? Thank you
Hi Gabrielle, It is still up. Here is the link: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/rose-apple-pie-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Anne,
I love your site and enjoy learning so much from it. I have made quite a few of your desserts and they have always been a hit.
Lately I am having trouble accessing different things on your site eg if I try clicking on the dessert button on the top tool bar all the pages have the same receipes as the first page. I never used to have this trouble.
Could you please tell me were I am going wrong. I really miss your site working the way I have had it before and I don’t know what I am doing wrong.
I think that you are supposed to spell her name Ann. But not trying to be the grammar teacher!!
Hi Ann,
I’ve been wondering if you could make a raspberry mousse with a strawberry glaze I need to make that for a Christmas dinner desert.
PLS DO THX
Hi Bernadette, Everything is working well on our site. You may need to update your browser and check your internet connection.
Hi Ann, my name is Eve and I am 9 years old and I am a huge fan of your Chanel. So I made a super cool how to cook that logo ?????????❤️❤️??
I made it out of clay??????????❤️❤️❤️???????????
So Good Eve. Well done!
Dear Ann,
Our family is planning a trip to Australia and will fly into Sydney on December 20, 2016. Our 11 yr. old daughter, Hope loves baking and is obsessed with you. I’m not sure if you celebrate Christmas (if so you may be totally unavailable by this date) but I was wondering if you hold classes for girls or would consider helping us surprise our daughter while we are in Sydney? I have no clue if you even do public events, but thought it never hurts to ask. Since we are planning this trip as our Christmas gift, her meeting you would be a part of that. If this is something you would consider please email me.
Thank you,
Beverly of North Carolina, USA
Hi Ann I love your videos so so much that I made the how to cook that logo out of clay
Hi Beverly, Ann and her family are in the process of moving and won’t be in Sydney when you are. Christmas is a huge holiday celebration in Australia so many people are away during this time enjoying their summer vacation. While it would be lovely to surprise your daughter, Ann doesn’t run classes and is not planning to be at any public events at that time. We hope you have a lovely time in Australia.
Hi Bernadette, We have replied below but you should have also got a personal email from us letting you know what Ann has planned for January.
Hi Ann,
Just wanted to thank you for your Flash McQueen Video tutorial, it helped me a lot.
I bought the template and still took a couple hours more than other cakes ive done before.
I make cakes at home for a living, Its also my passion !
Hi Ann I am 9 years old I love your videos so so much that I made the how to cook that logo out of clay
And I am a big fan
Great work M. Christie!
Hi Ann can you please make a finding dory cake. 🙂 🙂
Dear Ann,
I simply adore your page! You gave me so many ideas and I also learned alot of things from you just by following your videos. I hope you could help me with something: my boyfriend has a birthday comming in november, he’ll be 50 years old and I would love to make him something special. He’ s been a musician for his whole life and I want to make him a cake for his birthday party. I really want a cake to look like Marshall amplifyer, which is litteraly a piece of cake as it has to be big enough to feed cca 70 people. How much support does it need, can I fill it with chocolate cream and cherries or will fruit make it too weak to stay together,… I have no idea where to start :/ Would you please help me? I watched your spongebob cake tutorial, but I’m not sure if it is the same thing with large cakes.If you make one maybe you will help someone else too with your tutorial. You are the best cake creator far away 🙂 Please please help me with this one! I’m sending you best regards from Slovenia.
Suzana
Hi Suzana, I am not sure what type of cake you wish to make but usually amplifiers are a variation on a box. The bigger the cake, the more support it will need. The simplest way is to construct a layer cake with your preferred filling . Add a couple of supports through the middle. The sponge bob cake is a good example as it shows you how to use cake supports and how to put card layers at intervals to keep the cake strong. The higher you go, the more support you will need. Once you get the right height, Shape as you need, then cover with buttercream & ganache and then apply fondant to create your desired finish. Have a look at these cakes for other ideas: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/walking-dead-sheriffs-hat-cake/%3C/a%3E. and https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/secret-life-pets-dog-cake/%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E
Hi I followed you recipe to make this Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake for my dad on his birthday and everybody absolutely loved it
Thank you Ann. You inspire me
Hi Dhruvaa. That looks so yummy. Well done!
hi ann how long have you bake for
Hi Brooke, Ann started baking as a child.
I love your channel .here is a picture of a chocolate chessboard I made. I didn’t know how to make pieces so I put little letters , like k for king. We actually played chess on it! Have a nice day!
Great work Cake my day!
Hi Ann
my daughter is asking for repunzal cake for her next birthday can
you help. I have had great success with your cakes over the past 3years
Hi Liz, Ann doesn’t have a Rapunzel cake at the moment, but you could do a version of a Princess cak or Elsa Cake. See here for the links: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/frozen-elsa-cake/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Ann I was just wondering since I’m another baking channel I would like to collaborate with you
hi Ann~~
i wanna ask how do you record your vids?
i also want to record a vid from the first sight
what tool you use with?
thanx for your answer
BTW, i watch ur vids per friday, very on time 😉
Hi Jenna, Ann has 2 video cameras and a phone camera. She uses all 3 depending on what the need for that recipe is.
Hi Ann,
Can you do another stand mixer giveaway