VANCEBURG — Mandi Broderick, Family and Consumer Science agent with the Lewis County Extension Office, recently began live streaming a cooking series through Facebook Live.
Broderick said she started the series for those who may not have the time to stop by the extension office for their own cooking lessons.
Broderick began creating cooking shows back in mid November, with her latest show on Dec. 11. Each of her four shows teach viewers how to make baked goods, such as blackberry coffee cake and peach blueberry muffins, from the comfort of their own homes.
Each of the recipes Broderick used for her shows can be found on the Kentucky Proud website.
While a definitive schedule has not been set for Broderick’s next set of cooking streams, she said she is considering recipes for crock pot or insta-pot meals in the future.
So far, the overall reception of the cooking series has been positive, Broderick said. Usually, her streams will have anywhere up to 500 views as she is live; however, because Facebook Live streams stay on the website, people can go back and re-watch any one of Broderick’s videos. Combined, her videos have garnered more than 1,500 views.
Every aspect of the show is coordinated by Broderick, from deciding what will be made, measuring out the recipe’s ingredients twice — one to show on camera, and the other to make and display the finished product to even setting up the proper equipment to begin streaming.
“Honestly, the hardest part is setting up,” she said.
Broderick said a typical cooking stream takes about 2-3 hours to complete.
The experience of utilizing social media to reach a wider audience has certainly taught Broderick a lot about what it takes to put together programs like hers and the tools involved in making her streams possible.
“I’ve learned quite a bit about Facebook as a platform itself,” Broderick said, “because there are a lot of back-end stuff which is different from other websites.”
Seeing success in streaming these cooking shows online, Broderick appears to be eager to continue teaching others valuable culinary skills in everyday life, with plans to start her shows back up sometime during spring.
“The possibilities really are endless, but there will definitely be more,” she said.
Each of Broderick’s cooking session can be viewed on the Lewis County Extension Office’s Facebook page.
