Betsy Parks

Freelance Writer, Editor, Content Manager

United States

I write compelling content for brands, small businesses, and magazines.

My work is fact checked, accurate, and delivered on time.

I have extensive experience writing how-to articles and service content, especially about food and hospitality, and I have experience writing about lifestyles, weddings, and events. I have 15 years of professional writing experience, and I've worked with publications, businesses, and brands of all sizes.

WHAT I DO:

- Journalism
- Blog posts
- Web content
- Social media posts
- Press releases
- Copywriting
- Copyediting
- Ghost writing
- Business and marketing plan writing
- Content strategy

CONTACT ME TODAY: [email protected]

Below are selected samples of my work

Portfolio

Most Recent

Boston Chefs
12/02/2023
30+ Festive Seasonal Sips

This December, you can get into the spirit of the season with festive cocktails from some of the The Hub's

Boston Chefs
07/27/2023
Vote for Boston's Best Burger

Boston's biggest burger throw down is on the horizon, and it's time to cast your votes to be sure your

The Takeout
03/10/2023
10 Grocery Items You Should Be Buying at the Dollar Store

Unless you're in the category of Americans who can somehow still afford to spend like crazy in this economy, it's useful to know about any and all ways to save money on groceries. Coupon clipping is suddenly kinda cool, according to The Baltimore Sun , and New Food Magazine reports that discount grocers like ALDI, WinCo, and Lidl are seeing record sales numbers.

TheDailyMeal.com
03/26/2023
Is There A Difference Between Plant-Based Butter And Margarine? - The Daily Meal

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock In the late 1860s, during the time of Emperor Napoleon III, a French chemist named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès won a competition organized by the European emperor to create an inexpensive butter substitute (per Mental Floss). That original margarine was made with churned beef tallow and milk, which is far from vegan-friendly.

TheDailyMeal.com
03/05/2023
The Whole Foods Grocery Items And Products That Get Shoplifted Most Often - The Daily Meal

Brandon Bell/Getty Images Often dubbed "whole paycheck," it's no secret that the carefully curated stacks of colorful produce and coolers filled with fancy cheese at Whole Foods are costly. The hot bar and salad bar can be expensive at $11.99 a pound, according to Cheapism, and a small paper box holds around 1.5 pounds of mashed potatoes, which will cost you almost $18.

Copywriting

Boston Chefs
04/19/2023
Sustainable Seafood Soiree at PAGU

Tracy Chang and the PAGU crew have a special, collaborative chefs' dinner focused on sustainable seafood and sourcing practices on the books for Wednesday, April 19th - just in time for Earth Day.

Boston Chefs
03/27/2023
Pammy's Pajama Party

Step up your pajama look from 'frumpy but comfy' to 'sassy and spicy' and get down to Pammy's in Cambridge on Monday, March 27th for an epic Pajama Party. Chef Chris Willis and the team from the eclectic, Italian-inspired eatery will be serving up some complimentary snacks (there's talk of pizza bagels) and handing out prizes for best jammies all night.

Boston Chefs
03/15/2023
Grill 23 Pops Up on Nantucket

Grill 23 is packing a bag and jumping on the Steamship Authority to ACK for their first-ever island pop-up from Sunday, July 9th through Thursday, July 27th. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the beloved Boston steakhouse and the 100th anniversary of Nantucket's iconic White Elephant hotel with a real-deal steakhouse experience "on island."

Boston Chefs
03/28/2023
ipsa Provisions Serves Up Eats from Ana Sortun

If you've ever wished you could cook like Ana Sortun - the James Beard Award-winning chef and co-owner of Oleana , Sarma and Sofra Bakery and Café , you're definitely going to want to get in on the Boston rollout of ipsa, a new gourmet frozen food delivery service that's already a hit in NYC.

Boston Chefs
03/22/2023
Meet Montemelino's Sabina Cantarelli at Field & Vine

Olmstead Wine Co. and SelectioNaturel, importers of small-production natural and traditionally-made Italian wines, are having a bit of a tasting blitz around the city on Wednesday, March 22nd, including an evening with Somerville's Field & Vine .

Boston Chefs
01/26/2023
Brian Levy Pops By Sofra - Boston Restaurant News and Events

Pastry chef Brian Levy will be stopping by at Sofra from 6:00 to 9:00pm on Thursday, January 26th to share some recipes from his book Good & Sweet: A New Way to Bake with Naturally Sweet Ingredients and you're definitely going to want to be there for a taste.

Boston Chefs
01/09/2023
Preorder Verveine & Ken Oringer's New Cookbook

It's never too early to get your kids interested in cooking fresh, healthy food, and James Beard Award-winning chef Ken Oringer and his daughter Verveine have teamed up for a cool new kid-friendly cookbook that you and your family are going to love.

Boston Chefs
12/05/2022
Sustainable Seafood Chat at WBUR's CitySpace

Is there a way to eat seafood responsibly and be good stewards of our local oceans? Join chefs and seafood experts Barton Seaver and Row 34 's Jeremy Sewall to find out during a lively discussion on seafood sustainability with WBUR climate and environment correspondent Barbara Moran on Monday, December 5th at 6:30pm at CitySpace.

Boston Chefs
12/12/2022
'Tis the Season for Holiday Sips

Shopping gets all the press this time of year, but you don't need wrapping paper to get into the holiday spirit. With offerings ranging from merry margaritas and milkshakes, to off-menu eggnog and classy clarified milk punch (there's even an award-worthy cinnamon tequila number), bartenders around The Hub are busy shaking and stirring up all the winter flavors to make the season bright.

Boston Chefs
12/04/2022
Tiki for Tots at Wusong Road

Combine your love of all things tiki with the spirit of holiday giving this month with your friends at Wusong Road. From now through Monday, December 19th you can bring a toy donation along to any visit at the huarache hotspot in Harvard Square for Tiki for Tots and get $5 off your meal as a thank you for supporting the Cambridge community.

Boston Chefs
09/20/2022
La Gallina Opens in Lynnfield

MarketStreet is about to get a major taste of the Mediterranean as the hospitality power duo Matthias Kiehm and James Wierzelewski are set to open La Gallina (the hen), a relaxed, farmhouse-style restaurant on September 22nd.

Boston Chefs
12/01/2022
Holiday Lunching on Beacon Hill

Holiday outfits were made to be seen, and what better place to show off your jingle bell drip than No. 9 Park ? The Beacon Hill home of special occasion dining will be celebrating the season all through December with their elegant annual Holiday Lunch, courtesy of award-winning chef Barbara Lynch and company.

Boston Chefs
09/11/2022
Battle of the Burger 2022

Boston's biggest burger battle is about to go down at the Encore Boston Harbor, and if you consider yourself a connoisseur you will not want to miss it. Ultimate bragging rights are at stake on Sunday, September 11th from 12:00 to 4:00pm as the 20 finalists of the months-long competition finally face off to see who will win Boston Magazine's Battle of the Burger 2022.

Boston Chefs
09/19/2022
Wild Provisions Pop-Up in Canton

What's old is new - and chic - September 19th at a pop-up dinner at Northern Spy in Canton. Chef/owner Marc Sheehan is hosting Caitlin Koether (of Wild Provisions, Relae, Bar Tartine) to show off some haute-historical techniques like smoking, pickling and salting at Sea, Salt, and Smoke: a Woodfired New England Clam Shack and Preservation Dinner.

Boston Chefs
12/01/2022
Aprés in the Back Bay

If you're more of a ski lodge lounger than a Super G type you're going to want to spend the holiday season at Trifecta in the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton as the hotel's swanky cocktail lounge has been transformed into an alpine winter wonderland from now through January 1st.

Boston Chefs
09/15/2022
The Wig Shop is Open in DTX

Bostonians looking for a little hair of the dog in Downtown Crossing can head to The Wig Shop, the newest cocktail lounge from the Bina Family Hospitality team. Tucked in next to Bina's jm Curley and Bogie's Place, the new setup is serving up retro upscale cocktails, Champagne and fancy finger foods seven days a week.

Boston Chefs
09/27/2022
Yellow Door Coming to Mission Hill

Fans of Yellow Door Taqueria 's Cali-Mex tacos, tamales and taquitos, get ready for even more of the grub you love as a third location is set to open in Mission Hill.

Boston Chefs
09/29/2022
Beaujolais Dinner at Alcove

Forget everything you think you know about Beaujolais (as in Nouveau) - serious Beaujolais is finally having a moment, and Alcove is hosting a night of wines that you won't want to miss.

Boston Chefs
10/03/2022
Tour Liguria with Ristorante Lucia

The folks at Ristorante Lucia are ready to take you on a culinary tour of the Liguria region of Italy, and who better to show you the ins and outs of Italy than the pros who have been serving up authentic Italian eats to Boston's North End since 1977?

Boston Chefs
09/22/2022
Taste of The Fenway 2022

What's not to love about the restaurant scene in The Fenway - you can get anything from BBQ to sushi, cold brew to bubble tea within just a few blocks. Get a little bit of everything the neighborhood has to offer on Thursday, September 22nd at the Taste of The Fenway.

Boston Chefs
09/26/2022
Sogno Now Open in Woburn

Italian restaurant dreams do come true - just ask owner Ron Martignetti who has just opened the doors to Sogno in Woburn. Named for the Italian word for dream, the new dining destination (at 304 Cambridge Road on the Winchester line) promises an authentic tasting tour of Italy right at your table.

Boston Chefs
09/17/2022
Flex your BBQ Skills

Sure you can grill a steak and smoke a brisket, but if you're really ready to stretch your tongs and explore some new barbecue frontiers you won't want to miss the This one should sell out fast, but if you can't make it to Barbecue-U this time, bookmark their New Style BBQ Class with award-winning chef and Pitmaster Andy Husbands at classes page for upcoming classes.

Boston Chefs
09/23/2022
Drink for the Bees During Bee's Knees Week

The distilling gurus at Vermont-based Caledonia Spirits, makers of Barr Hill Gin (and a slew of award-winning spirits that incorporate raw honey), know that with great gin comes great responsibility. You can help them support their hardest workers - the bees!

Boston Chefs
10/16/2022
Get Ultimate Tailgate Tix

In-person events are back, baby, and the crew from Lovin' Spoonfuls is ready to cut loose with the return of the Ultimate Tailgate Party at The Charles River Speedway in Brighton on Sunday, October 16th.

Journalism

TheDailyMeal.com
03/19/2023
A Classic 'High Tea' Isn't Actually As Fancy As You'd Think - The Daily Meal

Artit Wongpradu/Shutterstock A proper tea service with food (as opposed to just "a cuppa," which is a quick cup of tea) is typically either afternoon tea or high tea. They are similar in that there's obviously tea and food served; however, afternoon tea is more formal than high tea.

TheDailyMeal.com
12/31/2022
Your Takeout Containers Can Help You Build A Better Burger - The Daily Meal

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Burgers come in all shapes and sizes, from sliders to double or triple deckers, smash burgers, and even veggie and Impossible burgers. Americans eat around 50 billion burgers per year, according to PBS, and there's a burger for every taste between fast food, fast casual, and fine dining.

TheDailyMeal.com
12/21/2022
The Best Type Of Herb To Cook With Tough Meats - The Daily Meal

In our modern culture of supermarket shopping, you can pick and choose almost any cut of meat anytime you want. But this of course wasn't always the case. There was a time not so long ago when most people had to learn how to cook all the different cuts of meat so that nothing went to waste, often because they raised the animal themselves.

TheDailyMeal.com
12/10/2022
The Fascinating French Hobby Of Cheese Label Collecting - The Daily Meal

It's no secret that France produces a huge variety of cheese. In fact, Cheese Connoisseur estimates that there are more than 1,600 different cheeses produced in France, which is pretty impressive, given that the country is about the same size as Texas. So what's so special about camembert labels?

TheDailyMeal.com
12/06/2022
What It Means When A Chef Asks For A 'Robocop' Or 'Salamander' - The Daily Meal

Much of the most universally recognized kitchen lingo terms come from French tools and training, and "robocop" is a good example. The word is most likely a mondegreen - that is, as The New Yorker explains, "a misheard word or phrase that makes sense in your head, but is, in fact, entirely incorrect."

Very Local
07/22/2022
The Burns Library is home to much of the nation's Irish American history

Bostonians love to learn, as evidenced by the number of colleges and universities in the Hub. Roughly 150,000 college students descend on the city each semester to study at one of the 30-plus colleges and universities, and a lot of them stick around to work in the thriving tech, medical, publishing, and bioscience industries that dominate the city's economy.

TheDailyMeal.com
01/08/2023
The Whole Foods Salad Bar Hack To Save A Ton On Grilled Salmon - The Daily Meal

If you love shopping at Whole Foods, but you're trying to save money, your first stop should be TikTok, which is filled with tons of hacks for pinching pennies in the spendy grocery chain. The tips and tricks are out there, from markdowns and closeouts to preparing copycat recipes of more expensive items and more.

Blog writing & website copy

Boxcar Bakery
Our Story - Boxcar Bakery

Boxcar Bakery started in 2010 in Stacey's home kitchen in Essex Junction, selling her goodies to the inaugural Five Corner's Farmers' Market. She had a vision of opening a neighborhood bakery in Essex Junction at the time, and after doing several seasons at the farmers market and selling her pastries to Sweet Clover Market and Healthy Living, she decided the timing just wasn't right to move forward with the bakery.

Dirty Dish Media
05/11/2021
Restaurant Talk Vs. Customer Talk

All industries have their own lingo and language, but none are quite as distinctive as restaurant talk. Hospitality industry lingo is the Ernest Hemingway of workspeak to office workers' William Faulkner-word salad. The goal of restaurant talk is to get all of the important information across while using the least amount of words.

Stratton Mountain Market And Deli
Five Tips for Stocking your Vacation Rental

It's a given that you'll need to make a big shopping trip before you check in to your vacation rental, and a trip or two to the local stores when you get there, but before you go to the grocery store check out these five...

Bar802
02/21/2022
We're Committed to Craft Cans

“What’s on draft?” - it’s a natural question to ask at any bar. But at 802, we decided to cut the drafts and go with almost all craft cans (with the exception of a few choice bottles) all the time. So our answer to that is "nothing."

Winhall Market Blog
05/23/2022
Caprese All Day

One of the most versatile combinations of food ever is tomatoes and cheese, right? Pizza, tacos, sandwiches, pasta - tomatoes and cheese, cheese and tomatoes. Our absolute favorite combo during the summer is any take on caprese: fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. We always have these three ingredients in the Market all summer long, plus...

Stratton Mountain Market And Deli
Three Stratton Picnics

The perfect picnic has three ingredients: good company, the right food, and a perfect place to spread out a blanket. There is no shortage of spots around Stratton to pack up a basket or backpack with snacks. But if we ha...

Winhall Market Blog
05/18/2022
Fiddleheads 101

Fiddleheads! We are lucky to live in an area where we can get cool seasonal ingredients like these. Vermonters love fiddleheads so much, we named a whole brewery after them. We have been lucky to get some of these super seasonal little guys in at the Market thanks to some local foragers.

Winhall Market Blog
07/17/2022
Cool Off with Cucumbers

Doesn't it seem like you wait all year for a garden to grow and then BOOM - you have more veggies in one week than you can handle (we're looking at you, zucchini). Today's recipes are for cucumbers - a mid-to-late summer staple.

Strattonmarketanddeli
10/07/2021
Spotlight on Ballyhoo Brie

There are many world-class cheeses made in Vermont, and you can explore the entire state’s offerings by following the Vermont Cheese Trail. One of our favorite stops on this tour is Plymouth Artisan Cheese in Plymouth, Vt.

Dirty Dish Media
02/16/2021
About

Dirty Dish Media is a content marketing company I spent most of my life working in the restaurant industry in both the front and the back of the house. I am a graduate of New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, and have a master's degree in writing and publishing from Emerson College in Boston,...

Editing

The Quarto Group
BOOK: The Brew Your Own Big Book of Homebrewing

Description The official homebrewing guide from top magazine and website Brew Your Own is packed with recipes, expert advice, step-by-step process photos, ingredient information, and more-it's an all-in-one stop for anyone who's into homebrew. Homebrewers around the world have turned to the experts at Brew Your Own magazine for more than two decades.

The Quarto Group
BOOK: The Brew Your Own Big Book of Clone Recipes

Description For more than two decades, homebrewers around the world have turned to Brew Your Own magazine for the best information on making incredible beer at home. Now, for the first time, 300 of BYO's best clone recipes for recreating favorite commercial beers are coming together in one book.

The Quarto Group
BOOK: The Ultimate Guide to Homebrewing

Description This is the perfect book for anyone getting into homebrew, with easy-to-follow instructions, must-try recipes, expert tips, and everything else a homebrewer could want. Get brewing today with a crash course in brewing ingredients and process. Then level up with dozens of recipes from some of today's top craft brewers-including big names like Allagash, The Bruery, and Surly.

Brew Your Own
Brew Your Own magazine BYO.com

Assistant Editor 2007-2013. Editor 2013-2017. Brew Your Own is a how-to print and digital magazine for hobby brewers making their own beer at home.

WineMakerMag.com
WineMaker magazine WineMakerMag.com

Assistant Editor 2007-2013. Editor 2013-2017. WineMaker is a how-to print and digital magazine for hobby winemakers and grape growers making their own wine at home.

Marketing and Business Plan Writing

Google Docs
Boxcar Bakery Business Plan

Boxcar Bakery Company Logo Boxcar Bakery Business Plan Boxcar Bakery Essex Junction, Vermont Principal Owners: Stacey Daley 12 Brownell Drive, Essex Junction, Vermont 05452 802-999-0613 MK Daley 86 Collins Mountain Road, Richmond, Vermont 05477 802-999-7019 Miss...

Dirty Dish Media
03/26/2021
Do Small Restaurants Need Content Marketing?

Your restaurant has a website, and maybe you write up some social media posts as time allows. But there are a million other more immediate demands for the attention of a small restaurant owner.

Dirty Dish Media
04/17/2021
Bringing the People Back, Part 1: Staff

Restaurant workers have lots of reasons for avoiding the industry right now. UI and pay is of course a major factor, but health risks also rank very high. People also moved on to jobs in other industries when the restaurant jobs seemed like they were never coming back.

Dirty Dish Media
05/01/2021
Bringing the People Back, Pt. 2: The Customers

Vaccinations are getting into arms, and patio season is here. It's a great time to start feeling hopeful about the return of small restaurants. The pandemic isn't over, though. And there are a lot of customers who aren't so sure about dining out.

Dirty Dish Media
06/19/2021
You Should Start a Blog

Blogs have been around for so long at this time that they've become ubiquitous with the internet. For a while it seemed like everyone had a blog and it became a little passé. But the flip side of this is - anyone can have a blog, even you!

Social Media Work