Mark Bittman, better known to New York Times Dining and Wine section readers as the Minimalist, announced this morning that he is joining the blogging movement. His site is called Bitten and part of the New York Times family of blogs. He says that the goal of his new writing venture is, "to look at great food made with everyday ingredients and readily achievable techniques - as The Minimalist has been doing for a decade - not food as something to be admired from afar, but as a part of daily life."
So far, his blogging seems appealing and conversational, a more casual version of the voice we're used to reading in his weekly columns. I, for one, am happy to welcome Bittman to the blogging world. I think his perspective will be a valuable addition to the food blog conversation and I look forward to reading it regularly!
We're not planning to have an ice cream theme day, not until it gets a little closer to summer and warmer weather, but the fact that it's cold out doesn't mean that we're not going to get an ice cream fix between now and then. And Turkey Hill's Ice Cream Journal might just be the way to do that without giving us brain-freeze. The all-ice cream blog is the first one that I've seen out there and although there are a number of other food-specific blogs, I'm not sure that I could have guessed that there was so much to say about ice cream. Only a few posts are up on the brand new blog, but their post about spotting a happy face in the top of the ice cream container is pretty interesting (and it's only a matter of time before someone finds some sort of religious icon). Drop in a leave a comment for them, since they're giving away a prize each month to a random commenter. It sounds like bribery, but as long as ice cream is involved, we're willing to look the other way.
According to Yorkshire Post, baking at home is on the rise in the UK, and according to the UK Guardian, it's no coincidence that baking blogs are are on the rise as well. Baking bloggers run the gamut, from amateur bakers to professional pastry chefs, posting about their latest and greatest (and sometimes not-so-greatest) creations out of the oven. The Guardian highlighted a few, like The Pastry Department, written and baked by a former Phat Duck pastry chef, but the one that's important to us is Bakingsheet (now Baking Bites), the personal baking blog of our very own Nicole Weston!
Anyone who lives in, or around, Chicago might want to take a peek at this great map put together by Dr. Vino. According to him, the city has over 400 restaurants that allow customers to bring their own drinks to dinner, but even with so many places, it is hard to figure out quickly what restaurants permit this. The Chicago BYOB map is a start at cataloging all of these places so that diners know where they can - and can't - BYO. As of now, the map only lists about 45 or so places, but you can always write in and submit your favorite spots if they're not already listed.
And diners who are interested in BYO dining might want to check out the companion map of Chicago wine shops to pick up a bottle or two o the way to dinner.
If you eat a brownie that has some banana in the batter, can you count that has a healthy snack? Unfortunately, a bit of fruit is not enough to push an otherwise rich treat into the realm of health food, but it does mean that you're getting a few extra nutrients with your dessert - and we're willing to latch onto anything that gives us an excuse to try out these Banana, chocolate and pecan brownies from Johanna, at the Passionate Cook. The recipe is a great way to use up overripe bananas without making banana bread, the typical fate of such fruits. The bananas are combined with a good amount of butter and dark chocolate, as well as eggs, sugar and flour. Pecans are added in to give the brownies some texture and a pleasing crunch, and once baked, the already decadent treats are drizzled with dark and white chocolate.
Even with the bananas and the antioxidants from the dark chocolate, it's still not health food - but it never hurts to pretend, especially if you want a second slice.
Earlier this year, we saw the launch of a new Canadian blogging event, Canadian Blogging by Post that followed in the footsteps of the international Blogging by Mail and the european Euro Blogging by Post. The premise is the same for all of the events: packages of food and food-related items are shipped out and received by all participants. The events give everyone a chance to try new foods, "meet" new bloggers and just generally have a good time.
A new round of Canadian Blogging by Post is being hosted by Jasmine, of the beautiful blog Confessions of a Cardamom Addict. The theme is "our season's bounty," meaning that at least part of the package should focus on fall, fall flavors or fall foods. Unfortunately for some of us, the event is only open to Canadian bloggers (hence the name!), but we can all participate vicariously by keeping an eye on the host blog for a roundup of all the packages in the next few weeks.
Newspapers and magazines are slowly jumping onto the blogging bandwagon, and food is definitely a hot topic. We've seen food blogs now on major food websites like Epi-Log, the editor's blog on epicurious, critics' blogs like Michael Bauer's Between Meals at the San Francisco Chronicle and Frank Bruni's Diner's Journal at the New York Times. Now New York Magazine has a blog called Grub Street, which launched today. They have several writers, and wouldn't you know it, one of our own feature writers, Josh Ozersky, is the editor!
We always try to cover the Does My Blog Look Good in This? photo competition, where food bloggers enter their best food photos from the previous month. This month's round was hosted by Food Beam, a blog that is itself known for lovely photography. The "best in show" photo was of the Blackberry Semifreddo Sandwiches pictured above, from the blog Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once. The semifreddo is an ice cream-like mixture of blackberries, sugar and yogurt, with some whipped cream folded in, that is frozen and generally served by the slice, rather than in scoops. It makes a very elegant, but refreshing, summer dessert if you have a chance to try the recipe.
Be sure to check out all the winners, as there are multiple categories, including Originality, Best Food Styling, Best Lighting and Cutest. Hopefully, you'll be inspired to pick out your best food porn shot to enter in the next round of the competition, which is being hosted by Toast Point.
The flavor combination of chocolate and hazelnut is pretty much a match made in heaven. Just ask anyone who has even had Nutella. This Chocolate Hazelnut Tart has no nutella, but makes use of the flavors in a wonderful dessert. It was made from a recipe in one of Francois Payard's books by Turkish food blogger Zinnur at Our Patisserie and consists of several beautifully matched layers. First, there is the tart crust, which adds a crispness to the dessert and contrasts with the rich filling. On top of the crust, there is a layer of milk chocolate caramel, with hazelnuts stirred in. The caramel is topped with a chocolate mousse and garnished with chocolate curls and more finely chopped hazelnuts. Based on looks alone, a small piece of this rich dessert should be enough to satisfy any sweet tooth.
Thinking about Lemonade this morning put me in the mood for something refreshing and the Pink Lemonade from Simply Recipes sounds like just the thing. Elise's recipe is extra-pink and uses cranberry juice to give it its distinctive coloring, unlike commercial versions which use food colorings or concentrated natural colors to create pinkness. The natural tartness of the cranberry juice also helps it to blend well with the lemon flavor, creating a smooth and balanced drink. Sure - it's a tiny bit girly looking, but who could turn down a glass of lemonade, knowing that it was homemade? If you can't use plain sugar for any reason, you could try sweetening the juice with Splenda, too.
After the first day of the BlogHer conference, everyone was having a great time and enjoying meeting other bloggers. The food bloggers were having the most fun (according to those of us who met up, of course), despite the fact that the food hardly improved at all the second day. The biggest change was that fresh fruit was offered at each snack/meal, which everyone seemed to appreciate. But even though were talked about the food, everyone was more interested in learning about other blogs and what things inspired people to start blogging in the first place.
Blogging memes abound, and in the food blogging world, they're especially delicious. I just came across the Cookbook Spotlight, in which three bloggers invited the rest of the food blogging community to make something from the same cookbook. Apparently, 25 people all had a copy of Kitchen Sense by Mitchell Davis, which Nicole profiled recently. They all made something from the 600 recipes in the book "to make you a great home cook," and blogged about it.
Sarah had a point when she said that conference food is pretty much always fattening. I am currently at the BlogHer conference, along with a fewotherpeople from Weblogs, Inc., and even though the company is wonderful, I can say less for the food. When a hotel prepares fried food for a large group, it is inevitably greasy and heavy, so it was unfortunate that the meals centered on that. Lunch on the first day included fried chicken and dinner was a buffet of fried foods, like egg rolls and dumplings, as well as kebabs slathered in various sauces. There was no salad option at dinner, although there was a cheese plate. Any dinner dissatisfaction was quelled by the open bar, though I did hear some slightly dissatisfied murmuring about the fact that Pepsi, and not Coke, was the hotel's soda of choice. Many women opted for calcium-fortified water instead.
The Chicago Tribune pays tribute to food blogs, highlighting a few Chicago-based blogs as well as some well-known blogs around the world. The article focuses more on food porn - bloggers taking photos of food, whether out on the dining scene, or cooking at home. Here's a list of the blogs that the Tribune finds drool-wrothy:
So maybe you weren't so tempted by desserts made with soy. Or maybe you were and you're still on a Sugar High.
Well, for the month of July, Sugar High Friday is letting those of us in the northern hemisphere cool off in the high heat of summer with the theme of Ice Ice Baby. Sugar High Friday is a worldwide food blogging event created by the Domestic Goddess in which food bloggers create a dessert or other sweet treat with a given theme as a guide. For this 21st edition, food bloggers will be making sweet treats that are chilled or frozen, and posting them on Friday, July 28, 2006.
I'm beginning to think I should have gotten that ice cream maker attachment for my stand mixer...
Mark Bittman, better known to New York Times Dining and Wine section readers as the Minimalist, announced this morning that he is joining the blogging movement. His site is called Bitten and part of the New York Times family of blogs. He says that the goal of his new writing venture is, "to look at great food made with everyday ingredients and readily achievable techniques - as The Minimalist has been doing for a decade - not food as something to be admired from afar, but as a part of daily life." 
We're not planning to have an ice cream theme day, not until it gets a little closer to summer and warmer weather, but the fact that it's cold out doesn't mean that we're not going to get an ice cream fix between now and then. And 
According to Yorkshire Post, 
Anyone who lives in, or around, Chicago might want to take a peek at this great map put together by 
Earlier this year, we 
Newspapers and magazines are slowly 
Blogging memes abound, and in the food blogging world, they're especially delicious. I just came across the Cookbook Spotlight, in which three bloggers invited the rest of the food blogging community to make something from the same cookbook. Apparently, 25 people all had a copy of 
So maybe you weren't so tempted by 
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
Morbid thoughts? Have a cookie
