"blogs" news and stories

Find yourself with some free time (i.e. can't pull yourself away from the Internet) during the long, slow afternoons between Christmas and New Year's? Yeah, me too: Sometimes it seems like the only thing I want to do when I'm not drinking coffee is scanning my coffee-related blogroll for something new and interesting. And you might be surprised how much new and interesting content there can be in the more caffeinated sectors of the virtual world.

Read on after the jump for a few of the CoffeeMeister's favorite Net spots for a good strong shot of joe.

Frank Bruni is leaving the New York Times dining section. And food bloggers are freaking out.

In a world where restaurants live or die by the awarding of Bruni's stars, blogs like Eater declare this no less than an "Apocalypse." Bruni will be turning his attention to his new memoir come August, and will be a writer at large for the New York Times Magazine.

Now the hunt (and speculation) begins to locate a food critic with the ability to carry Bruni's swagger: Ryan Sutton at Bloomberg, one of the few fairly anonymous critics left in town? Perhaps the L.A. Times' S. Irene Virbila is waiting by her phone, since the Times has pulled from our rival city to the west (a la Ruth Reichl) in the past. Grub Street wonders if (gasp) a blogger will be chosen. And does anonymity, so hard to preserve in the Internet era, matter any more to Pete Wells, the dining editor at the Times?

Perhaps the most curious quote in Bill Keller's announcement is that Bruni "will be turning in his restaurant-critic credentials." Uh, could someone get us a copy of those? Is there, like, a laminated round of foie gras passed from critic to critic? Frank, just drop us a line and let us know.

[Via Diner's Journal]

Most photos of cupcakes make us smile for the same reason photos of puppies and Joseph Gordon Levitt do: They're just so revoltingly cute.

This carrot cupcake makes us smile for an additional reason, however. It's got dulce de leche buttercream slathered on top. How often do you come across a member of the carrot cake family that isn't topped with cream cheese (or, unforgivably, vanilla) frosting? Though Joy the Baker, the mastermind behind this inspired combo, gives her blessings to those who tilt towards cream cheese classicism, we think the jar of dulce de leche called for here is a vision that struck from another, more otherworldly realm.

We also can't decide what's better -- the idea of a batch of these cupcakes or the idea of sitting on a counter, jar in one hand and spoon in the other, waiting for the cupcakes to come out of the oven.

[Via Joy the Baker]

The folks over at Grist, an environmental watchdog blog, have taken Mark Bittman -- a cook and food writer for The New York Times whose work boasts a huge, passionate following including the Grist blogger himself -- to task for listing red snapper, a fish many consider endangered, in one of his recipes. A fascinating conversation follows in the comments section including a response from Bittman (aka The Minimalist) himself. Check it out -- but maybe not over a fish dinner, as you may lose your appetite.

Josh Elliott is obsessed with chicks.

Three in particular -- Pot Pie, Salad Sandwich and Noodle Soup -- have turned his head. A pro freelance shutterbug turned urban chicken farmer, he has devoted a blog to their adventures (and misadventures) called Three Chicks a Day that will break your heart with cuteness.

It all started when a friend introduced Elliott to home-raised eggs -- "definitely better than store-bought" -- four years ago. When he and roommate Chrissy Morgan finally adopted three dewy little critters last week, he decided to snap their portraits daily until they are old enough to move outside in about four weeks. The blog features photos with brief notes about the chicks' modeling preferences: Noodle Soup, for example, is a "strutter."

Elliott is among a growing number of city dwellers from coast to coast building coops in their yards. They are holding social events and even chat groups where forums range from incubating and hatching eggs to lively discussions about predators and pests.

In Portland, Ore., where he lives, three chickens are the legal limit without having to obtain a permit. With the blessing of his landlord, a teacher who found the idea adorable, he began building a coop and enrolled in a weekend-long seminar called Chicken Fest at a local nursery. Classes included Chicken 101, coop-building and chicken health and boy, was it popular: "I went to one class and there must have been 30 people [there]."

Why is Elliott going through all this?