A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Philly-area food blogger potluck. I love these gatherings, because it is an opportunity to taste a huge variety of foods, all prepared by people who more than usually interested in such things. At the last potluck, someone had brought a tray of what looked like plain tea sandwiches. Triangles of white bread, crusts removes, and a thin layer of orange-y cheese in the middle.
I steered clear of this particular tray for sometime, a little appalled that someone would have brought something so seemingly basic. Then, as I was talking to a friend, she said, "Have you tried the pimento cheese sandwiches? They are amazing!"
Upon her urging, I walked over to the food table and picked up a triangle and bit in. I discovered that what I had taken for soul-less white bread was actually a bit chewy and sour, with a fresh, newly baked aroma. And the cheese that was holding the slices together? Pimento cheese that was pungent, sharp, tangy and wonderful. These were not my Aunt Doris's tea sandwiches.
Earlier this week, Cookthink ran a post about the many ways that it's possible to reinvent pimento cheese, which made me start thinking of those potluck sandwiches. I think that there is pimento cheese in my very near future.
If you are here reading this post, chances are good that you probably read other food blogs as well. You may even write one of your own. If that's the case, you might be interested in checking out the survey that Shuna Fish Lydon posted about over on her blog, Eggbeater (a favorite food blog around these parts) on Tuesday. An Australian graduate student is researching the impact that food blogs are having on traditional forms of food media. If this sounds like something that floats your boat, feel free to go over here to the survey and participate.
But don't feel left out, he probably hates you too! If you run a food blog, that is.
Yeah, the chef doesn't like food blogs. He says he doesn't usually hate anything, but food blogs "live by different rules," as he explains. He's ticked that food bloggers are too snarky and hide behind an anonymous name or alias. That's not true with most of the food blogs that I happen to read, but whatever. Batali does indeed have some good points about blogging though, not just food blogs but blogging and journalism in general. He even gets in a dig at the people who published the essay.
You've been reading our ramblings here at Slashfood for over a year now, so isn't it about time you get to know us? We like to play 20 questions with our bloggers, just so you can see what kind of insanity is cooking in our brains. And kitchens. We've already met Nick, Joe, and one of our illustrious leads, Nicole. Let's meet NY-based Jonathan Forester, who definitely knows his drinks.
-- Sarah J. Gim
Do you have a personal blog?
As opposed to most of the other Slashfood bloggers I don't have a personal blog, just a simple website www.JonathanForester.com, which I don't update much. I have so many hot pans on the stove, that blogging other than Slashfood would be impossible right now.
er, what do you do when you're not food blogging? That's quite complicated; I do quite a few wildly differing things. I like being my own boss and having the option to take off a few weeks or months here and there to travel. I am a food & travel writer and a consulting chef/food & beverage business consultant. I am also partner in Winterport Winery and am opening Penobscot Bay Distillery & Brewery in Winterport, Maine. I used to be a mental health counselor and personal coach. I also worked as a corporate trainer/seminar presenter, an outdoor and wilderness educator, licensed wilderness guide, Outward Bound Instructor, and professional outdoorsman, and am also licensed to work with reptiles, including endangered species and venomous ones, and I occasionally do some work for beer, wine, and spirits companies. I also worked in the tobacco industry as a cigar/pipe expert, and designing pipe tobacco blends. In addition I have done a gazillion other fun things and plan on doing many more.
This month's edition of the food blogging event Sugar High Friday - an event that is sweet-centric - was hosted by Alanna at A Veggie Venture. Most of the themes for this event revolve around a single ingredient or one type of dish. The theme for this round was "a surprise inside," which was variously interpreted to mean surprise ingredients in otherwise regular dishes, surprise fillings and add-ins in some recipes and just plain surprises in others. There were over 65 participants from around the world and they submitted recipes that included:
La Festa al Fresco was an end-of-summer virtual potluck put on by the bloggers from Cream Puffs in Venice and La Mia Cucina. The premise was to use at least one fresh ingredient in a dish that was seasonally appropriate. Since food bloggers don't need too much of an excuse to get into the kitchen and start cooking, the turnout for the "party" was huge, with dishes from 57 bloggers! The roundup of all of the entries was posted in two parts, and can be read here and here, but if you want to have your own Festa at home, these were some of our favorites from the event.
Food bloggers love food to the point where they have made a hobby out of not just finding, cooking and eating it, but out of sharing it with the world. Melissa, at The Traveler's Lunchbox, came up with a brilliant way that food bloggers could share their recommendations on the very best of what and where to eat in the world with the The Foodblogger's Guide to the Globe. The Guide is a meme in which every participating food blogger chooses their top five things to eat before you die. The original post has a shorthand list of all the suggestions, with links to their full descriptions on individual blogs.
The only problem is, of course, that there are so many food bloggers that you might never be able to try them all - or if you decide to start, you could find yourself jet-setting around the globe in search of food.
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.
Across Europe bloggers are planning a little foodie exchange. It's such a fun thing to do (and I know there have been Canadian versions) where five or six little food related items are carefully selected and packaged for shipping out to a fellow food blogger.
The anticipation of receiving a parcel in returnis hard to explain - but as you don't know from who yours will be from just adds to the fun and excitment. There are the nerves that yours wont arrive in time or in one piece (such are the vagaries of the postal services) but invariably they do and then the anticipation over what you will be getting in return. Sometimes it is a blogger you read, other times it is someone new. It certainly broadens the on-line community spirit. In the past I have received fresh lemons from a bloggers garden, a delicious cheesecake (tricky sending fresh stuff in the post though), jams, spiced bread and more. Others have sent magazines, ingredients and recipes, homemade jams, speciality chocolates - all sorts in fact.
This is the fifth time a UK blogger has hosted such an exchange. This round sees Cooksister organising the list. She has selected a Summer theme for the goodies. What joys await!
I think everyone is still recovering from the truly scrumptious food that Johanna (Passionate Cook) and Jeanne (Cooksister) 'threw together' for a little bloggersmeet up yesterday. I say still recovering as only one has managed to blog about it yet - except OwlFish (who is middle of back row in turquoise top - I think).
We convened in Johanna's London pad, drank copious amounts of pink Cava (well I did) and ate until the sun went down. All that Cava makes Andrew a thicko as I can't actually remember who is who in the photo. Jeanne is far left next to the delicious Pille, who stopped off on route to Greece, then Johanna. In front of Johanna, looking demur is Xochitl of Xochitl Cooks. The Chap behind is her husband whose name I forget. We have Christina in front of OwlFish (again a name is needed Andrew!). Standing next to her in the black top is Anna of (one of my favourite blogs) Annes Food. Peeking over her shoulder is Amy - who gave us a load of gossip from the San Fran blog scene - and in the red is June of Bread, Water, Salt, Oil . That is me in the white shirt and sun-glasses before the chocolate fountain decided to drip all over my pristine attire!
I am sure all these bloggers have their own take on events to blog about - as soon as everything has been fully digested! I have loads of photos to sort out of one of the best UK blog-meets that we have had.
Raise your hand if you have heard the phrase "cheese sandwich blog" before. Don't worry if you haven't,
since it isn't as widely used today as it was when it first cropped up back in early 2002.
Pete Wells, of Food & Wine Magazine, may not be familiar with food blogs, but he appears to be quite well
versed in the use of outdated terminology. In an article for the magazine this month, he
uses the term to slam more than a few food bloggers as being trite and uninteresting, criticizing everything from
the photography to the topics blogged about.
The sites he does recognize as being worthy of his notice are excellent, including Deep End Dining and Food Porn
Watch, the aggregator that lists hourly updates of hundreds of food blogs. Since the author is based in Brooklyn,
he also naturally gravitates towards blogs like the Brunei Digest.
Entertaining though it is, the Digest is not a food blog as much as it is a make-fun-of-Frank-Brunei blog, and is
largely irrelevent to people who live outside the Greater New York Area.
A jar of honey can become a sticky mess. Next time you're adding honey to another dish or a mug of tea, use a honey dipper to prevent a thick gooey layer from spreading.
If you are here reading this post, chances are good that you probably read other food blogs as well. You may even write one of your own. If that's the case, you might be interested in 
But don't feel left out, he probably hates you too! If you run a food blog, that is.
You've been reading our ramblings here at Slashfood for over a year now, so isn't it about time you get to know us? We like to play 
La Festa al Fresco was an end-of-summer virtual potluck put on by the bloggers from 
Across Europe bloggers are planning a little foodie exchange. It's such a fun thing to do (and I know there have been Canadian versions) where five or six little food related items are carefully selected and packaged for shipping out to a fellow food blogger.
Raise your hand if you have heard the phrase "cheese sandwich blog" before. Don't worry if you haven't,
since it isn't as widely used today as it was when it first cropped up back in early 2002.
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
