And to blog about it. And to share it with your friends. Don't believe me? Check out these recent items from around the interweb. As I said: All the cool kids are doing it.

Grilled pizza...

With caramelized fennel and olives from 101 Cookbooks

Margarita from Mario Batali on the Food Network. It's also in his new book, Mario Batali: Italian Grill

With minimal toppings from the Washington Post and toppings of your choice from the Boston Globe

Tips from Serious Eats

With bacon, brie, garlic and arugula from House Spouse, a blog I recently discovered

Without sauce (White) from Andrea's Recipes, another blog I recently discovered

With herbed mascarpone, asparagus, and smoked salmon from Napa Style

The Book: Grilled Pizza and Piadinas by Craig Priebe

You're cool too? Share your grilled pizza recipe with us!

When I was a kid, we had a set of popsicle molds that I loved. They produced round popsicles and the handle part had little circus animals on them. My sister and I would always fight over who got the elephant or the lion. In later years we got one of those sets with the build-in straw, that allowed you to slurp up the melting juice so that it didn't spill out all over your hands. In those days, there was just nothing better than a homemade popsicle made from orange or applejuice.

With summer undeniably here, what better time pull out those molds and make some of your own homemade frozen treats.

1. Check out the strawberry yogurt pops that those clever folks at The Kitchn stirred up.
2. At Kristen's Raw, she made popsicles out of green smoothie. Cooling and delicious.
3. Over at Brownie Points, they're making BBQ chocolate pops from the Essence of Chocolate
4. Al Dente is dreaming of popsicle molds in fun shapes and how they'll whip up the Vietnamese-style pops recently seen on YumSugar.
5. ErinCooks reviews a book all about making frozen pops and makes me hungry in the process.
6. The Pastry Girl (of Dessert First) makes lemon yogurt pops with raspberries. I start to drool.
7. The folks at Phoodie offer an assortment of suggestions for making popsicles. My favorite? Beer pops!
8. Nicole at Baking Bites does homemade Drumstick-style ice cream cones. Not popsicles, but certainly delicious.

Ah, the cheese plate! What would a party be without it? People gravitate towards the plate and it becomes the focal point of conversation at the party: "Have you tried this one? I highly recommend it!" There are many different methods to building this exquisite platter of tasty cheese.

Before putting together the perfect combination of cheeses, you'll need to figure out the aesthetics. To show off your cheese choices a slab of marble works best, as it highlights the bright cheeses sitting upon it. Something about cheeses displayed on marble feels reminiscent of an ancient Greco-Roman feast. In short, it's civilized and elegant. For those without a slab of marble at home, arrange the cheese on your best wooden board.

Now, the most thrilling part of putting together the cheese plate is selecting diverse cheeses that complement each other. Below are 8 different approaches to creating the perfect cheese plate:

1. Choose a variety: This is the classic way to prepare a cheese plate. It usually includes 4 cheeses, each made from a different milk (cow, goat, sheep, a mixed milk and/or a cheese made with buffalo milk). This plate consists of cheese with varying textures made in different styles.
2. Select a milk: You can demonstrate the diversity of either goat's milk, sheep's milk, or cow's milk cheeses by focusing on one. For example, you can display 5 goat's milk cheeses with varying textures and levels of piquancy from 5 different countries.
3. Pick out a style: Rather than focus on milk, you can pick out your favorite style of cheese, such as semi-hard cheeses. Within this category, you can choose 4 or 5 cheeses made with different milks but in the same style.
4. Focus on a region or country: It's always interesting to show how diverse different cheeses could be from one region or country. One cheese plate I love making concentrates on goat's milk cheeses from the Loire Valley.
5. Showcase the standard classics: Choose 4 or 5 different classics, such as Stilton, Appenzeller, Camembert, Valençay, and Manchego.
6. Highlight the unknown: Pick cheeses that are obscure. It's always fun trying something new.
7. Focus on the guests: There are cheeses that suit everyone's palate. Consider cheeses that your guests will appreciate.
   
8. Opt for quality over quantity: A small selection of fine cheese is always more memorable than a plate with several average flavored cheeses.
   

It seems like every other post on my favorite food blogs these days involves some sort of jam -- fruit, spice, anything! Here's a round-up of some particularly fetching jam finds on the blog circuit:

Tomato Jam from Habeas Brulee, who serves it with hearty dishes.

Oatmeal Cookie Rasberry Jam Bars from Cookie Madness. Jam is in the cookie, so it counts.

Strawberry Freezer Jam from Apronista, a newly discovered blog that it just gorgeous.

Strawberry Bay Leaf Jam from Mac and Cheese. Phenomenal strawberry photos.

Rhubarb Jam from Sugarlaws. Catch this while rhubarb's in season.

Spicy Fig Orange Microwave Jam from Simply Recipes. A post from last year, but how could I exclude?

Blackberry Jam Cake from Salt and Chocolate. Jam AND cake.

Mixed Berry Jam from Epicurious. Sometimes it's too hard to pick just one berry.

Have a favorite jam recipe? Send it over.

Pairing cheeses with condiments and/or drinks is all about creating a harmony of flavors. For example, you would want to match a pungent creamy blue cheese with a sweet condiment that would balance out some of the cheese's piquancy. It's all about unifying two foods that bring out each other's strengths.

One suggestion might be to focus on region. Many times, the perfect pairing involves cheese and wine from the same region. Also, there's a school of thought that says you must match a cheese and a condiment with equal intensities. This rule is not entirely universal, however. In fact, many of my favorite combinations involve stronger cheeses with lighter more delicate jams.

Below is a quick cheat sheet of 8 fool-proof pairings that are guaranteed to make your taste buds happy:

1. Stilton and port
   
2. Gorgonzola Piccante and chestnut honey
3. Fresh ricotta and berries
   
4. Roquefort and chestnut spread
   
5. Manchego and quince paste or jam
6. Aged goat's milk cheeses with olive oil
7. Cheddar and wholegrain mustard
8. Comté and mirabelle or strawberry jam

Lavender: So hot right now. Lavender.

1. Lavender Cupcakes from Chockylit (who sadly is no longer blogging). That makes this recipe worth more, right?

2. Pound Cake with Blueberries and Lavender Syrup from Epicurious

3. Amazing lavender cookies, jelly, cinnamon buns and more from Happy Valley Lavender

4. Lavender and Honey Salad Dressing from Sonoma Lavender.

5. Lavender Lemon Bars from recipezaar

6. Lavender Ice Cream from Philly food blog Straight from the Farm

7. Lavender Pizza dough, breakfast rolls and other sweet recipes from Napa Valley Lavender Co.

8. Lavender Limeade from Jardin du Soleil

As a child, I never enjoyed eating peas. I associated them with split pea soup which I almost always found to be a nauseatingly mushy green mess. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I recently tried pea salad with radishes and feta cheese. The peas were vibrant green and had the perfect texture, not too soft or too hard. The peas were bursting with flavor.

Currently, peas are in season. Restaurants all over Manhattan have peas somewhere on the menu. Here are 8 heavenly recipes involving peas:

1. Ham and Pea Pasta
2. Fresh Pea, Baby Potato, and Sweet Onion Soup
3. Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas & Spring Herbs
4. Pea and lettuce puree with tarragon
5. Pea and Mint Couscous
6. Pea tendrils with crimini mushrooms and leeks
7. Curried Tuna Salad with Snow Peas and Avocado
8. Sugar Snap Peas With Lemon and Toasted Almonds

Last year, we rounded up eight great pancake recipes for a Fat Tuesday celebration, but even though eight new pancake recipes are enough to get you through several breakfasts without getting bored, there are always going to be more recipes out there to try. So, without further ado, here are eight delicious new pancake recipes to try:

• Nosheteria's Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes (pictured) are light and tender, with the bright flavor of lemon backed up with a little crunch from poppyseeds. They're a great alternative to lemon poppyseed muffins.
• Keeping the seasonal citrus, but moving in a slightly different direction, we have Lemon and Ricotta Pancakes, which are delicate and just melt in your mouth when eaten.
• Oatmeal pancakes are hearty, but perfectly satisfying on a cold winter morning - although with a fresh berry topping like the one Elise used, they will satisfy in summer, as well.
• A giant Baked Apple Pancake can be served as breakfast or as dessert, but due to its size and addictive taste, it is best to save lots of room for it.
• A little bit of zest and spice can take a plain, buttermilk pancake to a whole new level, as they did in these Orange and Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes. Use any spices you like (ginger would be nice)!
• For those of you who are health-conscious when it comes to breakfast, you might want to try making a batch of No-Flour, No-Sugar Crepes to start your day.
• Pork-lovers will probably get a kick out of having their favorite breakfast side inside their pancakes, rather than next to them, so Bacon Pancakes should be particularly appealing to them
• Nutella is often spread on top of pancakes or used as a filling for dessert crepes, but mixing it into the batter for Nutella Pancakes eliminates that pesky extra step before consumption. Opt for chocolate sauce as a topping if you like your pancakes for dessert, otherwise stick to maple syrup.

Super Bowl Sunday is just over a week away. Almost everyone tunes in to the main event, whether they're watching the actual football game or just the commercials, making it the most-watched few hours of television all year. The Super Bowl is also one of the biggest snacking days of the year, and while pizza, hot wings and chili all popular choices, nothing flies off the supermarket shelves faster than chips, salsas and dips. You're probably better off using those store bought chips if you're going to be entertaining a crowd, but homemade dips can be even tastier and not much more difficult to make than store-bought. Here are eight great ideas for your Super Bowl munchies from around the blogs, but we'll be counting down a Dip a Day until the big game here, too:

• The Quick and Easy Artichoke dip from Simply recipes has four ingredients, is served hot and is ready in under 15 minutes.
• Mango Salsa has a fresh, Southwestern flavor from mango, corn, red onions and chilies.
• Similar to the salsa above, this Black Bean Salsa has corn, onions and peppers mixed in with black beans, for a heartier dip.
• Roasted Strawberry and Tomato Salsa is another fruity, but savory, dip. It features deep flavors from the roasted berries and heat from chipotle peppers.
• Susan's Artichoke Hearts and Roasted Red Pepper Dip is almost like a variation on hummus, made with tahini and blended until smooth, though it includes no beans.
• Spinach Parmesan Dip is always a hit at parties. Serve it with crackers or blue corn tortilla chips.
• French Onion Dip (pictured) is made from packet mixes all too often. Even though it's easy to use the pre-mixed spices, those versions won't compare with this homemade one.
• Too Many Chefs' Spicy Peanut Sauce is a great choice for dipping crudites, providing something a little different from standard ranch-type dips. It can also double as a dip for chicken wings.

The New Year is always full of possibilities. There are meals to be eaten, recipes to try and, of course, a slew of new food trends that will shape the way we eat and what food issues will be at the forefront of the news. Of all the trends that seemed to be pushing towards the forefront in recent months, these are some of those that look like they're about to have a breakout year.

Single Origin Chocolates - Dark chocolate was the hot item last year, but more companies, including Hershey's, are introducing and promoting single origin chocolates with cocoa beans from one country - or even one plantation - for their unique flavor profiles.

Healthy Soft Drinks - Jones Soda has eliminated high fructose corn syrup from their recipes. Enviga has been fairly successful so far, thanks to the large amount of publicity that it has received, and Diet Coke Plus will be coming to stores in a few months. Look for other soda companies to follow suit.

Healthy Food Labels - Hannaford supermarket introduced a labeling scheme of their own to direct shoppers to healthier foods and the traffic light system was a success in the UK. Don't be surprised to see more obvious messages about what is and is not good for you.

We already had a brief discussion about the worst holiday foods and responses included canned cranberry sauce and fruitcake. But it's no fun to dwell on the negatives when you're supposed to be celebrating and spending time with your family, so why not think about the best holiday treats instead? What are those foods that you look forward to all year?

When it comes to store bought treats, peppermint bark and chocolate covered graham crackers always seem to be readily available, but the best holiday foods come from home. Here are some suggestions from around the blogosphere for holiday favorites that should make your menu this year:

• Jelly donuts, a.k.a. sufganiyah, are a standard for Hanukkah celebrations
• I'm partial to oven baked latkes myself, but purists will want theirs fried in oil.
• You can make homemade peppermint bark and use it (or store bought) to make Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies
• Fudge is an easy to make homemade candy that looks great out on the dessert table.
• Gingerbread fans can choose from regular gingerbread, chocolate gingerbread, gingerbread men or spicy ginger cookies.
• Eggnog takes many forms, as well. It can be a drink, pancakes or even cheesecake.
• The Bûche de Noël, simply known as a "yule log," is a classic, chocolatey Christmas dessert that consists of a rolled, filled cake that is covered with a chocolate frosting and shaped to look like a log.
• Last but not least, we have the crowd-pleasing homemade marshmallows. Don't forget to serve them with hot chocolate!

There are a lot of different types of foodies, from those who love to cook at home to those who eat out exclusively, those who relish a great selection of seasonal veggies and those to whom meat is the most important part of a meal. No matter what types of food they fancy, there is going to be something out there, something extraordinary, that will make your favorite foodie's mouth water with anticipation. It could very well be one of the items on our list here. These are top of the line gifts, so some are quite expensive, but each and every one will be well-appreciated.

You can't go wrong with a good balsamic vinegar. It makes a wonderful addition to salads, as well as to sauces and marinades for all kinds of meat and vegetables. If you get a really good one, aged 25-50 years, the flavor will be rich and strong to the point where you might only need a drop or two to finish of a main dish or dessert. Aceto balsamico di Modena and balsamico di Reggio Emilia are the best types you can get, and they'll cost quite a bit more than the average grocery store brand, but are well worth it. Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena - 25 Years, $150.

If you know someone who loves to bake, chances are good that you frequently enjoy the fruits - or cookies, cakes breads, etc - of their labors in the kitchen. While they do enjoy what they're doing, why not use the holidays as an excuse to pay them back with something that every baker either wants or needs? This list has eight of our top ideas for the baker in your life and, even though some of them are on the expensive side, keep in mind that you'll probably have a chance to enjoy anything that the create with these tools, too.

Topping the list of great gifts is a stand mixer. They're great for mixing up just about anything you could want to bake, from cookie dough to bread dough. The standard is the KitchenAid 4 1/2 quart mixer, which is a great choice for the casual baker, but if you're really serious, you might prefer to get a more powerful machine, like the 7-qt Viking mixer.

Over the last week or so, we got some fantastic holiday dinner ideas from a lot of our food blogging friends. First, we were inspired by turkey and stuffing recipes, and then were moved on to some delicious side dishes. No big feast would be complete without dinner rolls or some kind of bread, and so we got some wonderful ideas for breads to serve, too. As we come down to the wire for Thanksgiving, we're finishing up our little series with a look at some outstanding desserts.

• The gold standard of Thanksgiving desserts is the pumpkin pie. There are several recipes to choose from for this category, including the Accidental Hedonist's fresh pumpkin pie, a back-of-the-can pumpkin pie, or a do-it yourself pie that sill uses canned pumpkin.
• Sweet potato pie is also a favorite, and the pie at Simply Recipes has a pecan topping which will add a nicely contrastive crunch.
• You can't go wrong with apple pie, and our detailed homemade apple pie recipe shows you what every step should look like.
• The Homesick Texan shares a pecan pie recipe from her grandmother - and grandmothers almost always make the best pies.
• Elizabeth Ryan's cranberry pie (pictured) at Kitchen Chick will add a huge boost of color to your meal.
• If pies aren't your favorite, you could always opt for Alpineberry's Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger-Pecan Crust.
• One Whole Clove gets some chocolate into her pumpkin dessert with a Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze and Pumpkin-Chocolate Truffle Center.
• And to really impress guests, bring out Pumpkin Seed Brittle and Burnt Sugar Ice Cream from Tartelette.

This is the first post in what will be a short series of great Thanksgiving dinner ideas from around the food blogs. Here's we're looking at what is possibly the most important part, or is at least the central part, of Thanksgiving dinner: the turkey and the stuffing/dressing. All of these recipes are from previous holiday celebrations because, as we all know, Thanksgiving comes but once a year and as much as we love the food and our families, the extra calories and the time-consuming preparation are something we can't do with all that often.

• Mom's Roast Turkey, complete with turkey stuffing from Simply Recipes. How could you go wrong with something that Mom made?
• Here's a plan for Thanksgiving for One, which involves a tiny guinea hen instead of an actual turkey, from the Amateur Gourmet.
• Beer Can Smoked Turkey, from Cooking for Engineers, sounds like a good option if you're looking for something a touch less traditional.
• 101 Cookbook's Sage, Walnut and Dried Fig Stuffing is inventive and is baked alongside the bird, not in it.
• If you're a cornbread fan, try the Mushroom, Bacon and Cornbread Stuffing from Something in Season.
• Gluten Free Girl has a recipe for gluten free stuffing, which is perfect for wheat-sensitive dinner guests.
• Four Directions Dressing from Tigers & Strawberries has a bit of just about every stuffing recipe you can think of.
• If you want to learn how to make deep fried turkey, check out the guide from the National Turkey Federation. They offer suggestions for adding additional flavorings, too.

As a bonus, here are some vegetarian "turkey" or turkey-substitute ideas to try out, all of which are nice options to keep non-turkey eaters from feeling limited to side dishes when dinner is being served. Speaking of side dishes, that's what's coming up next in this series.