Ya know how sometimes you ask a woman a question, a very simple question, and you quickly realize you have made a mistake? She rambles and carries on and your rued the day you made the inquiry? Because, sometimes with us ladies, things are just not so simple? Yeah, I am that woman. Talking in circles and never quite to the point, you never really know where I am going to go. I always get there, though, even if it is more information than you need. Don’t let anyone tell you life with me isn’t an adventure.
A few months ago, WiB asked me for some cookbook suggestions. I finally got off my lazy ass a few weeks back to answer him. But, not shockingly, I have more to say. Cookbooks are a great start, but if you are looking for food inspiration and recipes, there are far too many places on the internet to ignore…so onward with more information than you asked for:
1. WiB has already told me he knows Epicurious (the most useful tool on the site is their extensive recipe review section), Food Network (you have to pick through some supremely craptastic stuff on here, but there are some gems) and MyRecipes (Cooking Light’s site…a friend to everyone watching their caloric intake). Two more super recipe sites everyone should have at their fingertips: All Recipes and Cooks.
2. Everyone knows the internet is really for porn; find your food porn at Tastespotting. The best of the best on food blogs reside on this site. The pictures are drool inducing and the recipes vary from beginner to ultra advanced. Hours of inspiration can be found on this one site. I dare you not to lick the screen.
3. Serious Eats is just that; a site that is serious about everything food. A handful of recipes are thrown up every day, as well as food related news, trivia and trends. Of the same ilk, I am also partial to Slashfood.
4. Some big national blogs to keep at the tip of your fingers are Smitten Kitchen (she never runs out of ideas and her recipes are concise and always delicious), Steamy Kitchen (you too can cook Asian food!), Dorie Greenspan (the undisputed queen of baking), Joy the Baker (her stuff makes me drool and I want to be her friend) and Coconut and Lime (every single recipe here is an original).
5. Finally, I have to give love to some of my DC Bloggers: the informative Endless Simmer, the incomparable bettyjoan (Yes, I know she just moved to Atlanta, but I am denial), the talented French Laundry at Home, and the always inventive Food Rockz.
This is just a primer and I have left off a ton, but this is enough to get anyone started. Have at it…and make sure to let me know in the comments any of your favorites.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Aw, thanks for the shout out! For those who might wonder about my blog’s schtick, I am nowhere near as sassy and funny as Lem, and I am definitely not as inventive as Food Rockz, and my photographs are probably the worst of any of the food bloggers mentioned in this post. BUT, I do focus a lot on healthier recipes, and if you want to know what’s going on in the Atlanta dining scene, I’m your girl.
Don’t undersell yourself, friend.
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Wow, two weeks in a row. I’m honored by your lack of self-control…
The thing with websites, for me, is that it quickly becomes an issue of drinking from a fire hose (UHF anyone?). It’s difficult to narrow down to something specific when there is the kind of recipe volume available on a site like, say, foodtv.
A friend asked me to help her find a recipe for sweet and sour chicken the other day, so I went to one of the websites (I think it was epicurious); I found no fewer than a dozen different recipes, with very few common elements among them (aside from the chicken, natch). So in that regard, I kind of prefer the cookbook, because it gives you a single recipe for a single thing.
Plus, dumping sauce on a $20 cookbook beats shorting out $1800 worth of laptop any day.
And I would, trust me. Murphy and I are close like that.
I am so paranoid about spilling on Diego; I cannot believe I haven’t ruined him yet.
As far as too many option; more is more with this kind of thing, I think. Like, if you hate, lets say, the cchives that are in a certain potato salad recipe, you can find one without.
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I also love Kalyn’s Kitchen (http://www.kalynskitchen.blogspot.com) for a healthier perspective (she puts a Southbeach Diet twist on many of her recipes.)
I see how WiB (or anyone newish to cooking) might be overwhelmed by the, oh, kajillion recipes online… maybe a cookbook would be the best place to start, something simple that explains about prepping, storage, different types of meat, etc… that’s what I did, but I can’t remember which one it was. Maybe The Joy of Cooking? That’s crazy old school, but a classic is a classic I spose.
I like Kalyn, too. And classics are classics for a reason…Joy of Cooking is the best.
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Good ones. A couple of those on your list I visit religiously too.
Some other recipe blogs I like:
Eat With Me: http://sseichinger.blogspot.com/
The Kitchen Sink: http://ourkitchensink.wordpress.com/
Simply Recipes: http://www.elise.com/recipes/
Adventures in Shaw: http://adventuresinshaw.wordpress.com/
Wow, I hit Simply Recipes religiously. I cannot believe I didn’t include it. Isn’t she fab?
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At the risk of being cliché, there’s always Amazon’s Al Dente blog ( http://www.aldenteblog.com/ ) – Instapundit links there all the time.
Not cliche…great suggestion. Thanks.
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