Food Blogs

Restaurant menu design might not be a frequent topic of conversation among home cooks, but food lovers (and what home cook isn’t a food lover?), design buffs, and those who love to cook for a crowd have much to glean from the creative menu’s play on type, color, and presentational style.

David Lebovitz, acclaimed pastry chef, cookbook author and blogger, welcomed me into his almost-renovated Parisian kitchen (see his original kitchen here). He was as delightful in person as he is on the page and screen, even amidst ongoing construction. Join me for a brief interview and catch-up session with one of our favorite bon vivants.David Lebovitz first enchanted me with his many informative, reliable cookbooks then caught me hook, line and sinker with his eponymous blog.

Did you know that there are more than 350 shapes of Italian pasta? We kid you not. You’re likely to only find only a fraction of that number at your supermarket or specialty grocery store, but even that can be overwhelming. How does cavatelli differ from cappellini? Which sauce goes best with which pasta? Thankfully, CHOW has a visual guide to pasta to help you sort it all out.

Joshua Weissman isn’t your typical 17-year-old boy. A few years ago, overweight and bullied in school, he finally decided to take his health seriously, but packaged diet meals and quick fixes didn’t help. Instead, he started cooking — and in the process changed his life.Now 100 pounds lighter, Joshua has won the respect of the classmates who once teased him and even inspired some of the teenage boys around him to eat a little better.

Looking for more feel-good recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth? Check out Healthy Desserts, the newest iPad and iPhone app from the food blog Green Kitchen Stories, which is full of gorgeous photos and recipes for an assortment of sweets, many of which are grain-free, vegan, or raw — and totally tempting.The app collects all of the dessert recipes from the blog, along a few new recipes, and will be continually updated with new desserts as they go up on the site.

These 7 vegetarian cooking blogs are a few of my favorites. Some are narrative, while others are more informative or educational. Taken as a group, they are pretty much all you need. 7 Inspiring Vegetarian Cooking Blogs The First Mess: Laura’s photos will be the first thing to draw you in, but it’s her unique and impeccably-tested recipes that will keep you coming back for more.

One doesn’t generally think of French cuisine as being vegetarian-friendly, yet vegetables are front and center in Clotilde Dusoulier’s French Market Cookbook. In this charming new vegetarian cookbook, the Chocolate & Zucchini author highlights seasonal, meatless dishes that anyone can love.

Feeling a little burned out on the food bloggers’ version of Valentine’s Day? One too many heart-shaped pepperoni, perhaps? This week we are asking experts to share their ideal Valentine’s Day menus and today the blogger behind the Tumblr and Twitter handle, S— Food Bloggers Say, gives voice to the bitter, the burned out, the ones who just don’t buy into this holiday. No candles. No roses.

Lyndsay Sung ended 2014 on a high note. She had a happy family, a successful baking blog called Coco Cake Land, a large and devoted following on Instagram — where she posted photos of the whimsical, adorable cakes she baked for friends and family — and a brand-new book deal. She and her pink KitchenAid mixer were ready to take over the world, one cute cake at a time. Then, in January, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is only 38 years old.

Last week one of the editors at Food52 declared that she just doesn’t find it worth it to make vegetable stock from scratch. It’s an interesting discussion, since you do have to buy vegetables specifically to be used in the stock, in addition to using scraps that you might otherwise discard. The author does make the point that for specialty vegetable stocks, like Parmesan, corn cob, or kelp, it’s worth it to take the time to make your own.

If you have been reading food blogs for any amount of time, you know there are certain types of comments that pop up again and again on nearly every food blog out there. We decided to have a little fun and turn these comments into a Mad Libs-style game that any food blog lover will appreciate. Recruit a fellow food blog reader to fill in the blanks and let the wackiness ensue! This is not authentic [name of food]!

Elissa Altman is the author of the blog and the book Poor Man’s Feast, a collection of reflections and stories of her life in and out of the kitchen. She is also a longtime cookbook editor and very well versed in cookbooks and books on food. Clearly she was the perfect person to tap when we got to wondering about which books that have really changed our lives, the books that have inspired not only our cooking but how we view the world.

Oh, did you think you were about to bite into a delicious BBQ chicken wing? THINK AGAIN. Cauliflower has been rising into vegetable stardom the last couple years, and these 12 insane dishes are definitive proof that it has magical powers. What other veggie can morph into sushi rice, tater tots, and tortillas? That’s right – none of them. Prepare to be amazed. All these recipes sneakily feature cauliflower.

Ice cream is the perfect dessert for busy hosts and there are so many ways to fancy up a simple scoop. Here’s a tasty, seasonal idea that would work for an autumn dinner party, or even as a Thanksgiving dessert: serve scoops of pumpkin ice cream in no-bake gingersnap cups! This recipe comes from The Merrythought, who make their pumpkin ice cream from scratch, but you could easily adapt the idea with good-quality store-bought ice cream.

Step up your slow cooker game with this relatively new channel on YouTube called “Cooking with Phyllis”. Phyllis Pellman Good is the co-author of the celebrated Fix-it and Forget-it series, and is prepping for the launch of her new book with these fun, accessible videos. Most of the videos are between three and five minutes, and are super comprehensive.

In all the history of cakes that look like other stuff, this cake is truly the most insane. Mhmm, that’s right, what you see pictured above is not actually ramen, but in fact a cake made to look like ramen. It’s OK if you need to cry. But wait! It gets even better – there’s a video of how to make the actual ramen cake.

Thanks to Instagram filters and powerful smartphone cameras, taking a great food photo doesn’t require much time or effort — which is what makes the food blog Pen & Palate so special. Instead of relying on photographs, writers Lucy Madison and Tram Nguyen use hand-drawn illustrations to accompany their recipes and stories, creating an online space that feels like a respite from the frenzy of the digital world. Both women write posts and Nguyen provides the accompanying illustrations.

Reader Pamela of the blog Sweet Peach wrote us today to share some “cute chickens” she recently photographed, and when I opened up the link, my jaw dropped. My friends, this chicken goes so far beyond cute. Here’s your dose of Friday chicken splendor. This chicken, people, is a diva, and she is named Izzy-Belle, which seems to suit her glam style.

Where I live, fall is not in the air. The late summer heat is relentless and there will be no hot apple ciders or spiced cakes in my near future, which is why I love this idea from the blog Will Cook For Friends: chai-spiced tea cubes served in a glass of icy-cold milk. It’s a way to enjoy the warm spices of autumn in a cool, refreshing treat! The ice cubes are made of strong black tea steeped with whole spices and ginger.

If we eat with our eyes before our mouth, Pinterest has only exacerbated this experience. We are able to share what we make with others, organize what aspire to do or make, and drool over beautiful photos. Whether you’re new to Pinterest or a veteran, these 13 Pinterest accounts are worth checking out –– imagine lots of decadent pies, cooking tips, and dreamy lookin’ kitchens.

For awhile now I feel like Pinterest has been swarming with eggs baked in avocados. Some of these recipes are plain, some have bacon, others are topped with cheese or even guacamole. For the most part they all look super pretty, as Pinterest photos are ought to be, but I just don’t get the appeal. Isn’t it just a hot pile of mush? Why would you ever want a warm avocado?

Do you have an Instagram account? Of course you do. The Kitchn got one a couple months ago and its been fun playing around with what kind of content we want to share. I admire these 15 food oriented Instagram accounts for their beautiful photos, quirky comments, and being able to tell a small narrative within the confines of the app. These food Instagramers come from all over the food industry –– some are bloggers, professional photographers, authors, or chefs.

Everyone has their tried-and-true hangover foods, but throughout history there have been a few cures that were so good, they were embraced by the general population, not just those nursing a headache from the night before. Smithsonian’s Food & Think blog recently shared the history of five favorite foods that got their start as hangover cures.

Some days you want a dessert that goes all out. Some days you want — scratch that, need — a rainbow sprinkle cake in your life. And The Cake Blog has an easy-to-follow tutorial to make it happen.How does one coat an entire cake in sprinkles? Well, you need a couple cardboard cake rounds, a generous coating of icing, and a shallow tray filled with one kilogram of rainbow sprinkles. (Add one unicorn and we’ll be living out every dream I had at age eight.

No, these are not real snowballs. Instead what you see above is a traditional Bavarian delicacy called Schneeballen, which translates to “snowballs” — ball-shaped dough strands fried in clarified butter and dusted with powdered sugar. Sound delicious? We think so.

New food website American Food Roots has a tagline of “Why we eat what we eat.” If you’re even remotely interested in food, we think you’re going to like this website. It’s a rich, engaging food resource that’s already becoming a wealth of information and a dynamic place for readers to share stories and videos.

I work online for much of the day, and by mid-afternoon I usually start to feel a little fried from staring at my laptop screen, and in need of a pick-me-up. I’ve been trying to create a more structured break time, a jause if you will, with a pot of tea or cider, and a small plate of something savory. I think these crackers—made with figs, walnuts, and flaxseeds, and perhaps smeared with a little bit of goat cheese or a dollop of apple butter—are calling my name.

Think making grilled cheese sandwiches for a crowd involves transforming into a short order cook? My pans fit two or three sandwiches, max, and require hovering over them to avoid any burns. No longer! Check out this smart tip involving two baking sheets.This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. The key to this process, as explained by Cook’s Country, is to cook the sandwiches between two preheated baking sheets.

Did you grow up eating a lot of baked casseroles anchored by a can or two of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup? If so, you’ll appreciate Esquire’s look at one writer’s culinary journey back in time, to his mother’s “fancy” chicken cutlets in Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup sauce. Can it be that bad, if he loved it so much as a kid?

Are you a Pinterest addict? Pinterest, at its heart, is a collective pinboard of photos that people find interesting enough to bookmark. Lots of these visual bookmarks are food-related — and we have been noticing some repeat themes, watching the food that people bookmark and pin over and over again.Read on to see some of our thoughts on what America wants to eat, judging from Pinterest. Do you agree? Add your own reflections on Pinterest food groups!• Visit Pinterest: Pinterest.

In a perfect world, I’d have a bottomless well of money, time and shelf space, so I could buy all the noteworthy cookbooks that come out each year.Alas, this isn’t a perfect world, which is why I’m bookmarking reviewer T. Susan Chang’s list of seven questions she asks herself when rating cookbooks. I think it is going to come in handy when I’m trying to decide if a cookbook is worthy of a spot on my shelf.