Food Blogs

The Internet has given us a different set of tools and ideas about cooking that didn’t exist before. Some of these things are a little weird (ahem, cooking salmon in the dishwasher), while others make our lives in the kitchen happier and easier as a result. So let’s take a second to appreciate where our favorite web browsers have taken us. We’re all Internet Explorers, after all.

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.

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.

Kaffekokarkoboken, which roughly translates to Coffee Boil Cookbook, is a blog dedicated to cooking food in a coffee maker. Katija Wluff created the blog a few years ago and now maintains it with the help of her photographer boyfriend Dan Sorenson. The couple live together with their three cats in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is probably, definitely, the craziest food blog I’ve ever seen.

Obviously not by accident, National Candy Corn Day is the day before Halloween. And if your office is anything like mine, you’ve been sneaking handfuls of the sickeningly sweet treats on a daily basis the last couple of weeks. The only way to celebrate such an important food holiday, of course, is by gobbling ’em all up. Some of these treats actually have candy corn in them, while a lot of them honor the candy with sugar and food dye (which is basically the same thing, right?).

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.

Eating your lunch at your desk is a common, mostly depressing topic. But these photos by Stephanie Gonot show something new –– a humorous, and dare I say beautiful take on lunch at the office. Baloney sandwich, anyone? The photos were done as a project for NEON magazine. It’s the colorful background and tiny, silly details that make these photos stand out. My personal favorite is the Lo Mein take-out box with the pencils for chopsticks.

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.

When it’s too cold, and it’s still dark, Honeycrisp apples are the reason I get up in the morning. I’m sure some of you can relate. Oftentimes instead of making anything with apples (not just Honeycrisp) I get antsy and just eat it plain, but this fall I want to explore the apple’s potential. These Pinterest boards have inspired me to step up my game. 1. If you’re looking for more apple-heavy breakfasts: FOLLOW: Apples Board – Baked by Rachel.

The Kitchn Cure started yesterday -– 2 weeks, 10 assignments to help you get your kitchen clean and organized. If you haven’t signed up for the Cure, or are worried that it might be too hard or take too much time, have no fear –– these dogs are here to hold your hand through the process. They know what’s up. STEP 1: Admit you have a problem. Gross kitchens are The Worst –– who wants to cook in a nasty, disorganized kitchen? NOBODY. Not even cats.

The genius of the Tumblr Sad Desk Lunch is immediately obvious to anyone who has ever had a job that involved a lot of lunches eaten in front of the computer at work, mindlessly scrolling through Pinterest or food blogs while trying to ignore ringing phones and loud co-workers. It’s hard to have a happy lunch at your desk. This week we are talking to experts about their best lunches to pack for work or school.

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.

Want to make the astronomy-loving person in your life very happy? Bake this spherical cake modeled after Jupiter, complete with layered insides representing the planet’s rock and ice core, layer of liquid metallic hydrogen and outer layer composed of molecular hydrogen. So cool!The concentric layers are made from the inside out. First you bake the tiny core layer, embed it into the batter for the next layer, bake and proceed.

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.

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.

Sometimes food can be so beautiful. These beet and goat cheese “jewels” are simply made by layering those two ingredients. The trick is that the beet coloring — from both golden and red beets — seeps into the goat cheese, which is what gives the terrine that beautiful, varied shading.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Done just right, crispy roasted potatoes are an almost-perfect side. We know potatoes pair perfectly with rosemary, but this variation takes it one step further by coating the potatoes in cornmeal and parmesan and roasting in a bed of rosemary and garlic. Don’t mind if we do!

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.

We know what you’re thinking: a) you love cookie dough, and you always lick the spoon, but b) that doesn’t mean you care to eat a whole bowl of it! But wait, wait! Before you dismiss this post, know this: things are not as they appear. This cookie dough dip has a secret. Care to know what it is?It’s made with chickpeas!

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.