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Food Blog Heaven
We could browse these recipe-focused websites all day
By Aïda Mollenkamp
You’re whisking, you’re chopping, you’re sautéing: Preparing food is a pretty active pastime. But sometimes you just want to sit in front of your computer (like you’re doing now, for example) for a little spectator cooking. When a food blog has good recipes, photos, and writing, it can induce a Zen-like state. Here are 10 of the blogs we read when we’re too lazy to enter the kitchen but are looking for a fix.
1. Cooking for Engineers. This analytical site appeals to our bookish side. The recipes are doable and the photographs instructional, so you’re set up for success.
2. Leite’s Culinaria. An intellectual, comprehensive look at food. The recipes (we’re particularly fond of all those Portuguese ones) are beautifully photographed and reliable—the site has an army of testers working out the kinks.
3. Definitely Not Martha. Leslie Meerburg takes you through her culinary adventures from fabulous to flop, and posts some witty commentary. She just returned from a blogging hiatus and has recently posted some delicious-looking cakes that helped us forget she was ever gone.
4. Cooking with Monkey. Monkeys make cooking fun. The recipe section here is full of comforting, nostalgic dishes, and while it’d be hard to actually re-create them (as measurements and true instructions are a rarity), it sure is entertaining to watch Monkey work his culinary magic.
5. Accidental Hedonist. Consider this site’s more serious approach to food if you happen to be the only sock-monkey-hater in the world.
6. Becks & Posh. Sam Breach’s tongue-in-cheek, friendly tone combined with her pretty, food-porny photography and seasonal slants have us hooked. This site doesn’t contain as many recipes as some of the other blogs here, but there is tons of cooking inspiration.
7. Cooking with Amy. Amy Sherman’s not afraid of more obscure ingredients—how many of you use cardoons on a regular basis?—but she also covers the standards, such as banana bread.
8. Simply Recipes. Elise Bauer pairs mouth-watering photography with everyday recipes that are inspiring and well written. If you’re not sure what you want for dinner tonight, a glance through Bauer’s latest culinary adventures is sure to help.
9. Smitten Kitchen. The food-porn factor of this site nears illegal levels. But to say the photography is the only reason we frequent this blog would do a disservice to Deb Perelman, who writes, cooks, and waxes on about food quite alluringly.
10. David Lebovitz. Pastry chef Lebovitz’s eponymous blog mixes wanderlust (he’s based in Paris) with sweet cravings (his recipes tend to be chocolate-and-ice-cream-centered). When combining sugar and France, it’s hard to go wrong.
CHOW’s The Ten column appears every Tuesday.
Aïda Mollenkamp is a food editor at CHOW.
Hi, I've been quite impressed with the food theme porn, I am passionate about photography and also the food, it seems interesting to mix these two facets.
Regards
Hi Aida Mollenkamp
I really love your Site, I'm really enjoying the content, especially cooking with monkey. Thanks.
www.thekitchenprofessional.com
yes, there are definite differences between terrycloth primate and sock primates cooking styles which goes way beyond what music and dance should accompany meal or snack preparation. while our views conflict on the use of marshmallow fluff in fudge, we concur that any chef worth his sea salt have good knife skills and masters is the use of a dry chem fire extinguisher.
Not to start another controversy, but Monkey is a terrycloth monkey, not a sock-monkey.
Totally different cooking styles. ;-)
I think its funny that you chose becks and posh since she has been very vocal in the past about her feelings about THIS site.
http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2006/09/chowhound-confounds.html
I am a HUGE fan of Jen Yu of Use Real Butter. I am kinda surprised that she wasn't part of your top 10 blogs. Jen's blog is well-written and witty.
http://jenyu.net/blog/
I love Dave's site, he's not just an amazing cooking he's a nice guy too.
Those mouthwatering photos are like crack to me.
Now, where's my pipe?
better word?
My vote for food blog: chocolateandzucchini.com
Aw, dang, someone needs to be shipped off to Language Log for a lesson in sociolinguistics.
Sorry, BBettinaB, but you don't get to decide either the denotation or the connotation of a word. The meaning of a word is decided by how the word is used and the context in which it's used. It doesn't matter what the etymology of the word is, what the...+READ
My vote for food blog: chocolateandzucchini.com
Aw, dang, someone needs to be shipped off to Language Log for a lesson in sociolinguistics.
Sorry, BBettinaB, but you don't get to decide either the denotation or the connotation of a word. The meaning of a word is decided by how the word is used and the context in which it's used. It doesn't matter what the etymology of the word is, what the dictionary says, or how people used to use the word ten, fifty, or a hundred years ago. A word means what the common usage in a given social setting says it means.
An attempt to regulate the use of a word for any prescriptivist reason -- moral, puritanical, social, whatever -- is guaranteed to fail if most everyone else in a given setting understands and agrees on a particular connotation that's different from yours. Language is an organic thing, and "food porn" doesn't share the same effect as "pornography" or even "porn" by itself, even though it took its roots from them.
Case in point: Few people in North America use the term "negro" to describe a black or African-American person. Its etymology simply indicates that it means "black," and sixty years ago it was inoffensive. On the surface, there's no logical reason not to use it. But language evolves, and today the word carries very different connotations -- connotations that only exist because a lot of people agree that they're there.
Those of you who get your hedonistic rocks off on linguistics commentary (some academic stuff, mostly suitable for laymen) should check out Language Log,
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
Or the old Language Log archives here,
http://158.130.17.5/~myl/languagelog/
I will gently suggest that anyone who finds it gross or crass to be a big fat food-lovin' hedonist may not enjoy websites devoted to food-lovin' hedonism.
-- From a feminist food-lovin' hedonist gal stuck in academia for far too long.-COLLAPSE
..and I thought "deep ramifications" was pretty funny, too..
I'm with chrislike. Sounds like someone found someone else yanking the chain in front of the pc..
Oh, excuuuuuse me! That's right, you're just here to educate.
hahaha
Ah, a troll. Sorry honey, these fish ain't biting. I do not respond to people who just want to start flame wars. I've said my piece on the subject and I do not intend to enter into a rancorous debate about it.
Lady, if you want/need to crusade against pornography you're in the wrong place. Using 'food porn' in the context in which it is meant here has absolutely nothing to do with sex slaves or addiction or any of the things you're railing against. I think you know that but are taking the opportunity to excercise your 'feminism' and what you think is your superior knowledge on the horrors of actual...+READ
Lady, if you want/need to crusade against pornography you're in the wrong place. Using 'food porn' in the context in which it is meant here has absolutely nothing to do with sex slaves or addiction or any of the things you're railing against. I think you know that but are taking the opportunity to excercise your 'feminism' and what you think is your superior knowledge on the horrors of actual pornography. Why don't you spend your energy doing something that might actually advance your cause instead of just attempting to correct some perceived wrong. I can assure you that the people on this site are not a bunch of depraved sex addicts or if they are it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they have read the word 'porn' in reference to a particularly luscious photograph of some wonderful plate of food. Oh, oh! I wonder if you'll approve of my saying 'luscious'? That's awfully suggestive. You're the reason that feminism as practiced and preached by you and your sisters has turned into a parody of the original intent. BTW, I'm a woman. A very successful woman.-COLLAPSE
As a student and as a feminist I take the issue of pornography seriously, and on this I will not "lighten up." It's not fun for many people who work in the pornography industry, nor for many who are addicted to it and who suffer (and whose relationships suffer) from this addiction.
I do not accept this usage of this word in this context as light enough subject matter to be "fun." Some...+READ
As a student and as a feminist I take the issue of pornography seriously, and on this I will not "lighten up." It's not fun for many people who work in the pornography industry, nor for many who are addicted to it and who suffer (and whose relationships suffer) from this addiction.
I do not accept this usage of this word in this context as light enough subject matter to be "fun." Some unthinking person thought up this usage, and while acknowledging that it is clever, I shall continue to stand firm against it. I think that the ways in which we use words can be important. The word "porn" is a very charged word for a lot of people and I think that its meaning should not be lightly changed without comment. I'm all for having an open mind when it comes to usage, but please, let's not have minds so open that our brains fall out.-COLLAPSE
Jeez! Lighten up BBettinaB! I think most everyone gets the meaning of this word when used in relation to food. What are you, the word police? The word is meant to be sort of over the top and not literal, certainly. It's used for fun. Ever heard of it?
Interesting, cookingwithmonkey. I have to ask, accepted by whom? I strongly believe that this word has a far narrower definition. I would welcome sources for this newer definition.
while bbettinab may be correct about the etymology of the word pornography, the accepted contemporary meaning of the term "porn" is any writing, images etc which elicits desire but has no artistic or literary value.
dodus,
I never said I spoke for anyone else, and if you had bothered to read my post carefully you would have seen that. I cited the standard definition of the word and made a plea for not changing the usage of this one.
It's not an intelligent use of a word. I know why it is used. It is obvious that it connotes titillation. Fine, you want to be a big fat hedonist who gets off on food, that's...+READ
dodus,
I never said I spoke for anyone else, and if you had bothered to read my post carefully you would have seen that. I cited the standard definition of the word and made a plea for not changing the usage of this one.
It's not an intelligent use of a word. I know why it is used. It is obvious that it connotes titillation. Fine, you want to be a big fat hedonist who gets off on food, that's your business, but I find it gross. Crass, even.
I can't help thinking that when people are using the word porn for pictures of food they are attempting to legitimate use of the word because it somehow makes all porn seem that much more acceptable. As a user of actual porn, you may not realize that the people you're achieving stimulation by looking at are often misused, overworked, underpaid, and sometimes not there of their own free will. The business of pornography is highly problematic and not exactly known for treating its employees well. For one thing it's unregulated. There are no SAG cards for these workers. Both men and women who appear in pornography are being used in ways that may have deep psychological ramifications.
For these and other reasons I will continue to speak out against the casual use of this word to mean photos of non-sexual things you like to look at. Actual porn has far more deep psychological meanings for both the viewer and the ones who are viewed.-COLLAPSE
Whew! Had to log in just to remind BBettinaB that she doesn't speak for me, or anyone else on the Internet.
I understood perfectly why the word "porn" was used, and I wasn't offended. Can't imagine too many people actually were.
http://www.WorstCookEver.com makes me laugh out loud pretty consistently. A very sexy, non pretentious take to food.
what a joy to be included on the list. thank you so much for the kind words.
i will say that ms. schmitz is correct. all the measurements and steps are included in my recipes. if i ever forget something, someone writes in to point out the error. i have to say, my intention was sharing the passions in my life, not education. i am forever in awe of the creative teachers who have used my site for...+READ
what a joy to be included on the list. thank you so much for the kind words.
i will say that ms. schmitz is correct. all the measurements and steps are included in my recipes. if i ever forget something, someone writes in to point out the error. i have to say, my intention was sharing the passions in my life, not education. i am forever in awe of the creative teachers who have used my site for everything from teaching cooking, math and task analysis to sharing, teamwork, ESL and giving constructive criticism.
well that was wordy... i think i need a refreshing beverage.-COLLAPSE
May I pick a nit? Please don't use the word porn for photos of food.
Calling enticing images of food "porn" is actually rather offensive, both to the audience and to the photographers who took the pictures involved. All definitions I've found of the word "pornography" specify that the matter under discussion is specifically devoid of any redeeming artistic value. The etymology of the word...+READ
May I pick a nit? Please don't use the word porn for photos of food.
Calling enticing images of food "porn" is actually rather offensive, both to the audience and to the photographers who took the pictures involved. All definitions I've found of the word "pornography" specify that the matter under discussion is specifically devoid of any redeeming artistic value. The etymology of the word pornography is "porno" meaning "about prostitutes" and "graphos" meaning "writing." It has specific sexual meaning.
I will not go into a lengthy dissertation on Internet porn and its effects on sexuality and relationships. I will only say that in the increasing use of the word "porn" to more generally mean "pictures of things you like to look at," I see an attempt to neutralize the real meaning of the word and make it seem less problematic. Redefinition of words can be, in some ways, a form of social engineering. This particular example could have ramifications one may not actually like. Think about a world in which the word "porn" has lost its meaning. Do you want to live there? Do you want your kids living there?
Please, folks, stop using the word "porn" when you really mean to say "art" or "photography."-COLLAPSE
Hi! I just wanted to note an error in this post: Monkey does have specific instructions like measurements, temperatures, steps, etc in his recipes. Many schoolteachers--friends of mine--have used his site to teach cooking skills to their students. So believe me, his recipes are complete!
Can't beleive you forgot one of the best ones, French Laundry at Home, where Carol cracks me up as she cooks her way through the French Laundry cookbook. http://carolcookskeller.blogspot.com/
I am a huge fan of Smitten Kitchen. I love David Lebovitz but cannot read his blog because it makes me cry for living in Connecticut instead of Paris.
Thank you for including me! (blushes)