Writing this food blog has given me the perfect excuse to spend intemperate amounts of time reading about food, eating it and indulging my curiosity about where it came from by asking inquisitive and prying questions of producers, chefs, marketers and growers. Burying my nose in cookbooks for hours at a time, sometimes resulting in a lack of time to actually cook a family meal has become an occasional blogging occupational necessity. Blogging has also gone some way towards validating the hours I happily spend trawling around in markets, food shops, kitchenware stores and book shops. And it has made me fat (ter). It appears that the hours I spend online wandering from one delicious food site or blog to the next have had some unanticipated affect on my mid-section and lower torso, causing them to expand and lose tone and strength. It took some time for me to realise this had happened and, as we all know, once this kind of damage has occurred it is an extremely testing matter to reverse it.
Clearly, this is not my fault and I feel it is time to lay the blame squarely where it belongs. I want to make use of this post to name and shame some of the exceptionally engaging and informative blog sites who have grasped my attention and contributed to the downfall of my girlish figure! There are so many blogs that I visit and read that it would be impractical to list them all. I have whittled it down to five that I really enjoy, but there are plenty of others out there in the ether who bear their share of responsibility for my waistline, too!
Syrians are particularly noted for their cuisine and Damascus is one place in which I would just love to spend some time eating. Until I can manage that, this London based, Syrian expat surgeon’s blog has plenty to keep my interest. His recipes are accessible and delicious and I love the glimpses of the Syrian lifestyle he shares.
Catering to my love of Middle Eastern food, this blog is written by Lebanese-born and bred but Sydney-based ((hmm – I’ve just noticed a theme) Fouad Kassab. Fouad supplies great recipes, beautiful photo’s and wonderful stories of a Lebanese childhood – a delight to read and an inspiration for my cooking.
The Sydney author, Celia, uses this blog to document what she refers to as her quest for “quasi-sustainability” on the domestic front. It seems to me that she must be something of an over-achiever, but I am very grateful for this quality in her. She is an endless source of practical, accessible recipes for anything from chocolate chip cookies and sour-dough bread, to making your own vanilla essence or homemade pectin for jam setting. I regularly trot into the kitchen after being inspired by her, although I still haven’t found the bottle of vodka I had stuffed with vanilla beans before Xmas. Of course, my innocent teenagers swear they have no information at all about it.
Food Politics by Marion Nestle
That’s three new blogs for me to check out! I already know and love Celia’s blog and The Food Blog (how did he score that blog name?!) Thanks Amanda.
Agreed on “The Food Blog”‘s name – a piece of SEO heaven, really!
Hi Amanada, just thought I ‘d return your visit! I know what you mean about the expanding waistline! I think Celia at Figjam and Lime Cordial has become a meeting point for so many of us – I love her chicken tales and her new garden as well as her wonderful recipes.
Thank you for enticing me to read even more food blogs, I am sure they are going to be wonderful!
Celia is a wonderful blogger and I can see why you are inspired by her!
Your expanding waistline is dutifully thanked & truly appreciated for such commitment to your craft Amanda (aahhh yes, blog hopping is a craft…. I have deemed it so!!!), I love hearing of such genuine shout outs as you’ve given here. Couldn’t agree more on Celia’s blog, I am a huge fan of her writing, recipes & meandering around that awesome garden of hers. Thanks for sharing the others, I don’t believe I’ve visited them, but I’m off to do that now.
Amanda, I feel your pain of the expanding mid-section and lower torso – a common blogging condition I think.
Thanks for the introduction to a couple of blogs I have not visited yet and Celia is truly amazing. Our week would not be the same without her posts.
🙂 Mandy
Blog induced weight gain is rife her too !
Thought you were next going to say you were heading off to a yoga class with all that about losing muscle tone & strength: don’t worry, we love you the way you are and thanx for all those delicious suggestions as to where to head in blogsville! Sedentarianism not all bad!
No wonder your writing is so heavy-weight (I won’t comment on the rest of you!)
Oh I hear you… Strange how sitting more, baking more and eating more hasn’t agreed with my ample mid section. It’s so confusing as to why….(pilates now booked in.)
You had me laughing at the expanding midsection, same here, after I discovered all these wonderful food blogs and their equally tempting food photos. I just love how you write Amanda 🙂
I read both the first two blogs regularly; love fouad’s blog for his witty writing, great photos and creative recipes; love David’s for his entertaining and informative writing. I don’t know the third one, will check it out.
Thanks for all of your supportive replies, everyone. It is comforting to know that I am not the only one suffering from this blogging side-effect. I wonder if there is any kind of support group for us? 😉
A, that is so nice of you, thank you (and everyone else for their lovely comments, I’m feeling very blessed to have such great friends!). 🙂
For what it’s worth though, I’ve made myself fat too. Seriously. As I eat this last cacao-nib stuff chocolate cane toad, I’m promising myself tomorrow I’ll start being good.. 😉
Thanks for telling us about your fave blogs, I’m in the midst of checking out ‘The Food Blog’ and ‘Fig Jam & Lime Cordial’. I particularly like the latter one. Just what I needed – more time wasting on the computer 😉
Until I read this post…I pretty much blamed my expanding hips on my Hubby who ‘lives to eat’ and I indirectly enforce it. LOL
Like some of your selected choices…always a pleasure to make time to visit with them.
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Thanks Amanda, I particularly liked Syrian foodie in London, funny I assumed he is a she though. Like you, I am a big fan of Middle Eastern food.
I perfectly understand you, Amanda! I feel exactly the same… especially now thatI’m not walking well… Weight, weight, weight…
Ahhh, but reading blogs is fun, isn’t it! And you can look at it as an education – I have learned so much through blogging.