Food Blogs

Some random thoughts today about food blogs.

There are number of 'gawker' sites on the web right now. I like to visit food gawker. (I think there are a bunch of others - many of which I do NOT want to visit)

First let me say I cannot BELIEVE how many people blog about food. I like looking at these blogs for a number of different reasons.

1. Some of the recipes look really good. (That would be the obvious reason) I have actually tried a number of recipes that I've seen and generally they are quite good.
2. Some of the recipes look really odd. Usually because someone is making them paleo, vegetarian, gluten free, low calorie or something else. You can't fool me. There is no way that you can make something taste yummy and delicious like you expect it to if you aren't using the ingredients generally used to make it. For example - you can't really make a brownie without eggs, chocolate and butter. Well yes, I know you CAN, but if you really like brownies, you won't like what you make. At least I won't like what I make. I just can't be fooled - I'd rather go without - or go with something else. For a while my daughter was doing odd recipes with food to get the most bang for her 'points' buck. So she'd eat things like chicken with the coating made out of bran cereal. We generally never had a repeat!
3. Holidays. The sites post lots of recipes specific to holdays, so for example, if you wanted to make an eyeball cookie for a Halloween contest, you can find lots of ideas.
4. Language. Here's a fun thing to do. Find a recipe that's on a blog that is in another language. (Usually it says:  In French, or In Polish or whatever language)  Copy the recipe and put it into a translator. Usually I am unable to make the recipe because I can't understand all of the ingredients and/or instructions. But it makes me laugh to see how some things are translated. And sometimes you can actually figure out what it really means, which makes the odd translation even funnier.
5. Different cultures. It's interesting to see the different types of food that people from different cultures make. And what they are called. I was looking today at a sandwich, but it's called a butty in this recipe. (Which I admit I have heard before - but not often). Wikipedia says it's used in Northern areas of the UK. Which make me click on 'chip butty'. How's this for a healthy sandwich - A roll (or bun) with french fries (chips in England of course) and a sauce (ketchup or brown sauce or tomato sauce). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE french fries (though I try to not eat them as often as I would wish to) but fries and ketchup on a bun just sounds kind of over the top to me. (Not to mention the fat and carbs that would be involved) - Though if I think about it - I've been known to have a sandwich with fries on the side, so maybe it's not so different, huh?
6. Recipes that I would challenge as a 'recipe'. This one makes me laugh too. I suppose if one HAD to write something every day about food it might be difficult some days, but when I see a 'recipe' for something like, oh, I don't know, HOT DOGS, I think - Really?? Warm up the hot dog, put it on a bun, add condiments, eat it. In my mind, that's not really a recipe. That's like saying - here's a recipe for toast. Put bread in the toaster. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy. I guess in my mind there needs to be some sort of originality. I realize the line blurs - especially if you have no cooking skills. Maybe some people NEED a recipe for toast.

Now, I know that some people have a food blog as part of a larger empire.  I'm thinking - Pioneer Woman.  She has cookbooks, a television show, home schools her kids......   But lots of these people look like they're just doing it for the heck of it.  I could see doing that some day...............  maybe I'll find one of my favorite recipes and post it - but not the one for hot dogs.  :)