Foodie Blog Obsession

I have become obsessed with food blogs. I turned over a new leaf this year, finally fed up with rotating the same twenty or so dishes through our monthly repetoire, and decided to search out some new favorites. So I've been studying cookbooks, scavenging magazines, and drooling over blog recipes and their accompanying photos. Makes we wonder what sort of photography equipment they have--obviously way better than my efficient little digital one-click.

I have tried a good many new recipes this year, and most of them I've really enjoyed, but I have to say, I think I have a pretty low ingredient threshold before I'm willng to give a recipe a try. And if there are sub-recipes within a recipe, it's a pretty hard sell. I wouldn't mind so much if I had a clean up crew waiting in the wings, but without even meaning to, my body is inwardly cringing at the ever-increasing mess as I go along. Clearly I have a pretty low dirty dish threshold as well. Which may be why this will never be a cooking blog, and why I'm destined to never try the really excellent gourmet recipes. Give me a three-to-five ingredient delicious little morsel, and I will slap it into the rotation and remain devoted. Wow me with the taste possibilities involved in a five-to-twelve ingredient dish, and I'll dutifully give it a whirl. But over twelve and I pretty much have to be seduced.

I'm making myself a mini printout cookbook of recipes to try as we speak, with the sources clearly marked in case I need to go back for pictures or recipe tips. Right now we're leaning rather heavily towards the sweets, which isn't nearly as useful to me--I have two chai baked goods in the cookbook already!--but evidently I'm a little more experimental with my baking. So I say, go with your strengths. And try to reconcile a few pieces of crumb cake with a Special K diet.