Someone told me that she hates it when bloggers sign in after a long hiatus and write something like "it's been so long since I blogged and here are my excuses" (or maybe it was someone else expressed that sentiment to her, and she subsequently told me this)... but whatever. it doesn't matter. Just very momentarily I'm disregarding any feelings of resentment such people might feel towards me. Because yeah, it's been a really long time since I posted anything on this little blog. And yes, I've been really busy and blahblahblah. But I think that the reasons that I haven't posted on this blog in so long have more to do with an identity crisis of sorts.
The truth is, I always felt like a bit of an imposter in writing this blog. I billed it as a food blog and mainly posted recipes that I've tried. In reality there are millions-- maybe even billions?--of food blogs on the web. Most of them are really good. I love visiting them, I get fabulous tips and ideas and inspiration from them. And on top of that there are all of the professional webpages out there that are dedicated to food writing/instruction (see marthastewart.com for example), and the magazines devoted to the topic, not to mention all of the beautiful and shiny and insightful (and well tested) cookbooks that are published each year. The world of food writing and blogging is (over)-saturated--saturated by the writings and creations of people who are much more skilled and creative than I am in the kitchen. So anyways, this realization left me a bit embarrassed to post anything up here. I'd post recipes that I was excited about, but why do that when there is so much of this information out there in such better form than I could ever hope to present it? And so, tail between legs, I left the blog.
Sometimes though the weblink to this site pops up in my browser when I start to type in something else that starts with the letters "www.foo" and I'm reminded of this project that I abandoned. And I feel a bit sad. And I've been reading recently about how important it is to write, and how it helps you to deal with the world that you are experiencing. And so, I'm revisiting the blogging experience. This post might represent the beginning of an evolved blog. We shall see.
For now, I'll just post some links to some food blogs, and then some links to some other sites, beyond the world of food, that I love.
First the food blogs:
www.smittenkitchen.com -this is probably my all time favorite food blog. Her recipes are manageable and delicious.
www.davidlebovitz.com-because who doesn't love a former chez panisse pastry chef who has uprooted himself and moved to Paris? He has great dessert (chocolate) recipes.
www.chocolateandzucchini.com-Written by an adorable french woman. Her recipes are often creative, healthy, and inspiring.
www.simplyrecipes.com-The name of this blog doesn't lie. I go here for basic ideas/instructions. For example, I learned how to boil an egg on her blog.
Now for some other sites that are inspiring me as of recently:
www.brainpickings.org - Great culture stories. Easily digestible ideas and information. I love this part of the site's mission statement:
"Because creativity, after all, is a combinatorial force. It’s our ability to tap into the mental pool of resources — ideas, insights, knowledge, inspiration — that we’ve accumulated over the years just by being present and alive and awake to the world, and to combine them in extraordinary new ways. In order for us to truly create and contribute to the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these ideas and build new ideas — like LEGOs. The more of these building blocks we have, and the more diverse their shapes and colors, the more interesting our creations will become"
http://mrbellersneighborhood.com/
I just discovered this site. Submitted stories about New York City. I love this story about the chocolate egg cream: http://mrbellersneighborhood.com/2012/03/i-love-you-u-bet
[and by the way, if you haven't ever had a chocolate egg cream, well, you must make yourself one!]
http://www.thedaysofyore.com/
Features interviews with artists, writers, etc. about how they ended up where they did.
Interesting and inspiring.
And with that, I'm signing off. Until next time, whenever and whatever that might be!
