Praise and Thanks to - RETORTE

Hi again... Good news/Bad news...

Yesterday I started a new series honoring those bloggers I enjoy AND who link to me through the FOLLOWERS box in the middle column near the top. My intention is to write a little note about everyone who joins, as they join. I see from the raw numbers that 2 additional people have chosen to join, and I am thrilled. But the bad news... Something is wrong with Blogger, and I can not see actual names and links of anyone, let alone the new ones. I reported the problem, and got an answer back... Not my problem, Blogger is aware and I was to be patient, it will be fixed.

So, to the two people who joined yesterday, Thanks, I would love to see who you are, but please understand... Not my problem, Blogger is aware and you are to be patient.

That's the bad news. the good news is I am going to take this opportunity to honor one of my favorite bloggers.

RETORTE's author calls herself Wandering Coyote. She describes herself as a Thirty-something closeted head-banger. She has a couple other blogs that are worth a look. One is more personal, called "WANDERING COYOTE - Tattooed, Pierced & Potty-Mouthed" . This is very entertaining. You will get a glimpse into a darker side of this kind cooking blog friend to many. If you dig deep enough in that blog, you can find where she was pierced (maybe not all, but at least a few of them) and what her tattoos look like (same disclaimer, maybe not all). In researching for this posting, I sure learned something new about my blogging buddy.

But if the idea of piercing and tattoos makes you take a step back, her willingness to share, encourage and delight in food bloggers will make you take three giant steps forward! Coyote was one (in fact, I believe the first, but I am not sure) food bloggers that took me under her wing. She started following me early, she regularly commented on my posts and was willing to share blogging insights when I was first trying to find my individual blogging voice. Without her early encouragement, I am not positive if I would still be there, and certainly without that encouragement, my blog would look different. I like to think that when I write my blog, I am trying to hold a conversation with friends. I literally picture a table with 4 or 5 of you sitting around a table. I want to hold a conversation with those people that will interest them. It makes it easier for me to write when I pretend I am talking. Coyote is one of those people I always pretend I am talking to. I want to write something that will hold her interest.

She does grill on occasion. But mostly she cooks comfort food. She works in a place that will serve large quantities of food. She will do postings of making what could be boring industry food into something a little extra for her people. they are lucky to have a cook who cares so much. She participates in several series, recently guest hosting for "Magazine Monday" for a month to allow another blogging friend to take a break. She has a few series that she does, including a favorite of mine, SATURDAY LAUGH, which is worth a look just for a chuckle. The photo here is just an example. She also does a series called 101 USES FOR A ROASTED CHICKEN which is just what to sounds like, leftover recipes! I recently made her Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom LASAGNA, and it was terrific. She cooks a lot of bread recipes, chocolate, cookies and cakes show up most often in her labels file. She always shows LOTS of photos and very clear recipes and instructions. Her blog is entertaining and very useful.

I am sorry now that I didn't blog about making her lasagna recipe. My specialty is what i cook outside, and very few of my postings are about what I do inside. But just this morning I found out how exciting it is to have one of your blogs inspire someone to try something new. Today, Coyote chose to blog about her camping trip when she cooked fish inside corn husks, as I blogged about HERE. Fortunately, everything turned out well for her, and you can read about her adventures with fish and corn by clicking HERE.

So, Coyote, for being an early friend to my blog, for being the first person who credited me with a blog inspiration, and for all the inspiration you have given me to be a better cook and blogger...

I wish I had an original award to hand out, but instead, I like to do a scale of 1 to 5. Of course, I award you 5 body piercings out of a possible 5 (the max that I could find you have... But maybe you deserve more). Thanks for being an original!

You can do far worse than Clicking HERE and becoming a friend of RETORTE.