Praise and Thanks to - COOKING THE FOOD of LOVE and THE PROJECT TABLE and GIRLS ARE MADE OF...

Hello, Hello, Hello...

It was a busy day yesterday on my followers section (those little faces in the top of the middle column). 3 people chose to join my cult, and stop in every so often to see what I have to say. And it must be some kind of cult because these three people could not be more different. I am excited to have even one follower, but to ad three in one day is very exciting for me... I spent a bit of time on each site, and these are all great sites worth a look...

First, I am very excited to introduce a new blogger to you all... I am going to assume she is new to most of you because she posted her very first post yesterday. Yep, grand total of one post on her site. But don't think that this girl has no chops. Her first post is on a BEAUTIFUL LOOKING SITE...
I have a feeling this isn't her first rodeo... Or she is lots smarter than I am (what are the odds). This is the photo that GIRLS ARE MADE OF THIS... uses as a header. It is the first thing you see on her site, and that is a beautiful thing indeed. BTW, you can find her site by clicking HERE. It took me a month to figure out how to put a photo in my header, and she does it right out of the chute. She uses pretty side side patches to fill in (instead of the plain green that I have). She has beautiful pleasing looking site, and that counts for a lot when starting. Already her site is better looking and more "professional" looking than mine is.

GIRLS ARE MADE OF... is owned and operated by NAT. She is the mother of two "darlings" and married to the love of her life. Again, I notice that there seems to be a lot of happily married food bloggers in the world... Coincidence??? Her first post shows the priorities in her life... Kids and shoes. She is off to shop for that all important first Halloween costume for her daughter, and she brags of finding shoes for 50% off. What is not to love about that?

OK, here's a project for you all... Remember that first post that you made, and wondering if anyone would ever read it, and would ever care? If it only took an hour for your first comment, or 3 months, those early days of blogging took faith that you had something of interest and that eventually you hoped to be accepted. Do me a favor, take just a second and drop by Nat's site and leave a comment. I LOVE blogging and all bloggers. Let's make Nat welcome to (dare I say) Our World. Drop her a comment, Welcome Nat to our world and make her feel like she is, "One of Us, One of Us" Click HERE and say Hi. Wouldn't you have liked people to have done that for you?

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OK, I mean no offense to any of you. I love your blogs, and everyone tries to get a unique look, and pleasing layout. But you all (and especially include me in that "you all") pale in comparisons to my next new blogging buddy. Hands down, no exception, her blog is absolutely the prettiest blog I have ever seen. I GASPED when i saw it for the first time. Literally gasped (but, no one was around to hear it but my cat, so I can plead the fifth later). Click HERE and go take a look at THE PROJECT TABLE site and you may spend the rest of your day with a hangdog look cause, "We're not Worthy, We're not Worthy". When someone has a really nice looking header photo, I like to cut and paste it into these reviews, but i don't want to spoil that gasp that you are going to let out when you first see her site. I will however show you this...

Rainey, as she calls herself, made this cake from little Reese's cups, and the icing between the layers is a mix of peanut butter and chocolate between three layers of chocolate cake, with a cream cheese frosting... Come on, this girl has design chops and cooking chops. She made this for her baby's birthday (her baby is 25). I am collecting different cake recipes for my wife's birthday this month from you all. I haven't made a final decision, but I sure moved this cake high on the list. You can find the recipe for this by clicking HERE.

Rainey is more than just a one trick pony, she does food content on her site as part of FOODIE FRIDAY. She posts some great decorating and craft projects (there's always something happening at the PROJECT TABLE). She also takes beautiful photos. In fact, so many beauties that she creates what she calls "MOSAIC MONDAYS" that show off her creativity... Like this one...

But just in case you think she is some delicate artsy fartsy creature, I suspect she has a "wicked" sense of humor... I stole this image from her site as well...

I have fallen in love with Rainey's site, listed her in my blogroll, and joined as a follower... If you click HERE, take a look around, I suspect many of you will do the same.

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My final joiner from yesterday is Brannon Moore who has an amzing project on his site, called... COOKING THE FOOD OF LOVE. You can get there by clicking HERE, and it is really worth a look.

Brannon is also a new blogger, with only a handful of posts, but he also has an amazing looking site. Be sure to have your browser set for full screen when you first get there, as he has wonderful images on the far right side that you might miss if you use little windows (as I did, had I not started these reviews, i would have missed that nice touch).

Brannon is doing a book cookthrough project, much like my Steven Raichlen project. As I am finding out, this takes a big commitment, and I am excited to follow his progress. ESPECIALLY since his food is foreign to me, and I learn so much from reading his stuff. Brannon describes himself as... " As far as my personal background goes, the mother's side of my family is ivory-white, while my father's side is a little more toasty-brown. Plus, my aunt is Vietnamese, which has put a lot of interesting food on the table from time to time." But he is obviously in love with his "Persian Princess". A lovely sounding girl, born in Tehran and now settled into life in Seattle. In tribute to his lady friend, he has decided to tackle this project...“I’m cooking my way through ‘The (New) Food of Life,’ by Najmieh Batmanglij, perhaps the definitive guide to Persian food in English. Brannon, or as he calls himself, The Food Ninja, is among the most insightful writers in blogdom. His posts are all intelligently written, makes you consider the history and culture, much more interesting than just a recipe and a photo. I love every posting...

But one post really... Sticks Out

Yes, take a close look... He gives detailed instructions on how to cook PENIS SHAPED STUFFED POTATOES. Oh sure, there is a Persian name for this dish... dolmeh-ye sibzamini, sure, an exotic sounding name that would make you sound exotic when you present this to your guests, but everyone will know that what you are really serving are PENIS SHAPED STUFFED POTATOES.

This dish is basically hamburger, onions, egg and tomato paste, sauteed and stuffed into a hollowed out potato and capped. No exotic ingredients, but as long time readers know, I am a sucker for presentation. I picture you ladies serving this up at the next luncheon you are hosting with your church group. In fact, next pot luck dinner my church has, I may present this dish (I am getting a bit of a reputation anyway). The food ninja suggests this dish at a bachelorette party, but I immediately decided to serve this next time my mother-in-law visits. The mind reels... Anyone interested in a challenge... During the month of November, who can find the most entertaining place to serve PENIS POTATOES??? Maybe a series, where this dish is served at least once a month somewhere inappropriate... Take that TUESDAYS WITH DORRIE and your fancy desserts! Hey, how about a personal challenge throwdown between me and Buffalodick from Opinions and Rectums (you remember, my buddie, A**hole who got me in trouble during church services... Sure, second time I bring the story up in 2 days, but I like it and want you to read it if you haven't... Click HERE to read it, it's pretty good)). Ah well, I am digressing again. To find the recipe for dolmeh-ye sibzamini, Click HERE.

Brannon has the best sounding mission statement I have ever read (a little long winded, but who am I to complain about long posts). You can find that mission statement by clicking HERE. The first 4 paragraphs will either make you nod in agreement about your own goals for blogging, or make you cringe at his honesty about the state of food blogs and our position in them. Like I said, Brannon is obviously intelligent and his posts are very well thought out.

Take a look at his blog. I think you will be back! Tell the Food Ninja Hi for me.

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I have said it before, and I will say it again... I LOVE Blogging and Bloggers. Having followers is a great way to let me know that you are out there. My blog improves with each new follower. I feel a connection, as well as an obligation to be witty, entertaining, informative, accurate and consistent. Knowing that I am being looked at makes me a better blogger and I hope you will be patient as I continue to improve. Looking at all these terrific sites shows me how far I have to come, but gives me great ideas from everyone!

Take a look at these guys. If you like what they have to say, come back for more. Drop em a note (comment) of encouragement. Newer bloggers need to know someone is out there, and older bloggers need fresh blood to feed on, let em know you were directed to their site from me and you may make a new cyber friend too.

And if you regularly check in on me, go ahead and join my followers list/ Plug me in your blogroll and let me know you are there. I want to see what you are all about too...



R, CAG and G... Good Talk ;)