by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Recipe sites abound, but the most complete source I've found on the web is on about.com. They attempt to exhaustively cover every subject, and they really shine when it comes to recipes. From specialty ethnic dining to special dietary requirements, this site is more likely to have what you're looking for.
It seems like everybody's got a new dietary requirement these days, whether it's because of food allergies, staying fit or pure preference. Here are a few of the places you can find specialized recipes.
While the main gist of 101cookbooks.com blog gives cookbook addicts a place to explore new titles, the new cookbook section actually hasn't been updated since 2006. That's ok, since you're apt to discover some cookbook you haven't heard of or that you've wanted to explore on their list. What you'll really want to check out are the specialty recipes. There are 41 gluten-free recipes, 125 vegetarian blogs and 53 vegan entries.
If you're into the raw food trend, try rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com. The posts are a bit long for my taste, but there is an amazing list of over 200 other raw food blogs.
Google can be your friend when searching for that specialized food site, whether it be about cutting gluten (gluten-free-blog.blogspot.com) or sugar out of your diet (sugarfreestyle.com), or celebrating a particular type of food. There really is something out there for everybody. One of the blogs I found in my search is devoted entirely to tacos (tacohunt.blogspot.com).
Is food central in the United States New York City? The New York Times would like us to think so, and they might be right. Most food trends either start in New York City or end up there before they become the coolest thing in Jacksonville. Keep nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html bookmarked for a snapshot of food trends.
Chow.com is packed with content. It's updated weekly, reports on global food trends and there are lively comment posts from fans and flamers alike. Click on "The Grinder" for the latest in world food news, new cookbooks, weird food and science about food. I enjoy the "Nagging Question" section, which answers one query a week, such as "What's the skin on heated milk?" and "What makes cheddar cheese sharp?"
For local food news with the occasional national twist try yumblebus.com/restaurant-news-blog/jacksonville-restaurants. This site gives you the rundown on the various restaurant news and reviews from most of the major local publications that publish food news. Basically, it gives you everything, albeit in a very brief form, about local food news. If you see something interesting there, you can go to the news organization's site find the article.
Food lovers know that there's almost nothing as sexy as beautiful food pictures. Baked goods have the lock on beauty as far as most blog pictures are concerned, but there's one site that stands out from the rest in the food photo category, in both beauty and variety: tastespotting.com. Everyone who's a member can post food pictures. If you like a particular person's work, you can click on their name and see all of the pictures they've posted. If you go to this site, I can guarantee you that you'll be hungry soon.
In the culinary world there's been a cupcake craze. Seriously, who can resist them? cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com takes you into the world of cupcakes. You'll find links to cupcake articles, and pretty pretty pics of the mini confections. Best of all, this blog has a huge link list of places to get cupcakes across the country. Check out the link and article about CamiCakes, our own local cupcakery.
If your passion for baked goods isn't so specialized, try artisansweets.wordpress.com which has some gorgeous pictures and content on chocolate, baked goods and all manner of sweet confections. For extra cute sweet things to make, go to bakerella.blogspot.com.
As for me, I love chocolate. I know I'm not alone, because there's a huge amount of blogs out there devoted to the stuff. chocolateobession. features reviews of chocolate commercial products, from chocolate sodas to more pedestrian candy bars. It's my favorite chocolate blog because while it stays firmly on subject chocolate, it's not just about candy bar reviews, as so many chocolate sites are.
Article Published in the 03-08 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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