Alanna Kellogg's blog

Three Vegetables to Cozy Up to When the Weather Turns Cold

2009-11-07T07:00:00-06:00

Research says that we cook the same 20 dishes again and again. Again and again. Again and again. (And again.) Sure, every six months, we drop one and replace it with another. Eating in rhythm with the seasons changes that. Each season, each month, there's something new to pique our curiosity and tickle our tastebuds, something that just last month wasn't available or wasn't at its freshest or had to travel from, alors, South America to reach your table. So, tis late fall. Tomatoes are two months gone and asparagus are five, maybe six, months away. What's special about what we cook in November? Here are three vegetables that will turn November into something special, something memorable.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Daily Unadventures in Cooking ~ Squash Risotto with Blue Cheese & Crispy Sage
"The crispy sage and the blue cheese melt into the risotto and combine really well with the sweetness of the roasted squash."

Rookie Cookie ~ Butternut Squash with Caramelized Onions & Pancetta
"Last winter, I had a pizza at Pizzeria 712 that was just like this pasta. Butternut squash, rosemary, caramelized onions and bacon. It was super delicious. Ever since then, I have wanted to make a pasta version of it and I pulled it off. In all honesty, this was better than the pizza."

dlyn ~ Butternut Squash Gratin
"There are so many ways to use winter squash, and I never get tired of looking for new ones. The fact that we still have about 40 winter squashes of various types is certainly an influence on my thinking, I’ll admit, but even if I had to buy them, I would still enjoy finding new ways to cook them. For one thing, they are very inexpensive right now, especially as an end of season bargain at Farmer’s Markets and local veggie stands."

BRUSSELS SPROUTS
StephenCooks ~ Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Fresh Herbs
"... this one is pretty much sprouts forward, with complementary onion, carrot, red pepper and fresh herbs to add depth to the flavor."

Gastro-Nomi ~ Green Apple, Brussels Sprouts & Pistachios
"If you were thinking "I want a salad that is fresh, crisp and all shades of green" this is the one for you. Think a crunch, a tang, and a nutty sweetness. It has autumn written all over it."

Nourishing Days ~ Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pears & Thyme
"I think Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that a lot of people don’t like. Or at least they think they don’t like them. ... This is a wonderful fall dish that would be worthy even of a celebration table. And any recipe that can turn the disdained Brussels sprouts into something your husband goes back for thirds on is worth sharing, right?"

CAULIFLOWER
Simply Recipes ~ Pasta with Cauliflower
"It's outrageously good; I've been eating the leftovers for days, which just seem to get better as the flavors have more time to meld."

Lucullian Delights ~ Roasted Cauliflower & Potato Soup
"When I think soup, I get this fairytale vision of a huge iron pot hanging over a fire, lovingly stirred by a woman whose face is lit by the burning fire. A generous soup, that has been simmering for hours and filled with vegetables and maybe a bone here and there. It is such a romanticized view on soup making but I leave it like that. My own soup making is nothing near that vision but the love is there."

A Wee Bit of Cooking ~ Cumin-Roasted Cauliflower
"Nam nam nam. Need I say more?"

POTLUCK
TasteFood ~ Root Vegetable Purée
"As I puréed the steamed vegetables [sweet potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips & turnips], I envisioned doctoring it with all sorts of extra spices, a little grated cheese, maybe even some minced onion. But then I tasted the purée, and was blown away by its soft, sweet, nutty flavor. Mild and delicate, all it needed was salt and pepper and a dollop of sour cream to lighten its texture. For a little autumnal flourish, I topped the purée with fresh sage leaves before baking, so their woody flavor would lightly infuse the vegetables."

Phoo-D ~ Autumn Panzanella
"A big loaf of leftover sourdough inspired me to create an autumn riff on a traditional panzanella (Italian bread salad). I cubed the loaf of bread and then toasted it with a red onion and sweet potato to create the base of the salad. Toasted pepitas added a flavorful nutty crunch, while a big pile of grated Parmesan cheese melted around the warm bread cubes nicely."

Greedy Gourmet ~ Swedeaphobia Cure
"Pumpkins and apples are reigning at the moment but soon they will give way to chestnuts, Brussels sprouts, and array of root vegetables and let’s not forget the swede [rutabaga]. Why does everyone avoid it like the plague? It’s not the most attractive vegetable on this planet but it definitely beats the celeriac in the looks department."

And you?
And you, what's your favorite fall vegetable? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg isn't the 'veggie evangelist' for nothing. At the moment, she's wild for butternut squash, most recently Savory Bread Pudding with Butternut Squash, Chard & Cheddar.

Ten Healthy & Frugal Ideas for November

2009-11-03T19:42:08-06:00

Somehow it seems apt that the time changed for many of us at the close of October, the eve of November. The evening's darkness, it seems to signify a time for nesting, for nestling in with family and loved ones, 'not forgetting your own dear' self as my grandmother used to say. So what might we do -- food-wise, budget-wise, life-wise -- in November, stuff that fits the month like the gloves we'll soon be needing.

Homemade Soup! There's nothing more satisfying now that the evenings are dark (sooo dark!) and the nights are frosty. Fellow BlogHer editor Kalyn Denny has shared autumn soup recipes and crockpot soup recipes here on BlogHer.

Homemade Bread Learn to make whole-grain bread. Ask your local bakery if they will sell you just-ground whole-wheat flour. (I have great luck at a local Great Harvest.) Buy a big container of yeast at a warehouse store (much much cheaper than purchasing in the individual packets, think the price of Via versus a tub of ground coffee); share half with a friend and freeze the rest, it'll be good for a year or more. Make loaves, large rolls for sandwiches and small rolls for eating with soups and salads.

Plant Fall Bulbs If April showers bring May flowers, November planting brings April flowers. Now's the time to plant spring bulbs, crocus, daffodils, tulips and the like that will bloom come spring. Plant the bulbs in clumps of three or five or seven or nine, always an odd number. Do dig a little compost into the soil before planting. Crazy Sexy Life has plenty of ideas for winterizing your garden.

Honor a Veteran Veteran's Day is Wednesday, November 11. Find a way to honor your favorite veteran. Last year, Nicole from Pinch My Salt and whose husband is in the military, wrote, "Please take a moment to think about the men and women, husbands and wives, sons and daughters that are serving our country today, and those that have served in the past. I wish I could hug my veteran today, but he, like so many of them, doesn’t get to take this holiday."

Friday the 13th Spooky parties needn't be limited to Halloween. Turn bad luck into good luck with a party on Friday the 13th. Check for brain cupcakes could be dessert.

Make Your Own Movie For the least fussy -- but memorable -- Thanksgiving imaginable, on the Wednesday, buy some good bread and roasted turkey. Pack sandwiches and hot apple cider and take a long, long walk. Come home and settle in an overload of Thanksgiving movies like Planes, Trains & Automobiles or Pieces of April or Hannah & Her Sisters or the dark but cerebral The Ice Storm.

Forage No, not for food, but Thanksgiving table decorations. A day or so before Thanksgiving, head out into the great outdoors. Look for leaves, stones, branches and berries to bring home for the table. Alternatively, build your own cornucopia with a basket brimming with apples and pears, pumpkins and squash, red onions and purple-topped turnips. Insert a pillar candle inside a clear vase, fill with cranberries and acorns. There are many more natural table-decoration ideas at Simplified Bee.

Clean Out the Pantry Save up for Thanksgiving, holiday baking and Christmas meals by cleaning out the pantry and the freezer. If you can make a big plan to work them down, otherwise, just do what's working here: reach into the freezer/pantry, take whatever's on top, now cook with it.

Watch for Great Prices on Spices This is the time of year when groceries mark down the prices of spices so it's a good time to stock up. Do an inventory of your spice jars, see which ones are low and restock now.

Plan Ahead It's so easy to slide from Thanksgiving's fuss into Christmas' bustle without hardly a thought. More decorations! More cookies! More presents! More cards! More parties! More shopping! Instead, think about what's really important for you and your family, this year, then block out all else. Consider the book Unplug the Christmas Machine for inspiration.

And you?
And you, what's your favorite fun and healthy food activity this month? Leave an idea, a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

More Ideas?
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for July
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for August
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for September
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for October

This November, just like last November, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is obsessed with Thankgiving, planning six different Thanksgiving menus and adding vegetarian entrées to Thanksgiving vegetable recipes.

Ghosts & Goblins Begone: Day of the Dead

2009-10-31T07:00:00-05:00

Día de los Muerto, Latin America's 'Day of the Dead' and its developments across the diaspora, is not somber or gruesome or scary, it's a joyous celebration to honor departed loved ones.

In part, Day of the Dead (or more accurately, 'Days' of the Dead, since both November 1 and November 2 can be marked) is celebratory because death is believed to be part of the natural circle of life. The belief is that dead souls can more easily visit the living on these days. So families flock to cemeteries to encourage the visits, bearing food and small gifts.

Food writer Cynthia Bertelsen writes:

"November 2 was the day that everyone packed up various mole sauces, tortillas, pozole, candied squash, pan de muertos made into human shapes, tamales, and fresh fruit, and picnicked on top of family graves after scrubbing off lichen, stains, bird droppings, and weeding around the graves. Putting fresh flowers and burning candles on the graves, seeing old friends attending the graves of their loved ones, sharing reminisces, and telling stories. To miss this annual ritual was simply unheard of. We couldn’t do anything else until late afternoon, once we’d visited the cemetery where the grandparents lay under thick slabs of cement, their fading photographs a testimony to the relative shortness and impermanence of earthly life."

Read more about Day of the Dead Food-Laden Altars from Gherkins & Tomatoes

Just this week, Mary from One Perfect Bite featured the most traditional food for Day of the Dead, the bread called Pan de Muerto, the 'bread of the dead'.

"The Aztecs believed that death was a portal to another existence. Oral tradition tells us that the request of the dead before burial is, "Give me bread and sugar to help me on my journey." The bread of the dead, pan de muerto, is made only for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. It is a sweet, egg-rich bread and it can be found throughout Mexico, though its form differs vastly from one region to the next. The bread is supposed to resemble a skull and it is adorned with bones and sometimes tear drops."

Read more about Bread of the Dead - Pan de Muerto at One Perfect Bite

Another traditional food for the Day of the Dead -- if 'sugar' is a food, that is -- is skulls made from sugar, colorful, playful and festive:

"Today's sugar skulls, angels, and other sugar figures were, in bygone years, made of wood and clay. Because wood and clay were so expensive and difficult to work with, artisans searched for materials that not only cost less but were easier to handle. Sugar proved to be ideal."

See photos of handmade sugar skulls at Mexico Cooks.

Heidi Swanson from 101 Cookbooks wrote about how the occasion is marked in the Mission District of San Francisco. Her post features two-layer skull cookies, her take on the traditional sugar skulls.

"This time of year is always my favorite for both cooking and taking pictures. I look forward to the squashes, pears, and apples flooding the markets almost as much as I look forward to the parades, processions, and celebrations that take place around Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Dia de los Muertos is visually and spiritually stunning and I love to walk to the Mission district to see the procession and view the elaborate alters created in the neighborhood parks."

Get the recipe for Maya's Skull Cookies at 101 Cookbooks

Anne Lossing lives in Guatemala and blogs at Rain Forest Recipes. In 2008, she was gifted by neighbors with a platter of fiambre, a chilled salad traditional for the Day of the Dead.

"Today's dish is Fiambre ... a dish that is famous in Guatemala as the food to serve on November 1st, the Day of the Dead, when all and sundry pack up their gardening tools and paintbrushes, their new plastic flowers, their guitars and their kids and head off to the cemeteries to repair the past year's ravages and party a bit with the departed. ... As all different families brought food to the celebrations, they became mixed, eventually mixing them together to this all-encompassing salad. Ingredients usually include numerous cold cuts and sausages, pickled baby-corn and onion, beets, pacaya flower, string beans, radish, different cheeses, olives, chicken, and sometimes even brussels sprouts or shrimp ... It can take days to make, and like all good traditional dishes, fiambre varies from kitchen to kitchen."

Read more about fiambre at Rain Forest Recipes

And you?
And you, do you mark the Day of the Dead? Tell us your story in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg already keeps a private 'shrine' -- just a collection of small kitchen objects, really, in a kitchen window -- representing the many strong women who bless her life. This year, she intends to honor them further with Pan de Muerto, Bread of the Dead, to add to a small collection of celebration breads.

Classic Pudding Recipes for Memory-Making Moms

2009-10-27T14:59:20-05:00

What is about pudding that sweeps me straight back to childhood? Mention tapioca pudding and instantly I'm standing at my mom's side in the kitchen, talking with my hands to show her -- in detail, exactly -- what happened on the playground at school when Candy grabbed the jump rope from Cheryl. She's at the stove (and maybe wearing an apron? surely not, that's so TV-commercial stereotypical, right?) stirring something in the green saucepan from the matched set purchased one piece at a time from the grocery store in town. What's in that pot? Pudding! It was one of Mom's maaaaany answers to the question, What to make when supper's a little skimpy?

So no surprise, there's a soft spot in my heart for homemade pudding, especially the old classics that require just two words to know exactly what they are: chocolate pudding, lemon pudding, banana and tapioca too. And rice pudding, of course. There may be a hundred ways to make each of these homemade puddings. But do yourself a favor and discover your own pair of pudding words that just might have your children someday remembering your standing at the stove. No apron required.

Recipes? Of course.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING
The Hungry Mouse ~ Sinfully Rich Chocolate Pudding
"When it’s warm, it’s really thick but has a more traditional pudding consistency. When it’s chilled, however…oh, oh, oh!…it almost approximates soft fudge. Or thick chocolate frosting. (Warning: A little goes a long way.)"

Baking Bites ~ Chocolate Mint Pudding
"This pudding is just a little bit of a twist on a simple chocolate pudding recipe ... it is less fussy than some pudding recipes - no tempering of eggs required - and has a slightly lighter texture than some very heavy puddings that load up on egg yolks. It still has a good chocolate flavor ..."

LEMON PUDDING
One Perfect Bite ~ Old-Fashioned Lemon Pudding
"Like most old recipes, this one is simple and quite straight forward. It is tart. ... This is a wonderful, inexpensive family dessert."

Spicy Chilly ~ Lemon Pudding

BANANA PUDDING
Honey & Jam ~ Banana Pudding
"... it doesn’t get any better than home made stove-top pudding. No instant pudding packets should be let near banana pudding, it's just not right. And it’s so easy to make it yourself, you really have no excuse."

My Wooden Spoon ~ Grandma's Homemade Banana Pudding
"This is one food that is requested from family members for me to bring to holiday get-togethers and any other time I can. It’s my grandmother’s recipe for Banana Pudding, from scratch!"

TAPIOCA PUDDING
My Everyday Kitchen ~ Coconut Tapioca Pudding
"...it is DELICIOUS!"

Simply Recipes ~ Tapioca Pudding
"... tapioca pudding is one of those comfort foods that conjures up happy childhood memories. It's actually really easy to make."

RICE PUDDING
Easy and Tasty Food ~ Caramel Rice Pudding in a Crockpot
"f you have leftover rice from Chinese take-out, this slow-cooker rice pudding is a great way to make a tasty, simple dessert."

The Naptime Chef ~ Chocolate Arborio Rice Pudding
"I decided to play with the flavors a little and give this otherwise tried-and-true dish a fresh makeover. Making this during my daughter's naptime was a cinch, especially since it stays well in the fridge for a few days."

Lucullian Delights ~ Rice Pudding with Turmeric & Almonds
"... had a vision of a turmeric rice pudding, intensely yellow and smooth and with a sweet turmeric taste. I used quite a lot of turmeric but you can reduce the amount in order to make the taste subtler if you want."

Healthy. Happy. Life. ~ Vegan Rice Pudding (brown rice & tofu)
"Rice Pudding often gets brushed off as being a bland, raisin-specked 'healthier' dessert. Well when it comes to my vegan Coco-Cinna-Nilla Rice Pudding only one of those is true: it's healthy. But it's also delicious."

And you?
And you, what's your favorite pudding? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg helped devour two batches of tapioca pudding this week (and yes, it's only Tuesday) but right this minute is pining for Light 'n' Easy Chocolate Pudding.

Cooking the Books: Favorite Cookbooks from Deborah Madison

2009-10-24T08:00:00-05:00

When I slipped into Santa Fe for a few days last summer, a friend clued me in. "Keep your eyes open for Debbie Madison, she's a regular at the Santa Fe farmers market." No such luck! But when the subject of favorite vegetarian cookbooks -- heavens, even just favorite cookbooks -- is broached, Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" often comes up. When I started to look around, turns out, one Deborah Madison cookbook after another could claim the 'favorite' title.

One way I tell? By watching the number of used copies for sale on Amazon -- and the lowest price. The better the cookbook, the fewer the number of used copies for sale and the higher the price for used copies. It's a rough guide but watch it long enough (as I have been since about 2002) and you'll see the pattern. Books that lose their (ahem) flavor number in the hundreds for sale, often for a penny apiece, the cost of shipping alone.

So let's look at two top cookbooks from Deborah Madison and sample recipes from the food bloggers who love them.

VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR EVERYONE, first published in 1997, new copies about $26, used copies starting at $20. This may be a vegetarian cookbook but its promise is that yes, it works for everyone, that the recipes are appealing and substantial for vegetarians, carnivores and flexitarians alike.

A Mingling of Tastes reviewed Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
"The recipes offered here are fresh, seasonal, sometimes homey, like the Greens and Grits, and sometimes elegant enough to entertain with like the Dried Porcini and Fresh Mushroom Tart. Many of these meals can be put together quickly, but there are quite a few that involve multiple components, like the Beet and Tomato Ragout with Twice-Baked Goat Cheese Souffles and Baby Bok Choy, and require a bit more planning. I quite like this variety, as well as the fact that some of the recipes will challenge me in the kitchen and teach me new techniques."

The Garden of Eating also reviewed Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
"I am not a vegetarian ... However, Deborah Madison's cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. There are a number of reasons why I love this cookbook: ... 1) This woman knows her vegetables, grains, fruits, cheeses, nuts, legumes, etc., etc. She is truly a great cook with a huge breadth of knowledge and it shines through on every page."

The Modern Apron found exactly the right technique for rolling Homemade Egg Pasta in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
"... Deborah Madison came to my rescue. ... I must have checked four cookbooks for basic pasta making recipes, and they were all sources I was positive would have some kind of guidelines, but to no avail. Finally, drawing on the assumption that vegetarians would eat pasta and therefore a vegetarian cookbook could reasonably be expected to have a recipe for homemade pasta in it, I checked “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.” Bingo. ... In no time at all I was cranking out pasta like Sophia Loren."

LOCAL FLAVORS, first published in 2002, hardback new copies about $34, used copies starting at $9

Lisa Is Cooking took the chance to talk about Local Flavors when she published the recipe for Greens with Red Beans, Cilantro and Feta.
"Deborah Madison ... visited farmers’ markets all across the US, including Hawaii, to see the differences from place to place. The chapters are, for the most part, organized by season starting with early spring and proceeding through fall. So, the first chapter’s recipes highlight what you’re likely to find at markets at the beginning of the year. There are stories strewn about that tell of Madison’s visits to various markets and the farmers she met. She offers suggestions for substitutions for regional things that might not be found in all areas of the country or that become available at different times. The real goal of the book is to encourage support of local farmers, to explain the value of fresh, local food, and to inspire the home cook to make good and delicious use of locally grown food."

Almost Vegetarian ~ Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes Baked with Herbs and Capers
"This has got to be the most tempting vegetarian recipe I have tripped across in quite some time. And that is saying a lot when you take into account I browse at least one cookbook and all the food magazines I can get my hands on (including old ones) every week."

Je Mange le Ville relied on Local Flavors for the recipe for Corn Fritters with Aged Cheddar Sage.
"Local Flavors ... is a great cookbook to find inspiration from. Especially when you come back from a Farmers Market with a big bag full of farmers stuff."

MORE DEBORAH MADISON COOKBOOK FAVORITES
The Hungry Mouse is a fan of This Can’t Be Tofu!: 75 Recipes to Cook Something You Never Thought You Would – and Love Every Bite by Deborah Madison, including Crunchy Spring Rolls with Tofu Shiitake Mushrooms.
"No lie, it’s the only book about tofu that I own. I bought it years ago when I had a bunch of vegetarian friends and I had no idea how to feed them, and it’s just great."

MomathonBlog.com is a fan of What We Eat When We Eat Alone. Her own solitary food is a large bowl of cereal.
"When I am alone I love a LARGE bowl(s) of cereal. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner---cereal is my favorite."

Tea & Cookies is a fan of The Greens Cookbook including Sorrel Tart.
"I don’t usually post recipes taken from cookbooks, but as this recipe was given to Deborah Madison by Richard Olney, I figure I’m just passing it along as well. It’s really too good not to share."

Still Hungry?

More Deborah Madison Cookbooks

ABOUT COOKING THE BOOKS
Cooking the Books is an occasional series here on BlogHer featuring cookbooks and cookbook authors whose work stands the test of time. Featured earlier:

Edna Lewis: Icon of the American South

And you?
And you, what's your favorite Deborah Madison cookbook? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg hangs her head in shame that she's had Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone on hand for a year now and has yet to cook from it. Kitchen Parade's vegetarian and vegan recipes could surely be inspired.

I Can't Believe It's Butter.

2009-10-20T07:00:00-05:00

And it's not, not really. It's apple butter and pear butter and pumpkin butter. It's just fruit and sugar (some times) cooked long and soft with fragrant spices until dreamy smooth. What is it, if it's not butter? Homemade. Homegood. "Homemade Heaven" says Susan from Farmgirl Fare.

Here are six recipes for fruit butters -- quick, you'll want to make one of each!

APPLE BUTTER
Andrea Myers ~ Oven-Roasted Apple Sauce and Apple Butter
"The recipe is in two parts, so if you want to just make applesauce, simply stop after Part 1. Both the sauce and the butter start the same way, by tossing apple slices with apple cider, maple syrup, and cinnamon sticks in a large roasting pan, then baking for 30 to 45 minutes. The aroma of the cooking apples is intoxicating ..."

The Confused Homemaker ~ Apple Butter in a Crockpot
"Now for the spices. Spices are magical in Fall if you ask me. I cannot explain it, something about the mix of spices makes me think leaves falling & delicious food warming me from the inside out."

PEAR BUTTER
Farmgirl Fare ~ Homemade Low-Sugar Oven-made Pear Butter
"After going through umpteen pounds of pears ... I came to a couple of conclusions. The first is that pears just might be even more versatile than apples. The second is that homemade pear butter is one of the most wonderful things on the planet. It also happens to be extremely easy to make."

Simply Recipes ~ Pear Butter
"I've seen plenty of recipes for pear butter, but most of them look like apple butter to me, heavily spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Pears are more floral than apples. I wanted to see them with ginger, and nutmeg, and maybe some cardamom."

PUMPKIN BUTTER
Angies Pangies ~ Pumpkin Butter
"Now please don’t go running off and tell apple butter. But most importantly, please do not skip this recipe, it is simply to die for."

Smitten Kitchen ~ Pumpkin Butter
"Pumpkin butter is ridiculously easy to make, taking hours less than its tree-ripened cousin, mostly because you can start with puree from a can."

And you?
And you, what's your favorite fruit butter? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is all dreamy about her sugar-free, sloooow-baked apple butter recipe.

Seasonal Eating: Fall Salads That Taste Like Autumn

2009-10-17T15:11:03-05:00

The joy (and some times, the frustration) of eating in rhythm with the seasons is that there's so little repetition. Four times a year -- in truth, nearly each month -- the earth yields new foods for us to sample. In spring, we breathlessly await the arrival of asparagus and artichokes for salads. In summer, a salad comes without thought, throw a few tomatoes into a bowl, add a little onion and vinaigrette, it's a salad.

Fall salads? Winter salads? They require a little more thought, a little more planning. Molly Wizenberg explained the effect of change of seasons on her kitchen in a lyrical 2006 post:

"In my kitchen, every climatic change calls for its own signature salad: a sliced one for spring, with endive, cilantro, radishes, and feta; a cooling one for summer, with lime and garlic; and for winter, a festive red cabbage slaw. As for fall, it wants warm flavors, I think: a cool-weather green, some olives, pine nuts, and peppers, and a few homemade croutons rubbed with plenty of garlic." (Read more at Orangette.)

So what exactly makes a fall salad, well, a fall salad? Some ideas:

Introduction of grains like barley and farro, wild rice and lentils too

Autumn vegetables such as butternut squash and pumpkin, root vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots. Some vegetables are easily available year-round but somehow 'taste' like fall, think cabbage, think fresh fennel.

Fresh fruit - apples and pears and concord grapes

Dried fruit - dried cherries, dried cranberries, say, but also dried apples and dried pears, also currants

Nuts - it's easy to forget that nuts, too, are seasonal, and most are harvested in the fall. Think pecans, think walnuts (especially in my home state of Missouri, the much-coveted black walnuts).

Other fall flavors - maple syrup, apple cider, mushrooms

Cheeses - chunks of creamy goat cheese, slivers of fresh and salty Parmesan,

The ingredients you won't find in fall salads? Asparagus. Artichokes. Tomatoes. Cucumbers? Rare. Peppers? In late summer and early fall, less so now.

These fall salads caught my attention -- if you have a good one, be sure to add it to the comments!

Happy Herbivore ~ Raw Apple and Fennel Salad
"It’s a lovely Fall salad and great for anyone trying raw fennel root for the first time (ugh hem, me!)."

Supermarket Serenade ~ Apple, Fennel, Walnut and Pomegranate Salad with White Pepper Parmesan Vinaigrette
"At the risk of sounding too superlative this is the ultimate fall salad. The crispness of the apples combined with the anise flavor of the fennel is perfectly complemented by the tartness of the pomegranate. I recommend using Cortland apples because they stay white longer than most apples and they are a perfect texture for salads."

Vegan Feast Kitchen ~ Chard & Apple Salad with Maple-Braised Butternut Squash & Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
"I wanted to use our chard and a nice local butternut squash that I had, and I needed a salad, so this is what I came up with. It was super-delicious and a big hit!"

Bon Vivant ~ Spiced Pumpkin Lentil Salad
"A bite of this gorgeous salad just screams ‘Fall is here!’ with the soft and thick cubes of pumpkin (or butternut squash, which I used), marrying with the tender bite of the lentils and a creamy, tangy after taste from the goat cheese. There is a slight heat from the paprika, just enough to balance out the cool arugula but not too much to overpower the palate."

The Kitchn ~ Rainbow Chard Salad with Raisins and Walnuts
"Chard's slight bitterness needs a little sweetness, so we shook up a dressing with orange juice, red wine, olive oil, and a touch of brown sugar and tossed it all with raisins and roasted walnuts, fresh from the oven. The warmth from the walnuts wilts the salad just enough, and the sweet, bitter, and toasty blend into a salad that delighted us with its fall colors and warm tastes."

More Than Burnt Toast ~ Orchard Apple Salad
"In my cupboard I had walnuts, apple cider vinegar, olive and grapeseed oils, Dijon mustard, dried rosemary and parsley, dried cranberries and blueberries. To use my friend Giz's words, "'he results were nothing short of magical."

And you?
And you, what's your favorite fall salad combination? Leave an idea -- or a recipe or a link to a recipe -- in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg favorite fall salad is her Wild Rice Salad.

Now, about those Pumpkin Seeds

2009-10-13T14:04:46-05:00

Every pumpkin carver must wonder, "Can't we make something from these pumpkin seeds? Roast them maybe?" And sure, you can. Many people do. I have and will again. But first a little pumpkin-seed anatomy lesson.

Straight out of the pumpkin, inspect a pumpkin seed and the first thing you'll encounter is the white-ish exterior hull. The hull is tough and fibrous, not inedible, but, well, chewy. Inside is the coveted kernel, pale green and full of nutrition. (Can't imagine that? Then consider the more familiar sunflower seed, with a tough outer hull protecting an inner kernel. Same thing.)

In Mexican cooking, pumpkin seeds are called 'pepitas' [puh-PEE-tahs] and a Mexican market is a great source of prepared pumpkin seeds, both with their hulls on and my own favorite, just the kernels.

First up, you do want to try roasting pumpkin seeds.

Andrea's Recipes ~ Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
"We roast our seeds without preboiling, and our favorite flavors are cajun seasoning or curry powder and sea salt. Using spray oil was something new I tried this year, and I really like how it worked. Nice and neat, and not too oily."

But then, get creative.

An appetizer made with pumpkin seeds, perhaps?

101 Cookbooks ~ Broiled Goat Cheese with Pumpkin Seed Sauce
"The tanginess of the goat cheese works nicely with the bite of jalapeno, and strength of cilantro. It's a great party recipe, you can make it well ahead of time and bake it off at the last minute."

Seeds can be the basis of a main dish too.

Red Ramekin ~ New World Quinoa Salad
"... the pepitas: they add an amazingly delicious crunch to this salad ... they look so pretty, and add another dimension (in flavor and texture) to the dish. Enjoy!"

Baking and Books ~ Spaghetti Squash with Pumpkin Seed Pesto
"... this meal is surprisingly satisfying and delicious – who knew squash on squash could taste so good? In the absence of cheese, which is usually added to pestos, the pumpkin seeds add an earthy, nutty flavor that is nicely complimented by the sweetness of the basil. The spaghetti squash has both texture and a subtle flavor, just enough to enhance the pesto."

I love to tuck seeds into breads, adding texture, protein and variety.

Wild Yeast Blog ~ Pumpkin Seed Bread "This pumpkin seed bread is soft, although it contains 67% whole-grain flour, because it also has a fair amount of butter — very nice for sandwiches and toast."

The Passionate Cook ~ Sourdough Bread with Carrots, Linseeds & Pumpkin Seeds
"... works equally well as a round "free-style" loaf as well as baked in a loaf tin"

Oh right. And the sweet stuff, you knew we'd get to pumpkin seeds in baked goods, didn't you? Right!

Apple Pie, Patis & Pate ~ Pumpkin Seed Cream Scones
"Cream-based scones are as quick and easy as scones can get. This recipe requires nothing more than cream and any combination of dried fruits and nuts of your choice."

Alpine Berry ~ Poppy Pumpkin Seed Poppers
"I didn't quite know what to call these cookies. I started with a recipe for Russian tea cakes / Mexican wedding cookies, but filled them with a combination of toasted pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) and poppy seeds. The name for these little treats came to me when the head honcho at work admitted that he couldn't stop popping them into his mouth."

And you?
And you, what's your favorite thing to do with pumpkin seeds? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg loves to top her family's Thanksgiving favorite Squash Puff with hulled and toasted pepitas.

Goodbye, Gourmet, We Loved You Well

2009-10-10T09:51:00-05:00

When Conde Nast announced on Monday that it would ~ 30 ~ (or let's see, would that be ~ 86 ~?) Gourmet Magazine, 'The Magazine of Good Living' first published in 1941, food bloggers were among the first to mourn its passing. On Twitter, the word spread like melted butter; within a few minutes of the announcement, 'gourmet' was a trending topic. Even six days later, this morning a thoughtful piece from the Buffalo News is being TWed and RTed.

Ever since, sadness -- there's no other word -- has poured out as food bloggers mourn the magazine's passing.

"I am beyond devastated that this magazine will no longer be delivered to my home - it has always been considered one of my "main resources" for cuisine, cooking styles and methods, restaurant guides, and inspiration. I felt a lump in my throat as I read the news articles about the magazine's ending, trying to fight back tears - yes, the magazine was that important to me. I certainly hope that they do not take down their website at least!"
~ read more at Veggie Girl, Gratitude for Gourmet

"I feel like the world of food writing has been pillaged and robbed by this decision. We aren’t just losing a magazine, we are saying goodbye to an old, reliable friend … a best friend. We are losing our grasp on elegant food writing, and replacing it with accessible, easy, fast … how sad."
~ read more from Sarah Caron at Sarah's Cucina Bella, Goodbye, Gourmet

The Kitchen Sink Recipes ~ Bucatini Carbonara
"Inspired by this Gourmet (sniff) recipe."

Pinch ~ Gasp! Gourmet Bites the Big One
"Oh Gourmet! You were nearly 70 and I was just starting to love you!"

Is Conde Nast surprised at the reaction? "Please be advised that Gourmet magazine will cease publication after the November issue," reads the stark notice on Gourmet.com. Did Conde Nast think, you know, that we wouldn't notice?

In contrast, Ruth Reichl, Gourmet's editor since 1999 (and former New York Times restaurant critic, author and winner of four James Beard awards), who learned the news herself only the morning of the announcement, expresses herself warmly and openly. Two days after the news, she wrote on Twitter: "At Newark airport. Stopped to buy sandwich (no time to eat today), and the woman behind the counter said, 'I'm so sorry; this one's on me.'"

Other bloggers, especially those whose blogs are but one dimension in their writing careers, became thoughtfully assessed Gourmet's place in the food world.

"So what does the food world lose with the closing of Gourmet? I hesitate to use the word 'institution' here, but that's what it does feel like to some extent. but really, what it comes down to is this: If Saveur makes me want to explore the exotic, and Gastronomica makes me approach food with an intellectual perspective, Gourmet made me comfortable. It wasn't always engaging (although it could be) and it wasn't always exciting (but again, it could be). What it was was dependable. Challenging without being overly so, an issue of Gourmet could cover several topics without seeming either patronizing or trend-setting. At times, it was what I wished the food world could be."
~ read more from Kate Hopkins at Accidental Hedonist, The Loss of Gourmet Magazine

"Back in the day I thought Gourmet was about exactly that: food snobs and recipes that can’t be made without importing ostrich eggs from Africa. Only after getting hooked on the website (and not having to leaf through all those awful advertisements that seem to clutter up 90% of magazines theses days) did I see what Gourmet was really about: living frugally. Treating animals and farmers well. Eating locally. Bringing the impact of eating (political, social, and environmental) to an audience that usually doesn’t like to think about the results of their actions. "
~ read more at MadSilence, RIP: Gourmet Magazine

"It seems that most of [Gourmet's] critics stopped reading Gourmet in the 1980s. Or they ignored the 90% of magazine that doesn't have to do France or fine dinnerware. What's so "elitist" about street food in Thailand or a mom-and-pop Chinese barbecue stand? Or a first-person account, not just some fluffy service piece, about living frugally? Or for that matter, in-depth coverage of sustainable food issues? If elitism is defined by reaching beyond the scope of soccer moms and trend-seekers or calling olive oil by its rightful name, then I must be elitist too."
~ read more from the ever-thoughtful and -eloquent Diana Kuan at Appetite for China Gourmet 1941 - 2009 - "Elitist", Intelligent, Loved

BlogHer ~ The Demise of Gourmet Magazine and the Rise of the Cooking Channel
"Gourmet wasn’t about being a food snob, it was about being a food lover."

"The New York Times ... noted that now-prominent chefs and food writers were weaned on the pages and recipes of Gourmet and how it provided a 'home for literate, thoughtful food writing. Its stable of contributors included James Beard, Laurie Colwin, and M.F.K. Fisher…' It even quoted Alice Waters saying that a 'review in Gourmet used to mean everything. "Yes, you could be in The New York Times, but that was sort of fleeting. Gourmet was just a bigger cultural picture."’"
~ read more from The Jew & The Carrot, The Demise of Gourmet Magazine, a Cultural Icon

"Why Gourmet? Because after just one or two issues, it felt like a kitchen I knew my way around in, while Bon Appetit always felt like a restaurant I couldn’t afford or just plain didn’t like. I skipped the froofy travel stuff about Michelin stars and went straight for my favorite sections, “You Asked For It,” “Quick Kitchen” (now “Gourmet Every Day”) and “The Last Touch.” I didn’t know a goddamn thing about food, but Gourmet never talked down to me. Gourmet didn’t care that I’d never tried foie gras (still haven’t); Gourmet said it was okay to make easy-awesome beer-battered fish tacos instead. And easy-awesome orzo with pine nuts and feta. And easy-awesome ribeye steak in a balsamic reduction. And the the decidedly un-easy but definitely awesome, best effing mac and cheese in the world."
~ read more from Beth Boyle Machlan at The Faster Times, Gourmet: The Magazine of Good Living Is Dead

Food blogger Rebekah Denn never thought she'd wrote Gourmet's obituary.

"Gourmet is survived by Bon Appétit, another Conde Nast title, which we like but which really isn't the same. It is also survived by Reichl, who we think of as its mom, by media food editor Zanne Stewart and its other amazingly knowledgeable employees, and by legions of wonderful writers and loyal fans. There is no specified charity for donations, but perhaps contributions could be made by cooking one favorite dish from its archives and raising a glass in thanks for the years of inspiration."
~ read more at Al Dente, The Sad, Sudden Death of Gourmet Magazine

And what's next, what comes AFTER Gourmet?

"I would suggest that the next wave in food publishing isn’t necessarily just blogging–or at least, it’s something that includes blogs but is much larger. This is Web 2.0, folks, the era of social media. ... The thrilling but also terrifying aspect of this new stage of food journalism is that we are all editors. Ideally, consensus builds, great minds do think alike, and the cream rises to the top. Worst case scenario, novel but inane ideas go viral just for the fun of it, and we are the poorer for it. ... Bear in mind, none of this is a replacement for Gourmet… exactly. Nothing will replace Gourmet or the other food glossies that fall because that is a model that no longer works in this media climate. The part of this that worries me the most is the kind of in-depth reporting that print media has traditionally been able to fund. It’s the same problem we face as more and more newspapers fold. Who will pay for the time food journalists spend doing research and polishing their writing? If this new medium is passion driven, is passion enough to ensure quality when unpaid foodists are working in their spare time, after the day job? Who is paying for this writing now?"
~ read more from Adriana Velez at Farm to Table, So Gourmet Is Closing, What Will Rise From Its Ashes?

What can we do, can Gourmet Magazine be saved?

Blogger Kylie Sachs, who calls herself an 'aspiring cook' though isn't a food blogger, grabbed the Twitter handle @SaveGourmet. She wrote:

"Condé Nast and friends, dare to be different and RAISE standards, SET a tone, LEAD a market not just follow every Tom, Dick and Rachael*."
~ read more from Kylie at Chapter XVII, Good Living, One Meal at a Time

Food blogger Julie O'Hara is hosting a food blog event and invites bloggers to 'celebrate' Gourmet by cooking a recipe from Gourmet magazine and posting it by October 15th, Get more information at A Mingling of Tastes, Blog Event: Let's Celebrate Gourmet.

And you?
And you, will Gourmet be missed? Leave a thought, a link to a favorite recipe from Gourmet, or what you're doing to support other food magazines, you know where, in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg remembers distinctly how her first issue of Gourmet in 1987 rocked her food sensibility, creating the early inklings of the 'fresh seasonal recipes for everyday healthful living and occasional indulgences' she now collects at Kitchen Parade, the food column her mom started in 1959.

An Apple (Cake) a Day: 10 Recipes to Keep the Doctor Away

2009-10-06T07:00:00-05:00

Put your nose in the air in early October, you'll soon catch a sniff of cinnamon. (Or maybe nutmeg, but definitely cinnamon.) That's because someone nearby, I predict, is baking an apple cake. It's that time of year! We're so ready to start baking again, after (mostly unsuccessfully) ignoring our ovens all hot-summer long. Fall is apple-cake season, no doubt. I can't guarantee the doctor bit but I can promise some tasting eating, thanks to some of the apple cake recipes from my favorite food bloggers.

Poor Girl Gourmet ~ Ricotta Apple Cake with Cider-Maple Glaze
"... I'll be making this cake - perhaps two - to bring along to my brother-in-law's for the [family] celebration. It serves dual purpose, breakfast and dessert, and with twenty or so people packed into his house for three days, we'll eat our fair share of both."

The Repressed Pastry Chef ~ Fresh Apple Cake
"I highly recommend this cake. It comes together about as easily as can be… the cake is moist and flavorful and the apples add a delicious top layer that can only be described as 'the icing on the cake!'"

The Wednesday Chef ~ Teddie's Apple Cake
"It's got this wonderfully craggy top, all mountains and valleys of soft apples jutting upwards through the cake and slumping down gently into the crumb, and a faintly shattering crust. "

The Way the Cookie Crumbles ~ Applesauce Snack Cake
"You must make this cake. I try not to say that. I know everyone has their own preferences. Not everyone likes to bake. There is no shortage of apple cake recipes. But – You must make this cake."

Smitten Kitchen ~ Mom's Apple Cake
"The cake gets better the second day, when the apples juices seep further into the cake and I have seen the conviction of many a chocolate-obsessed/fruit dessert non-believers crumble upon trying a single slice of it. The apple cake, it’s some good stuff."

101 Cookbooks ~ Unfussy Apple Cake
"A big, floppy dollop of boozy, slightly sweet whipped cream takes this cake over the top."

Simply Recipes ~ Mrs Paxton's Raw Apple Cake
"You simply cannot go wrong with this raw apple cake. The ingredients of coconut and the apples ensure that the cake will be moist and flavorful."

Eliza Domestica ~ Apple Cake
"[My husband] would always go for chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, but there was nothing else for me but [my mother-in-law's] apple cake. It’s rich, decadent and full of apples. I also love the brown sugar frosting called penuche, it is rich and complements the apple cake beautifully."

The Cookie Shop ~ Best Apple Cake of the Whole Wide World
"This cake is very moist and tender, and the cinnamon scent will take over your kitchen when it’s in the oven. The top, best part, gets this delicious and melt-in-your-mouth and beautiful and crumbly texture."

Desert Candy ~ Overnight Apple Cake
"If you've ever baked you know that yeast doughs are often left overnight, and that extra rest can give the dough or sponge magical lifting power. That idea of overnight magic is what attracted me to a little recipe for an apple cake: sliced apples are layered with some sugar and baked slowly overnight. In all honesty, I was sure it wouldn't work ... "

And you?
And you, what's your favorite apple cake recipe? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg fell in love with Nami-Nami's Non-Canadian Apple Cake and with Pille's permission, ate it up as Estonian Apple Cake.

Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for October

2009-10-03T07:00:00-05:00

Only 83 more days until Christmas but only 28 more days to revel in the autumn joy that is October. So let's get on with it, shall we? I've got 10 ideas for making the most of October in fun or frugal or inventive or some times silly ways. The world is our ~~oyster~~ pumpkin!

Fried Green Tomatoes! Watch the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, then cook some! Answer the question, Why do we eat green tomatoes in the fall and not in the summer? (Hint: the answer has something to do with the seasons. Not sure? The secret answer is at the bottom of this post.)

Cook Something Outdoors Okay, on a grill if need be but maybe a grill at a nearby park, or a state park. The point is, get out of the living room, get out of the house, get out of the neighborhood, get out of the city, GET OUT. Build a little fire, lighter fluid is allowed but if you have a magnifying glass on a sunny day, it does wonders. (We pack one in our outdoor cooking toolbox, for all the times we forget to bring along matches.) S'mores? That counts!

Via Who's heard about the new single-serving coffees from Starbucks? It's a buck a pop so 1000 times more expensive than home-brewed but 1/3 the cost of a latte. It's worth one expresso shot, just to see.

Celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving Does your sister-in-law insist on Thanksgiving at her house every year? That means SHE gets all the leftovers and we all know that the leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving. Instead, celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, October 12 -- but wait, don't hesitate to push it back a day or two to the weekend, many Canadians do too.

Michael Pollan for Kids Begin a conversation inside your own family about the pressing food issues of today. You might even pick up a copy of Michael Pollan's new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids: Secrets Behind What You Eat. Then visit the grocery store to survey the perimeter for 'whole foods' like fruits and vegetables, meats and dairy. Then check out the inside aisles to show how many foods are processed. Try to find whole foods in the inside aisles, like bins of oatmeal, frozen vegetables. How do we tell the difference between a 'whole food' and a processed food product?

Fruits & Vegetables are COOL Yes, they are! But in the U.S., beginning a year ago now, fruits and vegetables and some other foods are subject to COOL (Country of Origin Labels) legislation. So while you're at the grocery with the kids, or even on your own, check the produce aisle. Strawberries are long out of season in the U.S., where do the ones at the grocery store come from? What about the winter squash?

Pumpkin Seeds What to do with the seeds from your Halloween pumpkin? Make toasted pumpkin seeds, of course! I love the three ways to toast pumpkin seeds from Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Oh I used to love this movie! Maybe you'll need a little treat to nibble on while watching? Maybe Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, say, or Pumpkin Ice Cream.

But It's Still Apple Season, Too Have you ever made a homemade apple pie? Practice up now, before Thanksgiving and then you'll be a superstar. I also love the idea of these Apple Chips.

Pick a Cupboard, Any Cupboard Okay this one is less than fun but you'll just FEEL so much better. Empty a cupboard, clean it, then put back ONLY what you've used in the last year. Haven't used it? Good Will, the basement or hold a cupboard swap with a few neighbors.

And you?
And you, what's your favorite fun and healthy food activity this month? Leave an idea, a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

More Ideas?
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for July
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for August
Food: Ten Healthy Fun Ideas for September

Oh right. Why do we eat green tomatoes in the fall and not the summer?
Upripe tomatoes are collected just before or just after the first freeze, when they have a particular sweetness and -- more than that -- we don't want them to go to waste. So Fried Green Tomatoes are a late-in-the-season specialty, not a first-of-the-season treat. So there!

This October, just like last October, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is addicted to Apple Butter made with apple cider (no sugar!) and cooked for a long, loooooong time.

Best Practices in Blogging: How to Maintain a Good Blog

2009-09-26T03:00:00-05:00

Hello from BlogHer Food '09 in San Francisco, where today I will moderate a session about best practices in blogging, especially food blogging but with general application for blogs on other topics (What? People blog about more than food? How cute is that?)

Our topic is in the Vocation Track, "How Blogging Best Practices Apply, No Matter Your Blogging Niche". We've got a panel of diverse speakers, each a successful blogger in her own right, each representing a particular niche or community within the larger food blog world. Let me introduce them!

NOTE: This session is being live blogged, once the session is live (9:45am PST, Saturday, September 26).

Meet Michelle Lentz the 'Wine-Girl' at My Wine Education, who'll tackle the first-things-first topic of finding and speaking with your own voice. Michelle represents the 'non recipe' contingent of food blogging. She's also the one 'local blogger' on the panel, since her blog focuses on wine news and events in her hometown of Cincinatti.

Meet Elana Amsterdam of Elana's Pantry who will share ideas about the best practices for formatting a blog. Elana represents the gluten-free blogging community and blogs about organic food and natural homemade household products. She's also the author of the brand-new cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.

Meet Kalyn Denny of Kalyn's Kitchen and a fellow contributing editor for the Food & Drink topic here at BlogHer. Kalyn wil take on two topics near and dear to her blogging style, smart SEO tactics and what she calls Link Love.

Meet Lauren Ulm aka "Lolo" of VeganYumYum and also author of another just-released cookbook, Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining and Everyday. Lauren's known for her creative photography and while there is a Visual Track at BlogHer Food '09, Lauren will kick off with some start-up ideas about photography for food blogs and then discuss best practices in recipe development.

And then there is me, the moderator of today's session, Alanna Kellogg, the second-generation food writer at Kitchen Parade and the veggie evangelist at A Veggie Venture, the food blog about vegetables. It's my job to make sure we stay on track topic-wise and time-wise -- and that participants, both in person and online, come away with lots of ideas to bump their blogs up a notch or two.

So You've Got a Blog. Now How Do You Maintain It?

NOTE For time reasons, this topic is not scheduled for today's panel but is one of the very most important best blogging practices.

Read Like a Subscriber

Subscribe to your own posts in e-mail
Follow your own RSS feeds (all of them) in Google Reader, Bloglines, My Yahoo, etc
How friendly is, “If you are reading this other than in a feed reader, the site you are visiting is guilty of plagiarism and violating my copyrights."

Drop In Like a Search Visitor

Every landing page is your ‘front door’ - how do you look?
Optimize the best (not necessarily the highest) search landing pages with calls to action, better photos, tighter writing, recipe improvements, more links to related pages
Analyze combined keywords via HitTail

Rethink Past Decisions

Full or partial feed - If you're not monetizing your site, why use a partial feed? If you are monetizing your site, how important are the pageviews versus reader convenience, can you get the pageviews with other links? If you are using a partial feed, are you helping readers know what to expect, giving reason TO open the page
What content is highest on your page? Do you know that users don’t scroll, see Usability Findings and Guidelines from Smashing Magazine.
Posting frequency - Who's on a recipe treadmill? What percentage of a month's traffic comes from the current posts? If you posted less frequently, could you spend time improving your blog's performance and usability?
Photo sizes - too big, too small, are you optimizing the alt tags?
How many Javascripts / widgets - the more, the slower the page load
Is your About Page current and complete?

Categories Are ~~Lazy~~ Easy ~~and~~ But Ineffective

Categories are easy to check off but do they really serve our readers?
Just think, categories typically present one or more long full pages, which the reader has to wade through to see if they're interested in them, then another page with the same, then another and another
Can you vastly improve pages per visit by creating many practical ways for readers to find the exact recipe they're looking for?
Our recipes sites are really recipe databases
See examples of extreme "anti-category mania" from my own sites, A - Z of Vegetables and Weight Watchers Recipes and Recipes by Ingredient

Measurements Beyond Pageviews

Measure page load times - WebWait
Browser compatability - Why is it okay to tell 75% of readers who rely on Internet Explorer to switch to the better Firefox, even if it IS better? Instead, watch how your site appears on various browsers using BrowserShots.
Broken links - LinkTiger
Google WebMaster Tools
Search traffic - for sites with high percentage of search traffic, watch changes here closely
For monetized sites – calculate revenue per 1000 pageviews to compare relative contributions from different programs, especially important to compare from month to month
E-mail cancellations - what kinds of posts cause a rush of e-mail cancellations?

Does Your Site Have …?

Search box
E-mail subscription
Mobile page
Measurement converter
Feedburner subscriber count
Disclosure statement – advertising, gifts, etc (for examples, see Disclosure Policy
For Wordpress users, up-to-date software (Blogger and Typepad do this for their sites)

Basic Math to Compare One Period to Another

The one calculation you'll use again and again, whether comparing last month to this month, or especially, last year to this year.

And you?
So that's my list of maintenance items, stuff I keep a regular eye on. What's your own maintenance mode? Leave a tip, an idea, a reaction in the comments.

At heart, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is a techie and numbers geek but when it comes to food, she's over-the-harvest-moon excited to finally be cooking fall recipes again.

Ten Favorite Chicken Recipes for Fall

2009-09-22T13:22:11-05:00

Hei-hei, summer! Hello, fall! Join me in turning the oven back on, warming the kitchen from the inside out. Food bloggers are cooking inside again, tucking roasts into Dutch ovens, chopping root vegetables for roasting, baking bread and cookies and sweet apple crisps. And for easy suppers, there's nothing more popular than chicken, especially for eash weeknight suppers. Here are ten not-to-miss chicken recipes from ten of my favorite food blogs. Just Serve and Savor!

In Good Taste ~ Oven-Baked Fried Chicken
"In the summer, this is best served with bacon potato salad and in the winter, garlic mashed potatoes would be a great side dish."

Nourishing Days ~ Indian-Style Chicken Curry
"I have been using this recipe for the past couple of years and have tasted no better curry. ... I oftentimes will use pre-cooked meat leftover from a roasted chicken."

Amanda's Cookin' ~ Rotini with Creamy Three-Herb Pesto
"The flavors of the herbs mingled beautifully with the familiar taste of garlic and shallots, which I tend to use often. This is definitely a recipe I will make again and again, as I do grow so tired of tomato sauce on my pasta dishes."

Homesick Texan ~ King Ranch Casseroles
"Casseroles today have a sort of retro appeal, yet I find they’re a terrific dish to prepare in the cooler months. Not only can you make them ahead of time, they can also feed many, freeze well and taste terrific as leftovers."

Phoo-D ~ Chipotle Beer BBQ Chicken
"Honey turned the chicken skin a deep golden brown and the moist meat had a subtle heat from the chipotle peppers and beer. The roasted vegetables were deliciously caramelized and with a hint of smoke flavor turned into a fantastic accompaniment. In fact, they were so irresistible that I almost burned my fingers snatching them out of the roaster before they were cool!"

Simply Recipes ~ Tomatillo Chicken Stew
"You can make this recipe with fresh tomatillos, or you can use canned chile verde tomatillo salsa as a substitute for the tomatillo sauce."

TasteFood ~ Skillet Chicken with Rice & Vegetables
""This tastes like chicken soup without the soup," declared my daughter as she tucked into a weeknight dinner of Chicken with Rice and Vegetables."

Ya Salam Cooking ~ Quaker
"Quaker soup is a popular Ramadan soup served in Saudi. ... The hint of cumin leaves a distinct smoky flavor while the cardamom reminds you of its Middle Eastern roots."

Karina's Kitchen ~ Easy Chicken & Balsamic Peppers
"This a great make-ahead dish. Assemble it, cover with foil, and chill until you are ready to bake it (and add extra time to the baking- 10 to 15 minutes)."

Show Me the Curry ~ Chicken Pasanda
"Chicken Pasanda is one dish that just oozes flavor and with a name like that it just sounds complicated. ... A perfect party dish that just for the family, it’s perfect in every way."

And you?
And you, what's your favorite way to cook chicken as the weather starts to cool for fall? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg loves the chicken, sweet potato and apple cider flavors in her Chicken Cider Stew.

Pound + Pound + Pound + Pound

2009-09-19T08:00:00-05:00

What thing of beauty emerges from the oven when you combine a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs and a pound of flour and then stir in a little vanilla? "Pound cake" -- of course, the dense, sweet but plain cake 'leavened' (that means to lighten the texture and thereby increase the volume) only by a long mix time.

The "pound of butter, sugar, eggs and flour" of traditional pound cake may be easy to remember but that particular combination is long gone, it's a little rich and dense for today's taste. These days, pound cake recipes often include an added leavener such as baking powder or baking soda or leaven the cake with whipped-stiff egg whites.

A perfect-to-your-own-taste pound cake recipe is worth striving for, one to call on again and again once it makes your "keeper" recipe box. Pound cakes are easy to make and often call for only pantry ingredients although some times add ingredients such as nuts and chopped fruit. Most of all, people love 'em!

Here are five recipes to inspire your pound cake baking!

RECIPES for PLAIN POUND CAKE ['plain' doesn't mean un-delicious, just that the recipes hold most closely to a traditional pound cake]

My Baking Addiction ~ Pound Cake Parfaits
"This recipe whipped together in no time and produced a gorgeous, sweet and delicious pound cake."

Amanda's Cookin' ~ Elvis Presley's Whipping Cream Pound Cake
"...deliciously soft, ever so wonderful"

Simply Yummy Goodness ~ Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
"It is very important to indulge in something really delicious on a birthday. This is so important to me, I almost always give my dearest friends something sweet for their special days."

POUND CAKE RECIPES with FRUIT & OTHER ADDED INGREDIENTS

A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen ~ Peach Pound Cake
"Either warm from the oven or lightly toasted for breakfast -- pound cake is the best."

Taste Food ~ Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
"This [recipe] takes the traditional sweet pound cake and adds cool, mildly tart blueberries and bright, citrus-y lemon zest for a deliciously fresh tea cake."

Purple Foodie ~ Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
"It’s established. This chocolate chip pound cake is comfort food. You know why? Because I ate this cake for three meals straight. Only this."

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg doesn't believe it but she's never made a pound cake. So far, the closest she's come is her recipe for a Bundt-style poppy seed cake.

O Fig! Ooooh Figs!

2009-09-15T16:53:12-05:00

"Fig season is upon us and produce stalls boast plentiful trays of purple figs, soft at the hips and oft leaking a drop of sap from their, um, bottom. Of course, they cost an eye -- figs are a luxury in Paris any time of the year -- but the fig fanatic in me is willing to make any sort of monetary sacrifice to fuel my addiction." ~ so wrote Clotilde from Chocolate & Zucchini, unofficially launching the fig season. From there, I grabbed a handful of fresh figs to nibble on while collecting ideas, just for tasting inspiration, of course.

EAT DESSERT FIRST
Chocolate & Zucchini ~ Two-Fig Ice Cream
Clotilde's ice cream, her purple-purple version from David Lebovitz's much-beloved cookbook 'Scoop' is gorgeous.

PIZZA PARLOR
White on Rice Couple ~ Fig & Brie Pizza

BREAK THE RAMADAN FAST
Lekker lekker lekkerste ~ Fig, Walnut and Goat Cheese Salad

SWEET PAIRS
Baking Bites ~ Fig & Plum Cobbler

FIRST BITES
Nami-Nami ~ Figs with Jamon Serrano & Goat's Cheese

FEEDING THE FIG OBSESSION
What We're Eating ~ Fig Jam & Sweetened Chevre Turnovers

BY THE SPOONFUL
Spork or Foon ~ Ham, Fig Butter & Manchego Tartines

And you?
And you, what's your favorite fig find? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg has now polished off a half dozen figs and has just enough to make a salad for supper, with any luck, it will someday appear on KitchenParade.