Who are the top 5 food blogs?

[JuniorBalloon]

I was reading the "Over rated Food Blogs" thread and was struck by how few actual blogs were mentioned. Many were referred to with initials. I am a novice foodite and am curious who are the top food bloggers? I realize this may be a bit subjective, but that's ok. Just looking for some indication of what's out there. And feel free to throw in one you like even if they're not famous.

Thanks,
jb

[karenfinan]

well, I don't have a top five, but right now I am very much enjoying http://hoppinjohns.net/default.aspx
He is a low country cook- that is the southern coast from South Carolina through Ga. He has great recipes,and makes a great and little known cuisine accesible with great recipes and nice photos and backstory.

[shaebones]

Food52

http://www.food52.com/blog

Brought the butternut squash w sage hazelnut pesto to a potluck last night and it was the hit of the evening!

[pikawicca]

One of the worst is The Amateur Gourmet: a self-promoting narcissist who can't cook his way out of a paper bag. If there's a lamer food blogger out there, I haven't encountered him.

[HillJ]

lol, pika..I thought this was an OP about our top 5...not the ones we loath.

Some of the blogs I'm enjoying lately include:
Brokeass Gourmet - love her experimentation for stretching a grocery list
Made With Pink - for the cookies, bars and hidden treasures
http://foodcurated.com/ - Food Curated as much for the videos as the musings-just keeps getting better & better

[pikawicca]

Sorry. Whenever the topic of food blogs comes up, I immediately think of how much I loathe this one. I love Smitten Kitchen and Serious Eats.

[dustsparkle]

My standbys:
- Simply Recipes
- Poor Girl Gourmet
- Tiger & Strawberries (I am SOOO happy she is back!!!)

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions.

[SherBel]

One of the best ways to browse the food blogs is with Tasteologie; part of the NotCot family.

Be warned.....it's highly addictive. Enjoy.

http://tasteologie.notcot.org/

[mattstolz]

i mostly use foodgawker and tastespotting when i am looking at food blogs, but a few i always go back to and check are Crepes of Wrath, David Lebovitz, Stephchows, Seriouseats, and the Daring Kitchen

[rcspott]

Top 100

http://www.guidetoculinaryschools.com...

[mcel215]

Thanks, I think. ;)

[princsoreo]

I'm also a Smitten Kitchen fan.

I also look at
101 Cookbooks
Simply Recipes
The Wednesday Chef
What's for lunch, honey?
Rasa Malaysia

I got many of these off a list Bon Appetit ran of favorite food blogs. I look at Smitten Kitchen, 101 Cookbooks and Simply Recipes most often, with the others thrown in when I'm bored.

[Beckyleach]

I try to stay organized and actually USE my feed reader, but usually I just lose all the blogs I want to save. That said, the ones I actually do remember to visit must really appeal to me: The Cast Iron Darling, Zucchini and Chocolate, Black Iron Dude (although he's getting tired, it's obvious), Smitten Kitchen, and Nourishing Kitchens (or is it the Nourished Kitchen? ;-)

[paul balbin]

A great little blog from down under.
http://www.notquitenigella.com

[Namius]

Nice blogs with generally higher end places:

www.kevineats.com
www.alifewortheating.com

[SDGourmand]

Kevineats is a great blog.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

As some other people have said, I too have cut way back on my food blog reading. There's such a glut of them and trying to weed what's-worth-reading vs. not can be a job in itself.

My no-question go-to blogs:

Simply Recipes
Smitten Kitchen
Cheap Healthy Good
The Fresh Loaf

Other blogs I occasionally peruse: Leibovitz, Ruhlman, Alinea At Home, Dorie Greenspan, 101 Cookbooks, Chocolate and Zucchini, Rasa Malaysia, and Steamy Kitchen.

[DiningDiva]

There are only two food blogs that I follow with any regularity

Mexico Cooks - http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com/ - because I have had a lifelong, abiding love affair with Mexican cuisine and am a confirmed old Mexiphile. This is an exceptionall good blog dedicated to the food, art and life of central Mexico.

Joe Pastry - http://joepastry.com/ - because this is one of the best all-purpose baking sites I've ever seen. The writing is easy going and the photos excellent. Joe has me about 98% convinced I can master laminated dough, or enough for me to want to give it a go, and that's saying a lot for a blog.

[smkit]

I read SDGourmand's post, and I agree with including sites like, Eater. Instead of blogs, I often find sites like Eater and Food News Journal interesting. And Eater even has a link to this forum thread in their 'Board Wrap' section. They are not about recipes, but I often find the food-related news interesting to browse.

[HillJ]

smkit, I'm so glad you mentioned Food News Journal because they have a very interesting article about teen food bloggers here: http://www.foodnewsjournal.com/2010/05/lean-teen-blogging-machines.html

While some are skeptical over the authenticity of food blogging, it is not surprising that young people are enjoying the heck out of the medium and forging some pretty interesting takes on food prep, special dietary requirements and cooking for the first time.

A number of food bloggers began their online journals to cook with others and joined blog rolls. Very popular cook-a-long blogs include Daring Bakers http://daringbakersblogroll.blogspot.com/ and Tuesdays with Dorie http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/. These blog writers follow a pro with the intent of learning new skills from someone they admire.

[smkit]

Thanks for the article. Very interesting.

I had a funny encounter about six months ago. I was in a hotel room with a 6, 7, and 9, and they were watching the food channel after swimming. I then asked them all who their favorite cooks were -- and they all had answers. Sure, they were Jamie Oliver, Bobby Flay, and Cat Cora but that blew my mind. A six-year-old said her favorite chef was Cat Cora!!! It is no wonder they are blogging earlier these days.

I'm going to check out all those teen blogs this week.

[Gio]

Absolutely Love "3 hungry tummies." She's clever and her Asian recipes are simple and well written. I also read "ruhlman.com".... that's Michael Ruhlman and "bittman"... Mark Bittman. I check out a ton more every now & then but I guess those I listed I look forward to the most.

[stellamystar]

I know they may not be Top Five, but I enjoy- Kalyn's Kitchen, Smitten Kitchen, Bakerella, and I regularly check Pioneer Woman (and her recipes are nice for all purpose and solid).
Tastespotting is a great source for finding new bloggers. I can't imagine the effort and expense...
I also enjoyed the lady who did the 365 Days of Crockpot Bloggng/Recipes. I DID make her crockpot falafel, which was rather amazing.

[HillJ]

stellamystar, it was my understanding that bloggers sumbit their photos/recipes/daily musings directly to Tastespotting and are posted based on guidelines Tastespotting conceived. They also have advertising, hence ad revenue, running throughout their site.

[burgeoningfoodie]

I check Pioneer Woman but it is more for the giveaways ;-)

[HillJ]

I am sure you're not alone there; PW contest attract 20-40 thousands entries nearly every time and her "favorite things" musings have knocked out website merchants for days. Popularity comes with many perks.

[HillJ]

Before Tastespotting.com came along finding a food blog was harder. I relied upon food reviewers, word of mouth and CH to enlighten me but the suggestion made about visiting the blog roll of a bloggers you do enjoy is an excellent suggestion and search tool indeed and most definately expanded my access.

I also enjoy Closet Cooking- http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/ he's just a fun home cook who experiments and doesn't waste a morsel! His small journal is turning into a commercially viable sideline.

My personal fav is a pastry chef using the blog moniker "Do you know the Muffin Man" http://gnufmuffin.blogspot.com/ I doubt he's popular by famous standards discussed all over this site but I find his writing, baking journey and recipes/photos fascinating to read.

My own criteria for selecting one blog writer over another is typically based on one factor: can I learn something by reading it. Having said that, blogs like Cake Wrecks http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ provide a good laugh and have their place on my desktop.

[melpy]

It's so hard to get posted on TS, it can be frustrating knowing it is the only source for many people.

[HillJ]

melpy, TS is not the only source for posting your blog entries. Have you visited the other blogroll websites? TS's criteria for food photography is higher than their recipe criteria. A few bloggers I know have been rejected for photography issues; mostly poor lightening.

[melpy]

I am a part of Food Buzz, Cook Eat Share, Food Blogs and Food Blog Search. Would you say there is another good one I've missed?

[HillJ]

http://foodgawker.com/
http://photograzing.seriouseats.com/
http://www.opensourcefood.com/recipes/page/1

http://www.blogher.com/topic/food-drink
for guidance & resources

http://www.foodbloggersunite.com/home...
and, your not alone regarding TS, here's a tip sheet

good luck!

[JonParker]

It's really sad that i lost my blogroll when my old computer died, however, Kevin's soups on Closet Cooking are amazing.

This is a staple in my house: http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/200...

[mina edleburg]

I looooove the http://feistyfoodie.com/ . It's a girl like me who is clever and loves to eat! She lives in NYC and updates all the time.

My best friend turned me on to this http://beefpiranha.wordpress.com/ It's some random writer guy that lives in NY, but has moved to SF. It's a foodie blog sortof. He writes about his life, food and his cat and he's actually kinda hot. Or maybe just funny.

[JuniorBalloon]

I have two that I found recently that I enjoy, but only one of these is semi famous.

http://mattikaarts.com/blog/ This is an excellent blog for seafood and charcuterie.

http://honest-food.net/ - This is one is fairly well known as he has won some awards.

jb

[SDGourmand]

I read serious eats and eater daily.

Www.seriouseats.com
Www.eater.com

[dave_c]

I cut back on my blog reading quite a bit, especially blogs with flash ads.

Michael Ruhlman: http://ruhlman.com/ I check about twice a week.

Blogs that I check once a week
Tastepotting
Food Gawker
David Lebovitz: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

[burgeoningfoodie]

Question...

Are Tastespotting and Food Gawker considered blogs or bloggregators?

[stilton]

These are baking-oriented, since that's what I enjoy most in the kitchen.

http://confectionsofamasterbaker.blogspot.com/
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/
http://bakingbites.com/

[thelittleredkitchen]

I like:

The Wednesday Chef
La Tartine Gourmande
Orangette
101 Cookbooks
Tea and Cookies

One tip is to find a blog you like and then check out some of the links on their site.

Good luck and have fun!

[burgeoningfoodie]

I like several food blogs especially if there is a recipe I'm interested in and they provide a photo. I like the following at the moment...

Someone's In the Kitchen With Brina (okay she's a friend so I cheated)
Joe Pastry
Serious Eats
Ciao Chow Lidia
Dorie Greenspan's blog

[smkit]

I'm not a huge food blog fan, but I do admire a lot of them for their passion in cooking and the time they spend blogging. I've identified maybe 10 or so that I sort of like (and roughly match my taste), but I don't read them daily, weekly -- or even monthly. Maybe once a year I will go through an entire year's recipes on one site, pluck out my favorites, and make a few of the dishes.

After doing this, I get a feel for the blogs better too and know if I want to keep reading them or not.

Some off the top of my head are: Lottie + Doof, Eat Make Read (because it has cocktails), Food Wishes (has videos), La Tartine Gourmande, Gastronomer's Guide, Coconut & Lime, and the videos Cooking with Dog.

[monavano]

Thank you for recognizing the passion, time, expense and dedication it takes to run a food blog. I did for 2 years, and it's not easy!

[kattyeyes]

Is yours no longer up and running? I checked your profile, but no blog listed. Agree wholeheartedly with you, by the way...and trying to put your own stamp on things rather than simply blogging other people's recipes is an even bigger challenge...and I've only been doing it 8 months...not sure where I'll be in the blogosphere in 2 years.

[monavano]

I haven't blogged in about 2 years-it's just exhausting and I got tired of being beholden to it. I feel more relaxed just going to farmers markets and cooking without feeling the pressure. So when folks put down blogs (hey favorites are fine) for whatever reason, I assume they have never put in the work it takes to put forth a blog.

[veggietestkitchen]

Agreed. I just started keeping a food blog. I blogged previously, but when I had lulls in my professional life. I am at that point again. The food blog though, I feel, serves a functional purpose for me, and as a result I may be more likely to keep it going through the years posting more infrequently as time goes by. It's a great way to store your recipes and to keep notes on what worked and what didn't work, to keep the pictures of how things are supposed to look along the way. All of that stuff is important and you forget it over time. Also, that is the reason blogs are appealing, maybe more so than cookbooks. There isn't a publisher cutting off the amount of color pictures we can include that help people to understand what's supposed to be going on.

[melpy]

I think it is all about taste in food and personal preference. For example many people adore The Pioneer Woman, but I would say only 1/3-1/2 of the things she makes are my style of cooking/eating, which wouldn't put her at the top for me. For a long time I really love Closet Cooking but sometimes Kevin gets on a leftovers kick and everything is made with the same basic ingredient or previous recipe, for example kimchi. (No offense Kevin! Still love the blog). Many people are fans of Smitten Kitchen and the Bitten Word, both of which I read.

My favorite food blog right now is more of a social activist blog Fed up with School Lunch. I also enjoy Crepes of Wrath and Dishing up Delights (along with about 25 others). I also like to read my own blog, which I think is kind of sick but I don't care.

[veggietestkitchen]

I laughed when I read your last line. It's not sick at all. You work so hard to put out your posts, no one better to appreciate them than their creator. But, I agree totally depends on your cooking style. Smitten Kitchen covers so many different styles of cuisine that it's safe to safe that site would appeal to a vast proportion of foodies.

[cleobeach]

While I like her site, I an not a fan of PW's recipes. Some are in my go-to file but I find many to be, at best, safe and sort of boring, the type of thing I could find in any old cookbook. And that is ok, obviously there is a market for her type of cooking.

I cook of off Simply Recipes all the time.

[JuniorBalloon]

Is this one? http://wednesdaychef.typepad.com/ The NY Times seems to think so. I love the Ragù di Pesce that she describes and plan to make it soon, but I don't care for her writing style. It's a bit melodramatic for me.

As a side note on the mix she gets at the market. My wife and I took a cooking class while in Sicily a few years back and it included a walk through the Capo Market. We bought octopus, swordfish, sardines as well as some vegetables for our meal. Several vendors had piles of pre-cut mista di mare. Our Chef told us never to buy these as they were the older bits cut up to sell. Maybe she has a special place in her area that makes nice fresh mixes, I don't know.

jb