Go watch the video »

Think of this as the first of many Holiday-themed recipe roundups. We’re just getting warmed up!

Layered Apple Pies

Gorgeous layers filled with cinnamon scented cream, they’re made with wonton wrappers, which the pastry-challenged will appreciate. And your house will smell amazing.

Povitica

There’s just something about special, sweet brioche that spell Christmas to us. This one’s made with poppy seed honey filling.

Eggs in Anchovy Breakfast

For breakfast, how about something hearty and savory, like these delicious looking eggs in anchovy butter?

Pumpkin Soup

Rich hot satisfying pumpkin soup. All we can say is: of course.

Niloufer Ichaporia King’s Parsi Tomato Chutney

And finally, because it’s never too early to start working on your Christmas gift list, we recommend making up several jars of this Tomato Chutney.

Today, Joy shares 10 Real-Talk Blog Tips on her blog, which should be required reading for every food blogger, beginner or pro. It includes gems such as:

I think sharing is important. You know that weird thing you do with your sock drawer? Share that! Find you voice and be vulnerable. You’ll be surprised by how many people connect to your weirdness.

Go read the rest of the post at 10 Real-Talk Blog Tips

Makati, where I live and work, may not be the most densely populated City in the Philippines- but most of the time, it feels like it. Makati is simply happening – our version of a City that never sleeps. It’s why I refuse to live anywhere else.

Yet in the midst of all this happening, one often finds hidden gems- places of surprising serenity that make you forget about the hustle and bustle outside.

Casa Nostra Restaurant is a hidden gem.

Like many great places, the restaurant’s exterior is unassuming. Located in a sleepy office district on Pasong Tamo extension, directly across a brightly lit 7-11, its dark green awning and heavily tinted windows simply cannot describe the delight that awaits you inside.

Stepping into Casa Nostra is a little like exhaling after holding your breath for as long as you can. It is relaxing and elegant and candlelit and casual all at once. Servers with quiet smiles greet you Buongiorno while Italian guitar music plays softly in the background. The tablecloths are crisp and white, the chairs wide and comfortable.

Their website mentions that they bake their bread fresh every day- and, as you crack open a warm roll and dip it in the complementary bowl of Caponata, you can tell right away. The Caesar Salad you order is fresh and crisp, tossed with just the right amount of dressing. The beef Ossobuco is the finest you’ve ever had, slow cooked and falling off its bone, the latter oozing with rich marrow.

You are told that their pizzas are amazing, their homemade ravioli is the best in town, and that their Limoncello is also homemade. The next day, as you check their online menu, you make a mental list of dishes to order on your next visit.

Casa Nostra is located on the Ground Floor of the Ecoplaza Building, Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati. They are open Monday thru Saturday for Lunch and Dinner. For more details, call them at 403-9854 to 55.

Discovering The Steaming Pot proved to be especially timely for me, as I’d just decided to start making my own yogurt, the topic of the blog’s latest post.

My husband and I are not vegetarians, but we try to go meatless as much as possible, and we make sure to have a vegetable dish included in every meal- another reason we love this blog, with its well-written recipes for dishes such as Moong and Onion Raita and Mushroom Kasoori Methi.

The recipes are mostly Indian, which means “hello, tastebuds!”, and we’re particularly fond of the Ultimate Chapati Cheat Sheet and a how-to on making French Fries without frying.

Design-wise, the blog is neither generic nor over-designed, with the content as the star of the show- as it should be. I also appreciate how the recipes are sorted not simply by category but by ingredient.

We highly recommend checking out The Steaming Pot, and look forward to seeing more from this blog in the future.

Starting with this, a roundup of some of the best Easter recipes from our favorite food bloggers.

Easter Desserts

Let’s begin with desserts. After all, not only are they usually made ahead, many of us like to eat them ahead as well.

Caramel Chocolate Cake

What is it about cakes and “retro” that go together so well? The Cake Mistress’ Caramel Chocolate Cake is a wonderful alternative to a regular chocolate cake. That it originates from a rare 1973 cookbook (the Nyamutin Farm Cookbook) is an added plus.

Maple Cake with Maple Syrup Frosting

If you love maple (and who doesn’t?), Two Yolks’ cake will blow your mind- it’s got 2 cups of the stuff (only the real stuff, please) in the cake, and is topped with a maple-syrup flavored cream cheese frosting. Wethinks having a slice of this for breakfast with some crispy bacon might be a good idea.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream

Finally, no Easter dessert spread would be complete without some carrot cake. These, from the lovely Joy the Baker, are in cupcake form and slathered with dulce de leche buttercream instead of the classic cream cheese frosting- and we mightily approve.

Easter Hams

When we ran an informal (read: our friends and family) poll of what everyone’s serving as their Easter Main Dish, the results were surprising. The expected Easter Ham was nowhere to be found, replaced by other favorites such as Roast Turkey or Roast Beef- or more exotic fare such as Duck a l’Orange or Indian Curry. If you’ve got an eye to the traditional, however, you’ll be pleased with our roundup of Ham recipes for Sunday:

Easter Ham with Mango Ginger Glaze

Because we could eat Asian food every day for the rest of our lives, this was the first ham recipe we were drawn to- made with mango nectar or juice, mango jam, and lots of tangy fresh ginger. From food blogger extraordinaire Steamy Kitchen, this one uses just 6 ingredients.

8 Easy Glaze Recipes

One of the best things about choosing a ham for Easter is that you can just buy a good ham and glaze it. Party Bluprints has not one, not two, but eight glaze recipes to choose from: Honey & Brown Sugar, Orange, Maple, Brown Sugar, Marmalade, Pineapple, Hoisin and Ginger. They all sound good to us.

Coca-Cola Ham

A classic, and not just for soda lovers. This one’s my personal favorite, and I’ve made it with Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke- both with great success. Nothing beats just regular Coke, though.

Easter Sides

Pesto Deviled Eggs

The addition of pesto really kicks things up a notch, you’ll be surprised.

Oeufs Mayonaisse

I have a soft spot for this classic French dish, as it’s one of the first things I ever learned to cook.

Eggs in Purgatory

Found on a lovely food blog we’ve just discovered (and will write more about later!), this wittily named dish combines artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and spicy Arrabiata sauce.

A Happy Easter to everyone!

UMass Amherst transformed a 1/4 grass lawn on campus into a thriving, abundant, permaculture garden during the 2010-2011 academic year. Learn how this student-led project can be easily replicated and spread to other campuses, institutions… any piece of land for that matter.

*Update*: Meatball Joe is now available on the App Store! Check it out!

Meatball Joe for the iPad is coming this March from indie game developer Nesesita. Meatball Joe is a new take on a classic pinball game, with fast-paced gameplay that allow players to test their skills while traveling to eight gastronomically-themed world locations.

Meatball Joe must stop the evil Dr. Bruce L. Sprout, who plans to destroy all the meatballs in Spaghetti Land and replace them with his laboratory-grown minionions.To do this, Joe must collect enough points in each city to unlock more cities- until he comes face to face with Dr. Sprout and his minionions!

Features:

• Fun, pinball-style gameplay that’s easy to learn, not so easy to master!
• 8 world locations: Sourdough City, Pretzel Central, Sushi Sea, Place de la Croissant, Adobo Islands, Young Chow Main, Plaza Paella and Marinara Mountain!
• Super Secret Bonus Zones help you rack up those points!
• Beautiful HD graphics built for the iPad!
• Food-themes and signature dishes to make your mouth water!
• Original Jazzy soundtrack that will make you want to dance!

To learn more and watch the game trailer, visit Meatball Joe

Disclosure: The team behind FoodBloggers.net (that’s us) created this iPad game. Yes, we’re foodies through and through!

Place your unappetizing food in a good looking container set on a beautiful mat with gorgeous flatware against a beautiful background. Suddenly your unappetizing food turns into a beautiful photograph. In other words, take a picture of a scene with the food in it rather than the food against a scene. Make the beauty of your scenery stand out to carry the food into a more pleasing atmosphere, making it more appetizing.

If possible you can add greens like leaves or herbs, reds like tomato or red pepper slices, bacon strips, yellows like grated cheese or corn kernels and other colors from other condiments to add color to your food.

For further enhancements in your favorite photo editor, adding brilliance or enhancing the color saturation will always improve the photograph, but not too much though. If your photograph doesn’t have deep blacks and is lacking in whites, increase the contrast and you will see an improvement. Most of us who have used a computer would know this, but we often forget and when we read about it we say, “that’s right, I could have done that” or “hey, I can do that”.

Here are some links to what others have said about unappetizing food:
How to Take Pictures of Ugly Food – NYTimes.com
Passionate Eater: The Food Blogger’s Dilemma: Ugly Spaghetti
The food, the bad and the ugly! – Uglyfood.com

In the meantime, have you checked out our Tumblr microblog?

Amy’s Vanilla Cupcake recipe is one of the most popular ones online. I know, because I’ve made it. And it was good. Crazy good. Her recipes in this book may look zany but they’re very real, with bits of advice strewn throughout, like a list of Gift Ideas for Lumberjacks and gems like:

If you are anemic, eat out of a cast iron skillet.

The reason I recommend this book here is because somehow it reminds me of a food blog. Filled with personal stories, slices of life, interesting photos, and tried-and-tested recipes, it’s perfect reading for someone in a hurry, much like the typical blog reader.

I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris.

Tasty Kitchen is the Twitter account of one of my personal favorite cooking communities. Tip: they regularly give out some very awesome prizes (e.g. Kitchenaid Mixers!)

Food Porn offers up just that: links to crazy-delicious looking food from around the web. Guaranteed to get you hungry.

Foodimentary is a must-follow, if only for their daily “Did You Know?” tweets. (e.g. “Did you know? August 26 is National Honey Day!”)

Joy the Baker makes and posts about some of the most mouthwatering baked goods on the planet.

and finally, Food Trucking goes “in search of the best foods across the US served from a truck”. How can you not love that?

We hope you enjoyed our very first Five to Follow! If you have any food-related Tweeters to recommend (including yourself!), please post a comment and let us know about them!

P.S. Of course, we hope you follow us at @FoodBloggersNet as well.

Follow us at FoodBloggers.Tumblr.com!

What did the grape do when it got stepped on?
It let out a little wine!

As an adult, though, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I know next to nothing about wine. I hardly drink it, but when I do, I wonder why I don’t drink it more often. Which is why I’m grateful for blogs like Dr Vino’s Wine Blog:

As it turns out, I’m pretty late to the party. Dr Vino has been featured on several major publications, including The New York Times, Food & Wine, and the Wall Street Journal. He’s also been nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award and won two American Wine Blog Awards.

And no wonder, really- when I first discovered this blog, I spent hours reading through its archives, clicking on links… then poured myself a glass of Pinot Noir, and continued reading. Tyler Colman, aka Dr Vino, writes in a straightforward yet very interesting manner, and obviously knows his stuff. I love his reviews & recommendations- his post on Red wines that chill in particular, because I’m the type of girl who likes chilled reds.

The blog sports a simple look, with a cork background (of course!) and quite a bit of sidebar activity, although the ads are not too distracting. Definitely one to bookmark- and follow on Twitter as well. Check out Dr Vino »

The food blogging community, while not as saturated as the tech blogging community, is growing in leaps and bounds every day. How, then, do you make your food blog stand out? Here, some quick tips to keep in mind:

Be unique.

This might seem easier said than done, but truly successful food blogs are popular because there’s something unique about them. For example:

• The Pioneer Woman Cooks is interesting because Ree has a unique viewpoint: she lives out in the middle of nowhere, homeschools her children, and shares some of the most comforting “comfort food” recipes we’ve ever seen.
• They Draw and Cook features recipes in beautiful art form (as seen above).
• The Kitchn features not only food recipes and how-tos, but tours of inspiring real-life kitchens and cool kitchen gadgets.

Be yourself.

This is, actually, the easy way to be unique- be yourself, because you are unique. There is nobody in the world exactly like you, and that’s what will make your food blog unique. A good example is the popular food blog Gluten Free Girl, who writes about delicious gluten-free dishes because she herself has celiac disease.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

The Internet is full of advice on improving your blog (this site included!) There are 101 ways to do it, from selecting and tweaking a theme or template, to gathering followers on Social Media networks… but at the end of the day, what matters most is your content. Write with passion, write from your heart, and however plain or non-flashy your food blog looks, people will come. To read.

Have fun.

You probably started a food blog because you thought it would be fun. And it should be, and it can be. Don’t ever lose sight of that: have fun.

Don’t be shy.

Your readers want to hear your opinion and adventures, whether it’s about a particularly delicious restaurant meal you recently had, which Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe has finally won you over, or how your last souffle failed horribly. Don’t be afraid to share both your successes and failures- they’re what make you human. Because ultimately, that’s why we read blogs: because of the human beings behind them.

Some cookbooks include measurement conversions, and there are charts you can download and print- but for food bloggers, sometimes the best solution is an online calculator. Here are our top 3 favorites:

Gourmet Sleuth’s Cooking Conversions

Actually 6 different calculators, including a highly-precise Cooking Conversions Tool that we have to love. Using the calculator involves a few steps, as you first search for a keyword, then select from a list of possibilities, then type in the amount you need to convert.

Traditional Oven’s Calculators

I’ll admit that, as a baker, these are the online calculators I use the most- especially their Flour and Butter calculators. Easy to use, with calculators for Sugar, Honey, Oats, and more.

The Kitchen Calculator iPhone App

Kitchen Calculator iPhone App

(warning: link will open the App Store in your iTunes)
For those of us who never go anywhere without our iPhones, iPod Touches, or iPads, this $1.99 app might just be worth every penny- especially with its support for fractions.

What do you use to calculate your measurements?

Photo by Pablo de Loy

Croquetas de Pollo

Spanish croquetas are something I used to be afraid to make- until I actually made them, and realized that it’s simply a matter of making an extra-thick bechamel, mixing it with cheese or the meat of your choice, rolling it in breadcrumbs, and frying. This version is made with cooked chicken, and would be perfect with a side dish of aioli (garlic mayonnaise).

Spanish Paella for a Crowd

Je Mange La Ville’s paella recipe includes awesome step-by-step photos, and makes a dish worth celebrating all on its own.

Garbanzos con Espinaca

Literally, Garbanzos with Spinach. I’ve had this dish before, and was surprised by the “wow” factor brought about by such simple ingredients. We make ours with Asian spinach kang-kong, which is quite abundant (and VERY affordable) here.

Fresh Corn and Manchego Cheese Empanadas with Chimichuri

Finally, if you have a bit more time in the kitchen, why not make your own empanadas? These are filled with fresh corn and Manchego cheese- which is, imho, one of the greatest culinary contributions of Spain. The chimichuri sauce is made with parsley and cilantro.

Are you celebrating with Spanish food this week?

The good news is that using LinkWithin couldn’t be easier. Here’s how we did it for FoodBloggers.net, which is running on self-hosted WordPress:

After submitting your preferences and details, download the plugin, install and activate. Then go into the plugin Settings and select whether you want it shown only on Single posts (in our case, yes):

And voila. Yes, it’s that easy.

A little customization is possible- for instance, if you know how to edit your blog templates, you can select exactly where to place the LinkWithin widget with this bit of code:

<div class=”linkwithin_div”></div>

Or edit the text that appears above the widget with this:

<script>linkwithin_text=’Your custom text:’</script>

So far, I’ve been really pleased with the LinkWithin service- and have no problem recommending it highly. You can see it in action at the bottom of this post.

Do you use LinkWithin? Has it increased reader activity on your blog?

Leftover: Grilled Hotdogs & Buns

This Corn Dog Bread from Foodie with Family is made with 8 cooked hotdogs and cornbread, which means it’s probably perfect comfort food.

For leftover buns, Real Simple, one of my favorite magazines, has a lovely article on 7 Ways to Use Leftover Buns. Included are recipes for croutons, pineapple upside-down cake, and salami panini. Very awesome.

Leftover: Mashed Potatoes or Potato Salad

Lunch in a Box has a delicious-looking recipe for Faux Latkes made with canned tuna and leftover potato salad, and a lovely Bento as well. We love Bentos.

Cheap Eats’ Potato Salad Sandwich might not be the first thing you think of, but made with warm french bread? Looks delicious.

Leftover: Sheet Cake

Leftover cake is usually not a problem in our house (top it with ice cream? Or just… eat it?), but for something a little more jazzed up, why not try an English Trifle.

What do you do with your Fourth of July leftovers?

Your light source can be the light shining through a window or the simple desk lamp discussed recently in General Tips for Home Food Photography.

This time we will be reflecting light off our light source onto our food subject. For this, you can use a shiny cookie sheet.

Just hold the flat side against your light source, on the opposite side of your food subject from your light source. Your light source should be casting a light from your subject’s back to almost the front, leaving your subject’s front area darker.

By reflecting the light towards the front of your subject you are balancing out the exposure, but since the reflected light won’t be as intense as your light source from the back, the front of your subject will still be darker thereby keeping the original visual depth created by the manipulation of light and decreasing the contrast to give you better detail.

Other items you can use are cake boards that are white or lined with aluminum foil. You can even use a frying pan’s shiny side as well as it’s lid or a white plastic chopping board. Just about anything white or shiny white. I normally use a white styrofoam (expanded rigid polystyrene plastic) board.

You can use a dining chair as your light stand by taping or tying your shiny kitchen stuff reflectors on it. Once you have your reflectors in the right place, pointed towards your subject in order to cast the reflected light onto the front of your subject and spread out towards the back of your subject, just one reflector, you can shoot away. Just make sure your focus is spot on and the exposure is set for the center of your food subject.

“… extreme makeovers of actual fast food items purchased at popular fast food restaurants. No additional ingredients have been added except for an occasional simple garnish.”

And when they say “fancy”, they mean it. In the screenshot below, for example, they’ve created Chicken Cordon Deux, a fancified KFC Double Down that includes slicing and stacking the breaded chicken patties and filling it with the accompanying cheese and bacon, resulting in a cordon bleu of sorts (hence the name).

The blog is powered by Tumblr (using a custom theme), and features- besides the gorgeous photos- well-written posts that showcase the absolute genius of each recipe.

I wanted to list my favorite here, but there are so many- the Beef Wellington from In-and-Out Burgers? The Seared Pollock Cake with Southwest Ramalan Sauce from McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish?

Visit FancyFastFood »

Finding inspiration for food blogging doesn’t have to be difficult- sometimes, like a Glee slushie, it hits you right in the face.

After all, who (other than the High School outcasts in Glee) doesn’t love slushies? They’re perfect on hot summer days, and if you serve them at your next backyard barbecue, your guests will love you. Really.

The best thing is that you probably already have everything you need for great slushies in your kitchen or pantry right now.

This recipe from Tyler Florence is something we’ve made for both adults and children (omitting the rum, of course, for the latter).

Mojito Slushy Recipe

Source: Tyler Florence

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice, about 4 to 6 limes
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, firmly packed
2 limes, zested
1/2 cup light rum (OMIT if serving to children)
8 cups crushed ice
Mint sprigs and lime wedges, for garnish

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar and water. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear. Set aside to cool.

Put the sugar syrup, lime juice, mint leaves, lime zest, and rum (if using) into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the ice and blend until slushy. Spoon into glasses; garnish with a sprig of mint and a lime slice.

For baking basics, you can’t go wrong with this book. The recipes might not be particularly fancy or exciting, but you can be sure they’ve been thoroughly tested, and- if followed precisely- will give you good results.

The Fudgy Chocolate Brownies recipe I’ve included below, for example, doesn’t call for much more than flour, butter, eggs, sugar and chocolate- none of that extra cinnamon or coffee like many other recipes- but produces a nice batch of chocolate brownies that are indeed fudgy, and- like most of the recipes in this cookbook- are always a crowd-pleaser.

I do want to give special mention to the chapter on Pies, which I found tremendously helpful when I was trying to perfect my pie-making.

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Source: Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook
Makes 16

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan or heatproof glass dish. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on 2 sides. Set aside. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; stir frequently until chocolate and butter are melted, about 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat; let cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake until cake tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Run a knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Using parchment, lift brownies out of pan and onto the rack. Transfer to a cutting board; cut into 2-inch squares. Brownies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

And lately it’s been this book. I know, a cookbook? A heavy, hardbound cookbook?

The very first recipe I made from this book was a Master Genoise. It was my very first Genoise, which is far from a simple cake to make, and it turned out perfectly. Next, I made Ms. Yard’s Carrot Cake (based on her Master Financier)- and it was astoundingly good. The best carrot cake I’d ever had, and I’ve been making them for over 20 years.

It’s not often I can turn to the same book for both basic and fancy recipes, but that’s the case here. A “master recipe” for each chapter, and endless variations. I also adore Ms. Yard’s “My Bakeshop Rules” section, which includes tips on organizing your work area, selecting the best ingredients, and proper oven placement for various baked goods. Also fun are the little gems of wisdom on each of this section’s pages, such as:

Remember, you control your area; your area should not control you.

and

Make yourself aerodynamic.

Highly, highly recommended for anyone with even the remotest interest in baking.

The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts by Sherry Yard

First you need a good light source.

A simple desk lamp will do. Your bulb should be a white (daylight) fluorescent one, as bright as possible. A 15 to 30 watt daylight type fluorescent bulb should give you ample illumination.

Next you need a piece of white translucent paper

Such as Vellum or Tracing paper, about 1 foot by 1 foot square up to about 2 feet by 2 feet square. You will use this to soften your light by placing it in front of your lamp about six inches away from the bulb.

Position your food on a table.

Position the lamp at the back (left, center or right) of your food with the translucent paper about six inches in front of the bulb. Make sure the lamp casts a light from the back to almost the front of your food subject.

Try to keep the center of your food in focus.

Use your auto-focus for this. If you so desire you may want to use manual focus instead. Anything outside your subject can be out of focus to give more attention to your food. With your auto-exposure try to lock-in on your subject’s center. The back may be slightly over exposed, the front darker, richer and the center perfectly exposed.

The result should be something like this…

Or like this.

i am baker

With the tagline “confections, creations, and lots and lots of calories”- well, how could I not love this blog?

The truth is, I discovered i am baker because of her wonderful Heart Cake (includes a tutorial!) – but once I checked out the rest of the blog, I was hooked. The food photos are gorgeous and bright, and her collection of recipes- while small- are well-written and include tips for success, which is always something I look for when reading baker’s blogs.

Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to subscribe to her feed. Google Reader produces a “This page may be unavailable or have other restrictions that prevent Google from getting updates.” error. Hope they fix this soon.

All in all, an undoubtedly beautiful baking blog, and one I highly recommend. Visit i am baker »

Many food blogs are mostly recipe posts- and that’s why we love them. Recipes written by the cook, whether original or from another source and tweaked to perfection, are always more personal and, many times, just better.

When writing your recipes down for other, it’s always a good idea to stick to what I like to call “Recipe Writing Standards”:

Always start with the recipe Title, Number of Servings, and Serving Size

Give your recipe a good, descriptive title. For example, Salted Caramel-filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Truffle Frosting is much better than Mary’s To-Die-For Cupcakes.

Begin with a List of Ingredients

Keep these in mind when listing your ingredients:

• List ingredients in order of use.
• Use numerals. Example: 10 eggs instead of ten eggs. This goes for writing out your Method as well.
• Spell out all measurements. teaspoons instead of tsps.
• Use lowercase, unless you’re referring to proper names. Examples: bittersweet chocolate or Callebaut bittersweet chocolate.
• Include simple prep instructions after the ingredient. Examples: chicken breast, diced or cheddar cheese, grated.
• List necessary equipment. Example: 2 9-inch cake tins

Write out your Method or Process

Tips for writing out the process of your recipe:

• For oven-baked dishes, always begin with a preheating instruction. Example: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Use paragraphs. A recipe written as one long paragraph is very difficult to follow. Break up the process into steps, and use separate paragraphs for each.
• Include sizes of bowls and pans. Examples: In a large bowl… or In a medium frying pan…
• Approximate times and include visual clues and cues. Example: Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Include storage instructions and/or shelf-life details. Example: Keeps in an airtight container for 2 weeks.

Strive to Write Better Recipes

The following tips are not necessary, but are always nice:

• Include step by step photos. At the very least, include a photo of the finished product.
• After the title and serving information, write a short description or story behind the recipe.
• Include ingredient or equipment substitutions. Examples: pastry flour or all-purpose flour, 1 9-inch cake tin or 2 loaf pans
• At the end of the recipe, include tips for success and/or options for “gilding the lily”. Example: Try rolling your truffles in crushed walnuts instead of cocoa powder.

What are your recipe writing tips?

It’s called Winnie, and as you can see, it’s inspired by cupcakes.

Because, really- who doesn’t like cupcakes?

The Winnie Theme supports widgets and gravatars, and would be just perfect for a dessert and/or candy food blog!

Now, much has been said about Twitter killing blogs (with reasons like “it’s easier to write/read”). And I can sort of see their point when it comes to news blogs, but food blogs? In spite of my obvious addiction to the service, I do NOT believe Twitter will kill food blogging. Here’s why:

Poor photo support.

The best food blogs are rich with photos because food blog readers like to see them. To post photos on Twitter, you need to use a third-party service such as TwitPic.

Recipes are longer than 140 characters.

Oh sure, you could post a recipe in a tweet, like say a simple ganache:

Ganache: Bring 1 cup heavy cream to boil. Pour over 1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes. Mix until melted.

But the truth is that most recipes require much more than Twitter’s 140 character limit to post.

Searching through tweets is a pain.

I often find myself returning to my favorite food blogs to search for posts and recipes I remember reading in the past- sometimes a long time in the past- which is why the search function of a blog is so important to me. Because Twitter is so “real-time”, tweets even from just a few hours ago can be difficult to find.

Of course, Twitter is a great tool for those who have an existing food blog- you can use it to post real-time updates as you test recipes, try out a new restaurant, or simply alert your readers to new posts on your blog. Twitter’s usefulness can’t be denied- we have one for FoodBloggers, after all- but it won’t kill food blogs.

Do you tweet rather than food blog?

*Update!: We’ve released our very own Food Blog theme. It’s sweet and cupcakey and free! Check out the Winnie WordPress Theme.

The FoodRecipe theme has been around for a while, but it’s still one of the nicest food-related blog themes out there. A wood-grain background gives it a homey warmth, it supports widgets and gravatars, and allows you to highlight your “featured” posts as well.

Cutting Board is a little bolder, and certainly more obvious, with an extra-tall header featuring a knife, salad and- of course- chopping board. Still, it’s a nicely made theme, with a bright red background that most food photos will look good against.

Maybe I was drawn to this theme because strawberries are my favorite fruit ever. Strawberry Blend is a sleek black, white and red theme with two columns. I like how clean this theme looks- and honestly, if strawberries aren’t necessarily your thing, the header photo can be replaced with a photo of your choice quite easily.

I really like In the Kitchen because it’s girly without being overly so, with a nice choice of light colors and rounded corners for softness.

Finally, the new (released just days ago!) and free iRestaurant theme has got to be my favorite. Perfect for a restaurant, but just fine for a regular food blog, it’s got everything from an options page to ad-ready banner spaces to areas for featured videos and featured content.

Do you use a food-related theme on your blog?

a. A food blogger, or
b. Someone who wants to start a food blog

In either case, we hope we have something for you here.

Learn more about us (including some of what we have planned), or just start browsing through posts. There isn’t much here right now, but we’ve got lots in store for you.