This is how we keep 15 year olds out of trouble at our house.    I told him to just call that “My Space”. Matt is a great kid.  He does most of the outside work since Marc has been sick, and rarely complains about it.  The most people have found to criticize him about is his hair.

It has been a weird week around here, busier than usual. It has been oddly cool for May in Texas, I think, and one afternoon I was tempted to get Matt to build a fire in the fireplace in the kitchen. Some of it might be me…I was reading on the symptoms of menopause, hoping to see some signs that it was close, and I read that some women have cold flashes rather than hot flashes. I think that is me! Chewing five pounds of ice a day doesn’t help.

We were at the VA last week, right, and a nurse is checking Marc’s vitals. I am leaning against the door frame chewing ice from my quart mason jar. She just looks at me and she is like:

“You know that is bad for your teeth”

“yep”

“Are you anemic?”

“yep”

“You should take iron”

“yep”

“You know all this don’t you?”

“yep”

Marc just laughed. I do know that ice chewing is a sign of anemia. And yes I should take iron. On the other hand, I do enjoy chewing it, it keeps me drinking water (close to a gallon a day or more) and I don’t tend to snack. Therefore, my five pound a day ice habit.

All right. I wanted to start off this morning with just a heartfelt thank you to everyone who reads my blog. I meant what I said yesterday, I truly feel blessed. You guys are cool.

O.k..grab your coffee and croissant…and let’s go.

First up…Dana McCauley’s Food Blog. Why? She lists five blogs that I have never before checked out. Seriously. I don’t know about you but I tend to move comfortably in my clique, you know? Daring Bakers, Leftover Queen’s Blogroll, bloggers that I have traded comments with since I started bloogging. Here’s a personal challenge. Check out five food blogs a week that you have never read. Blog about them. Sure, we are going to stick with the ones we like best, but by branching out I think we get challenged to try new things and think new ways.

Jenn, at Leftover Queen, has started a feature called Foodie Friday where she highlights several food blogs. I love her blog anyway because she has great ideas..Anyway..the F.F. thing is a great idea be cause she writes a bit about each blog that she is featuring that week. Mark that on your calendars for a weekly stop.

Did you know that there was a search engine specifically for food blogs? Food Blog Search is exactly that. I am so skyed! I put white chocolate silk tarts in and my post came up! Anyway…Searching for a particular recipe is a pain, and i would much rather get it off of oa foodie blog than from All Recipes or something where I could be unsure of the results..although, seriously, All Recipes is generally good stuff. Anyway, bookmark that so if you need a recipe for Pixie’s Chinese Vegetable Broth you can find it.

Sometimes I forget about Holler. She lives far away in Scotland but her recipes are always incredible. This week check out the Griddled Vegetable and Mozzarella Salad she’s got going on.

Have you ever used technorati or stumble or digg on a blog post? If you don’t, DO! You can get banned from any of these for adding your own posts but if you read a particularly good post submit it to one of the social networks. …or all of them. I guess it is sort of promoting the best on the internet, you know? Plus you introduce a ton of new traffic to the blogger that you add…Not sure if this makes sense or not. My personal favorite is stumbleupon You get a cool toolbar and when you click the link it will take you to random websites that it thinks you will like by what you stumble. So if you stumble food websites it will take you to those. Anyway, it is very cool. And any stumbling or digging you want to toss my way is certainly appreciated.

I wish to direct your attention to an article I wrote last week..I don;t usually do this but I feel that it is important that people understand about what they are eating. Genetically Modified Foods:From Test Tube to Table is an eye-opening look at how MUCH Gm food we are eating on a regular basis without our knowledge. Think about it. If you are not buying organic meat? The animal has been feed with genetically modified feed. It is places you never thought about.

Hershey’s came out with an organic chocolate! I was so happy. The bar was 2.99 for a large size, albeit thin bar. It was made in Germany. The taste was very good, although it maintains some of Hersheys classic waxiness.

Culinary Concoctions by Peabody is an awesome food blog. The images are always a treat, and the recipes are droolworthy, as Valli would say. Check out the butterscotch pudding...but be warned…you are going to want some after that and Jello will not cut it.

So..are you a reader that is inspired to start your own food blog? Maybe you are a blogger that wants to do better.  I know I am a sucker for any article that says”How to have a successful food blog” or some such. I have a lot of self help books, too. How to be a better wife, mom, Christian, friend, cousneling 101 you name it..anyway..Food Blogging Do’s and Don’ts is an great post about starting a food blog and what it takes to have a good one..lots of…ummm…food for thought!

Have a great weekend! Hey, leave a comment and tell me what you are baking!

Image:Marye Audet

Content:Marye Audet for Baking Delights 

Post from: Baking Delights