While searching for a good barley recipe, I came across a nice little blog called BitterSweet. This vegan cooking and craft blog hits me just in the right spot - creativity + food = my kind of thing. Author Hannah Kaminsky provides a wealth of vegan recipes and a fine collection of food related knit and crochet patterns.
I may have to make some toast purses for my wee ones, and maybe a Cupcake Hat for myself.
There have been improvements in spam blocking on the blog! Friend of the blog, MandiCrocker, noticed that the Blogger comment verifier, wasn't working quite right, especially in combination with programs like Networked Blogs on Facebook. I decided to turn the Blogger visual verifier off for the time being, at the risk of spambots overwhelming the blog. I did get many spam comments sent to me, but they weren't showing up on the blog. Lo and behold, Blogger has added a nifty spam collector in the comments tab of the dashboard. More information on this functionality can be found at http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?&answer=187141. Good work Google, I am much happier with this approach. Less hassle for readers leaving comments and less spam on the blog. So let us test it out... leave your comment and let us know how it goes. Just make sure it's not spam.
I was browsing the Flickr Recipes to Share Photogroup and came across a very cool blog called Gourmet Mom on the Go. There are so many great ideas on her website that I just may have to incorporate a few into my girls' Bento Boxes.
Yesterday's recipe was one that I saw pretty recently at a party of a Penguin loving friend, Olive Penguin Snacks! I don't want to steal her pics, but I do want to share the Penguin Love, so check out her site when you get the chance.
Friend of Food Mandi Crocker has started a blog!
If you like food blogs, (you're here aren't you?) you should check it out.
http://mandicrocker.blogspot.com/
She recently put up a fabulous post on how to make Penne a la Vodka
Mandi is an excellent cook and baker and if you are ever so lucky as to get your mouth around one of her MandiCakes, you will be forever changed as a human being.
Father in Law of Food is a lover of Marzipan. In honor of his recent birthday I made him a Marzipan Cake. I searched many food blogs until I found a recipe for this cake and then I added a few touches to make it more personalized to Father in Law of Food's personal tastes. Thank-you to Vanessa Frida for listing the recipe. The original can be found here: http://vanessafrida.livejournal.com/164907.html .
My changes were as follows: I used only 14 Tbsp of Marzipan in the batter. I used some more for the decoration as julienned marzipan. I added slivered almonds, for decoration and additional crunch. Lastly, I trimmed the cake with blackberries, a favorite of Father In Law of Food. If I make the cake in the future, I would add a drizzle of amaretto for moisture and added almond taste. The cake was delicious. The batter might tempt one to lick the blades of the cuisinart, but resist for safety. Wait for this terrific cake to come out of the oven.
Special thanks to all the readers who have given constructive advice in making this site better. Today I am sending out a special shout out to Friend of Food, Ollie, who suggested making link backs on our map placemarks to the articles that we wrote in the blog. This makes it so that when you click on one of the restaurants listed on the Family of Food Map, you can link back to the article in which that place was mentioned on our blog. Brilliant! This is now implimented. Thanks Ollie.
