Name: Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 h
Ingredients: 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed; 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional); salt and pepper; 4 ounces cream cheese, softened; ½ cup crumbled blue cheese; 1 cup cheddar cheese; ½ cup ranch dressing; ½ cup hot sauce (I used Texas Pete)

Friday List: My Top Ten Things to Eat in Chattanooga (right now, anyway)

September 26, 2014

As I was making this list, I realized something about myself. While I love “fine dining” restaurants, I love to throw down some bar food. It’s my favorite, you guys. I’d much rather have a burger or some hand-cut fries in a super-cas atmosphere than to make a reservation. There are some really fantastic places serving some really great food around Chattanooga. Here are my top ten things to eat in Chattanooga.

10. The Rainbow Sandwich from Purple Daisy Cafe

Pimento cheese, chicken salad, and cucumber spread piled onto four slices of bread-two white, two wheat-cut and arranged into a checkerboard pattern? When I first heard tell of this sandwich, I thought it sounded a little weird, but one of the colleagues I was dining with went for it and as soon as I saw it I was sold. There is just something about this combination that works. I’ve never been able to bring myself to order anything else from Purple Daisy since. Rainbow sandwich with hash brown casserole for the win, yo.

9. Frites & Fritessaus from Good Dog

Like I said (and you know, if you’ve read my blog for any length of time) I can scarf some handcut fries. If you put them in a paper cone and put them in a special holder cut right into my table then offer me a variety of dipping sauces, I’m sold. If one of those dipping sauces is a creamy mayonnaise-based sauce, I might even clean your house if you’ll give me some of them. I love the dogs at Good Dog but I could really subsist on the frites.

8. Gelato from Milk & Honey

Okay, I’m not going to lie. Nana’s Frozen Custard was always my favorite. But Nana’s is gone now, and someone has to fill the void. Luckily for me, Milk & Honey is here to take their place. I’ve always been a fiend for gelato, which is basically a milk-based Italian style ice cream. Milk & Honey has a glorious ever-rotating selection and every time I go in there I want to dive into the cooler and wade around in it. Thankfully they allow you to choose up to three varieties of gelato to go into your cup, because I can never choose just one. It’s creamy perfection.

7. Apple Pie Soda or Café Cola from Pure Sodaworks

Let me take a minute to lament the passing of the Pure Sodaworks physical location that left Coolidge Park earlier this year. It’s not that I’m not happy for my soda-slinging friends, who have moved on to the big world of bottling and distribution, but I’m sad for myself that I can’t drop in anytime for a freshly-drawn soda (lavender-mint was my #1 favorite) and I’m not a fan of the Chattanooga Market (too crowded). However, I can still drop in to Grocery Bar for a bottle of my faves, Apple Pie (which actually tastes just like apple pie) and Café Cola, (which is made with Velo Coffee). It’s one of my favorite weekend treats. I didn’t have a picture of a bottle, so here’s a photo of a couple of their fountain sodas…

6. Pomme Tots from The Honest Pint

Yes, I know they’re just tater tots fried in duck fat. But oh my goodness, they’re tater tots fried in duck fat. And they’re served with curry ketchup, sriracha mayo, and garlic aioli, all made in house. We can’t resist ordering them every. single. time. we go to The Pint, then we save the sauces to dip our chips into. The duck fat definitely takes the flavor and the texture of the tots over the top, and the sauces are amazing. The garlic aioli is my favorite, by the way.

5. Pimento Cheese & Fried Okra Appetizer from 1885 Grill

Okay, you might notice a pattern. I’m basically obsessed with pimento cheese. The pimento cheese at 1885 is wonderfully creamy and very similar to what I make at home. The fried okra is some of the best I’ve had. 1885 is one of the few restaurants that actually breads their own okra, and it’s perfection. The two together is irresistible.

4. The Ryan House Burger from Main Street Meats

So, um, you guys. This burger. Grass-fed beef, dry-aged in house, seared in a cast-iron skillet and served on a Niedlov’s bun (made next door) with Gruyere cheese, mayo and whole grain mustard, house bacon, and caramelized onions? You order it up and eat it at their little bar while you watch the goings-on at the firehouse across the street. Main Street Meats has the burger arts down to a science. You don’t need chips, you don’t need ketchup, you just need this burger. Some days they serve the Simon, which has house pastrami on it. Philip went there without me once and ordered it. I considered not speaking to him for the remainder of the week.

3. Pot Roast Nachos from The Terminal

I’ve never ordered anything that I didn’t like from the menu at The Terminal BrewHouse, but I’m glad they brought these nachos back (apparently they took them off the menu for a while?). Fresh, hot chips topped with maple chipotle pot roast, queso, red onions (that, yes, I pick around), tomatoes, and cilantro. They’re meant to be an appetizer, which implies sharing, but I always order them as my meal and yes, I eat the whole thing. I didn’t have a picture, but my friend Chastity sent me one a couple of days after I first posted this!

2. White Cupcakes from Federal Bake Shop

Federal Bake Shop has been around in Chattanooga since 1921. When I was a kid, it was located in Northgate Mall. When I was in high school, my best friend and I called it the Fed and regularly went there to order cupcakes. As a reader said, I’m not sure why cupcake shops can even stay open in Chattanooga when we have Federal Bake Shop around. Their cake is perfectly white and deliciously moist, the icing is sweet (I used to think too sweet, but I got over that) and not piled six inches high-just enough to have a taste in every bite. By the way, I hear that their cookie cakes kick all other cookie cakes’ butts. Everything I’ve ever had from there has been amazing. Why have I not written about them yet? Oh yeah….because I’d spend half a month’s salary buying all the goodies I want to sample.

1. Pimento Cheese & Fried Pickles Appetizer from Public House

Yep, pimento cheese. One more time. After I spent six months studying for my BCBA exam, I had to go to Public House to celebrate finally getting the exam out of the way in February. Why? Pimento cheese and fried pickles. Pimento cheese and fried pickles are two of my very favorite foods, and when you make the best possible versions of those foods and serve them with grilled sourdough bread so they can all be piled together, you have hit a home fun in my book. I could eat this every day. It’s absolutely my favorite thing to eat in CHA.

Chattanoogans, what’s your favorite food to eat in local restaurants? If you’re from out of town, where would you tell me to go in your hometown?

Friday List: Top Ten Game Day Foods

September 19, 2014

September brings a lot of things: Fall, cooling temperatures (though it’s still been in the eighties and nineties here in Tennessee), in-season apples, and….football. I’ve actually started watching football (though not fanatically) the last few years but I have to admit that the Facebook deluge (around here’s it’s “Go Big Orange” everywhere) can be a little bit daunting at times. While we are casual spectators who don’t generally go to many football viewing parties, I have to admit that party snacks are one of my favorite things. Here’s a list of top game day recipes (with a recipe at the end). What’s your favorite?

10. Brownies

All right, game day snacks don’t usually revolve around sweets, but you have to have something to satisfy your sweet tooth after downing all the salty snacks, right? Brownies are perfect for the job: baked in one pan, hand-held, solid, substantial. I can’t think of a better game day dessert. If you make this recipe from Joy the Baker, you can have your beer and your brownies!

9. Pizza

Okay, pizza might seem like “the easy way out” for game day, but why not? Pizza is a crowd pleaser. Whether you’re topping your own, throwing out a couple of homemade gourmet pizzas (try my baked potato, white, or BLT pizzas), or just picking up a couple of Hot & Ready pies, you know that everyone is going to leave happy.

8. Chili

To me, there’s no recipe that defines Fall like a gigantic pot of chili. While I know that people in some parts of the country believe that chili is meat in a rich red sauce, but in these parts we put beans in ours. At any rate, you must serve your chili with Fritos, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Green onions and jalapeños don’t hurt either. I’ll be sharing my favorite recipe in a few weeks.

7. Jalapeño Poppers

Whether they’re fried, grilled, or baked, stuffed with cheddar cheese, cream cheese, or even pineapples, wrapped in bacon or not….jalapeño poppers are a perfect one-bite snack. If the jalapeños aren’t too spicy, I can eat a ton. You can buy them frozen or make them from scratch, and either way they’re fantastic. These “jalapeño thingies” from Pioneer Woman are making my mouth water as I type this.

6. Cheese Dip

You could stop at your favorite Mexican restaurant and pick up a vat of white queso dip and some fresh tortilla chips, or you could pick up some Gordo’s dip at the grocery store. Honestly, though, my favorite cheese dips are thick with melted cheddar or even Velveeta, with tomatoes and chilies and maybe some seasoned ground beef. Sometimes I even like to have this cheese dip for dinner (in fact, it’s on the menu tonight). Recipe tomorrow!

5. Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Spinach-artichoke dip was my first love on the appetizer menu. When my friends and I started hanging out at TGIFriday’s (this makes me laugh) in college I fell hard for their spinach-artichoke dip, made with creamy alfredo sauce and just a little bit of spice. These days, of course, I like to make my own so that I can chop up the artichokes just the way I want and put in as much cheese as humanly possible. I could eat spinach-artichoke dip every day. I also love the cold spinach dip made with Knorr vegetable soup mix. Here’s a copycat recipe of the TGIFriday’s spinach-artichoke dip that first reeled me in.

4. Nachos

The great thing about nachos is that you can pretty much put anything on top of them. What’s in the fridge? Ground beef? Chicken? Beans? Leftover vegetables? Cheese dip or grated cheese? It doesn’t matter. Throw it on the nachos. You can assemble your nachos on the plate or carefully arrange toppings on each chip before baking…whatever you like. Nachos are a have-it-your-way kind of snack. I like these chicken chili nachos from Lucinda Scala Quinn.

3. Buffalo Wings

Admittedly wings are not my favorite. I like the flavors, but I find them to be a little cumbersome. I don’t mind messy food, but I can’t ever get much meat off of the wings. Also, I’m a little bit of a spice wuss so I have to have über-mild wings. Still, Buffalo wings rated pretty high on a survey that I did of my Facebook followers. Served with celery sticks and cooling ranch or blue cheese dressing, Buffalo wings are a game day classic.

2. Chips & Salsa

Chips & salsa are so obvious. If you need a quick game day snack, you can just buy a bag and a jar and there you go. If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, you can chop up your own ingredients or whiz them up in your blender (which is my MO). A few years back salsa surpassed ketchup as the number one condiment on tables in the US, and I’m sure that chips and salsa are by and large the top use for salsa. While I usually make my salsa “classic” (with tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños), I also love tomatillo or pineapple salsas. With plenty of cilantro, always. What’s your favorite salsa? Here’s my favorite salsa (forgive the terrible pictures)!

1. Buffalo Chicken Dip

Hands-down, without a doubt, Buffalo chicken dip was the number one favorite among my Facebook followers. All the flavors of a Buffalo wing (and then some) without the mess or the unwieldy bones? Yes please. I’ve done a baked version before, but for today I wanted to throw out an easy slow cooker adaptation. The entire recipe can be made in your Crock-Pot, and with three cheeses this recipe is rich, just spicy enough, and perfect on a chip or a celery stick. Here’s a version of Buffalo wings from Simply Recipes-you can always count on Elise Bauer for great recipes!

Mary

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip

15 minPrep Time:

5 hrCook Time:

5 hr, 15 Total Time:

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Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)
salt and pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
½ cup ranch dressing
½ cup hot sauce (I used Texas Pete)

Instructions

Preheat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken for two minutes on each side (this step is optional but definitely adds flavor to the chicken).
Place the chicken into a 2-4 quart slow cooker. Cook over 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Drain away the liquid and shred the chicken.
Mix in the cream cheese, ¼ cup blue cheese, ½ cup cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and hot sauce. Stir until well combined. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar and blue cheese over the top. Cook on high for one hour or low for two hours. Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips, crackers, or carrot/celery sticks.

Notes

The cook time listed is for high heat. If you cook on low heat, the cook time is 10 hours.

https://chattavore.com/friday-list-top-ten-game-day-foods/

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Friday List: My Top Ten Cookbooks & a Chocolate Milkshake

September 12, 2014

Cookbooks? I have a few. Actually, I go through cookbooks like most people go through underwear. Okay, like I go through underwear too. I have favorites, though. Here they are:

10. Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach

Jenny records all of her dinners in a journal. She’s done this for years and years. For her, dinner is about family, about being home to eat dinner with her children every night. She and her husband tag team their meals and have created a great collection of go-to dinners as well as an impressive collection of more adventurous dinners. She provides “deconstruction” strategies for families with picky eaters. She also writes a great narrative about how the eating habits of families change as children get older. Her blog is just as good as her book (and she recently released a second cookbook, Dinner: The Playbook, which I haven’t read yet).

9. The 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook by Lisa Leake

Okay, so I just got this cookbook a week and a half ago, but I’ve already made several recipes from it. I can tell it’s going to be a great resource for me as I work (and you all know that it’s a constant growing process) to eat better. The book details how Lisa’s family went from eating a fairly typical American diet to eating a diet free of highly processed foods (I use the term highly processed because, as Lisa points out, cooking is form of processing too) as well as tips for implementing a real food plan of your own. There are recipes for every meal of the day, including a school lunch-packing chart. That alone might be enough for all you lunch-packing parents to go out and pick this book up! Of course, you can find tons of recipes and info on the 100 Days of Real Food blog as well.

8. Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

With Ruhlman’s ratios, you can cook just about anything. Local Milk once referred to the ratios as a talisman, and I have to say I agree with her. You can multiply or divide the amounts according to how much you need and add flavoring as you see fit. The book touches on baking, pasta, sauces, and custards. The cover of the book is a handy little chart of all the ratios and you can adjust which flours, fats, liquids, and flavorings you use-just don’t change the ratios. It couldn’t be more simple. One of these days I hope to commit the ratios to memory, but sadly it hasn’t happened yet (maybe I should just print a copy of the cover and hang it in my kitchen?).

7. Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller (with Michael Ruhlman)

Chef Thomas Keller is the infamous proprietor of the French Laundry, Bouchon, and ad hoc. The Yountville, California-based ad hoc features a set menu of Keller’s classed-up versions of home cooking-fried chicken, beef stroganoff, and the like for around $50 a head. Now, if you all are like me, you’re probably not going to be paying $50 per person for dinner very often….but you can make it for yourself. Ad Hoc at Home is beautifully designed and photographed. It’s a gigantic book, as all of Keller’s are, but worth every centimeter it takes up on my shelf just so that I can get Keller’s take on chicken & dumplings and read his very touching account of planning and cooking his father’s last dinner.

6. Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle

When I saw this 1967 copy of Julia Child’s magnus opum on the shelf of a used bookstore that Philip and I used to frequent, I knew that we were meant to be together. If it weren’t for Julia, I have no doubt that the world of cookbooks, blogs, and food television would be different today. She defined modern home cooking, at least in my opinion. Julia, Simca (as she called her friend), and Louisette penned a definitive book on French cooking that still holds up today. Julia worked exhaustively to make sure that the book was set up in an attractive way that was friendly to the servantless home cook (her words) and she accomplished just that.

5. The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee

The Lee Bros. are real, true Southerners. That’s the most important factor when you write a cookbook about Southern food. They approach it with great reverence, as opposed to just writing some drivel about how all Southerners eat is fried chicken. You guys know how I hate that. They really get down to the roots of Southern cooking, telling real stories about real people and places (particularly South Carolina, from whence they hail) and history of Southern cuisine. The cookbook is huge. It’s definitely my Southern cooking reference of choice.

4. Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys by Lucinda Scala Quinn

When I started watching Mad Hungry on the Hallmark Channel a few years back I had no clue who Lucinda Scala Quinn was. Turns out LSQ is one of Martha’s people-her executive food editor, to be exact. One must be good to get that job, so I was sold. I loved Lucinda’s easy approach to cooking for her family (her husband and three sons). Her food was flavorful and accessible. When I got her cookbook, I fell in love with many of the recipes. My cream cheese pie crust is adapted from Mad Hungry, and I haven’t found a pancake recipe that I love more than hers. Sadly, her show doesn’t air on Hallmark anymore (though I don’t have cable so I couldn’t watch it anyway) but you can catch clips on YouTube.

3. My Good Eats Collection by Alton Brown

Most of you that have been reading Chattavore for a while know that Alton is my cooking idol. He actually comes to Chattanooga for events from time to time and I keep wishing that someone would say, “Oh, hey Alton! There’s this really cool food blogger chick that lives here. She is totally obsessed with Good Eats, but not in a creepy way. We should totally invite her to our event. For free.” It hasn’t happened yet, but I am confident that it will. Anyway, Good Eats Volume I: the Early Years, Volume 2: The Middle Years, and Volume 3: The Later Years provide science, history, flavor, and practicality info. Good Eats was the show that made me love Food Network. If you read the books, you’ll understand why.

2. My America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated Collection

Every recipe ever. And test to the nth degree. If you want a perfect, well-tested recipe along with recommendations for the best equipment and ingredients to use, you will definitely want to purchase some Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen books. I have Cook’s Illustrated New Best Recipe, The America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook seasons 1-10, and Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book. I couldn’t pick a favorite. I love them all equally. Why do I love Cook’s Illustrated and ATK so much? Because they take the time to diligently test every recipe….over, and over, and over….until they find the perfect ingredients and techniques to make the best dish you could hope for. Also, America’s Test Kitchen has single-handedly satisfied my cable-less self’s need for food television. God bless them.

1. The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman
So, not very surprisingly, my favorite blogger is also my favorite cookbook author. I preordered The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook from Amazon and since I’m a Prime subscriber I got the book in the mail on the day it was released. I don’t even remember how far ahead I ordered it, but it was a long time and I was on pins and needles until it arrived. I then proceeded to read the book cover to cover three times in two weeks (because I read cookbooks as if they are novels). I couldn’t put it down. Even after I did put it down, I couldn’t stop cooking from it. I have probably made more recipes from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook than I ever have from any other cookbook. White bean and pancetta pot pies, Passover brisket, apple cake, French toast casserole, and my obsession: salted brown butter Rice Krispie treats. Those are just a few of the recipes that I’ve made from Deb’s book. And she’s publishing another-amen and amen.

Also, today is National Chocolate Milkshake Day! Philip and I like our milkshakes bitter with as much malt powder as you can possibly dissolve in them. I know a lot of people that can’t stand malt. It’s all personal taste, of course. I was hoping to find a recipe for a chocolate milkshake in one of the aforementioned cookbooks, but can you believe there were none to be found? So, I give you my own recipe (if you can really call it a recipe).

What say you-malt or no malt?

Mary

Yield: 2 shakes

Chocolate Milkshake (Malt or No Malt)

5 minPrep Time:

5 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

3 cups chocolate ice cream
1 ½ cups milk
6 tablespoons malt powder (optional)

Instructions

Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend, starting on low speed and gradually increasing the speed, until the shake is smooth. Serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/friday-list-top-ten-cookbooks/

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Friday List: My Top Ten Food Weaknesses

August 29, 2014

So, a long time ago I wrote a Friday list about my top ten guilty pleasure foods, like Doritos and Kettle chips. There were a lot of chips on that list. I am definitely a salty-food craver. Here are my top ten favorite foods to scarf-though I don’t feel too guilty about these food weaknesses.

10. Sunflower seeds

Roasted, salted sunflower seeds are a definite weakness for me. I buy giant packages of them at the grocery store to use in trail mix and on salads. I would estimate that at least half of them get devoured by me standing in the pantry, dumping them from the jar into my hand, which is much neater and easier than dumping them directly from the jar into my mouth. I. Can’t. Stop.

9. Chocolate Chips

Much like sunflower seeds, a great proportion of the chocolate chips that enter my house get consumed after 8 p.m. by me standing in the pantry with the light on. I am partial to dark chocolate, particularly these Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips, which incidentally happen to be fantastic in a cookie recipe I’ll be posting next week. Sometimes I eat them off of a spoon with peanut butter.

8. Cheddar Cheese

I love a sharp cheddar. I mean, I love most cheese, but cheddar is my jam for real. It’s the one I eat the most of without a doubt. I throw it on salads, eat it on sandwiches, and sometimes make a meal out of cheese, crackers, and a couple of pieces of lunch meat or some pickles.

7. French Fries

Handcut, skin-on fries are my favorite, but I don’t discriminate when it comes to fries. Waffle-cut, crinkle-cut, skinny, steak fries…you name it. Potatoes plus oil plus salt equals yum. I can make a meal out of just fries. Here are my favorite recipes for making them at home: baked skinny fries and oven-fried potato wedges.

6. Crusty Bread

Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside-that’s the perfect loaf of bread for me. Warm and smeared with softened butter, or maybe dipped in olive oil…I’m happy either way. If a restaurant server sets a plate of bread in front of me before a meal I’ll be full before the salad comes, but I’m not complaining about that.

5. Peaches

I think I mentioned in my peach breakfast crisp recipe that I love in-season peaches. I love a good strawberry and I live for MacIntosh apples in September and October, but there is nothing like a peach that makes your hands sticky when you peel it. Usually I just eat them plain but I love them in yogurt and I love to bake with them too. I’m a little sad that peach season will be just a memory before I know it. I’m sorry….I can’t talk about it right now.

4. Biscuits

White Lily biscuits, to be exact. That’s important. Did you guys know that there are people who can’t buy White Lily at the grocery store? That makes me want to cry. White Lily is made from soft red winter wheat and it makes the most perfect, beautiful biscuits you can imagine. I make them almost every Saturday, and they make me happy I’m from the South, y’all.

3. Fried Pickles

Have you guys noticed that I love fried pickles? From the first time that I ate fried pickles at the long-gone Durty Nelly’s, I have been completed enamored with them. They’re my favorite appetizer to order at a restaurant (my favorites so far are the ones at Bone’s Smokehouse). I posted my own recipe for fried pickles recently that I like even more than any restaurant fried pickles I’ve had.

2. Burgers

I love a good burger. Great meat perfectly seared but not dried out, great cheese, soft yet chewy bun, toppings not too fancy. Sometimes bacon, but not always. There’s no more perfect meal, especially when paired with #7.

1. Popcorn

The joke in my house is this: when Philip gets hungry for an evening snack, I’ll say, “What are you having?” in a sarcastic tone because I know that the answer is cereal. He does the same to me, because he knows that the answer is popcorn. I’ve loved popcorn since I was a kid and I could eat it every day, actually. Popped in coconut oil is my favorite way, but sometimes I use a little butter and olive oil instead. Sprinkled with seasoned salt or maybe just plain old salt, either way is fine with me.

What are your food weaknesses?

Friday List: My Top Ten Food Blogs

August 22, 2014

When I went back to work three weeks ago, I swore to myself that I was going to stay on top of my BlogLovin’ feed. See, I follow 126 blog (and that’s with fairly regular weeding out of blogs that I just scroll right past in my feed), so when I don’t keep up with that I end up with hours worth of blog reading to catch up on the weekends. For a few nights I did great, checking my feed every night and marking posts as read. Now? I have 88 posts in my feed. And that’s mild.

Still, there are some blogs that I don’t feel like I have to read every word of every post….and others that I wouldn’t dare miss a word of. As you’ll see here, I love blogs with a conversational tone, and photography and layout definitely draw me in….but more than anything I love blogs that feature recipes that my family and I will actually eat. Here are my top ten food blogs!

10. Fifteen Spatulas

I actually just discovered Joanne‘s blog a few weeks ago. I started watching lots of video blogs (ahem, vlogs) on iFood.tv (on my Roku) and Fifteen Spatulas quickly became one of my favorites. Joanne’s videos are short but informative and well-produced, which can be kind of difficult to come by. I’ve moved on to watching her YouTube channel and reading her blog. After suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease in college, Joanne started cooking everything from scratch, carefully reading ingredient labels. Eventually her condition healed and she has continued her whole food, cooking from scratch lifestyle, cooking good food that real people like to eat and showing us step by step just how simple it can be.

9. Pinch of Yum

Lindsey is a teacher turned full-time food blogger who is totally transparent about everything she does on the blog. I love that about her. She has written an ebook about food photography and a how-to about starting a food blog. She and her husband run a separate website (Food Blogger Pro) devoted to helping subscribers with all aspects of running a food blog. Her husband publishes a post every month detailing the previous month’s blog-related earnings….and wow. It’s seriously impressive. Lindsey’s blog is proof that hard work and attention to detail can build blog success. And she’s a recipe posting machine, publishing basically every other day. Oh, her recipes are all right too!

8. The Fauxmartha

Melissa is a self-proclaimed baker by day, designer by night. She publishes a wide variety of simple, beautiful recipes and a weekly kitchen tip. I love the slightly self-deprecating name of her blog, but even more than that I adore her photos, with their clean white backgrounds (an Ikea desk!) and simple styling. She is a prolific Instagrammer, and if you love food-related Instagram posts you will not be sad that you followed her.

7. Baker’s Royale

Naomi (whose husband is also a food blogger), mostly bakes but she also posts about other sweets, savory foods, and party foods and drinks. She’s not afraid to pull out a kitschy favorite (tomato soup cupcakes, anyone?) but also creative yet classic preparations like these eggnog cupcakes (which I have made and they are as amazing as they sound). I love that she experiments with the styling in her photography, and every photo is more beautiful than the last.

6. My Name is Yeh

Molly is another blogger that I recently discovered, after she was nominated for a Saveur Best Food Blog award. She uses her blog to write about cooking on a North Dakota farm. She’s also an accomplished percussionist with a degree from Juilliard. Her recipes tend to be fun and updated versions of classics, like these eggs Benedict Cumberbatch. I adore her photography.

5. Homesick Texan

I’m a little jealous of Lisa and the strong food heritage she took with her from Texas to NYC. I mean, yeah we have Southern food….but Texas has its own cuisine. It’s purely, 100% Texas. I love that Lisa is not afraid to pull out the punches and serve you cheese dip, buttermilk pie, and nine different varieties of salsa. She’s published two successful cookbooks as well. If you love Tex-Mex, you seriously need to read Homesick Texan.

4. Lady and Pups

Mandy calls her blog an angry food blog and outlet for her misery….but I really don’t pick up any of that in her posts. From her Beijing kitchen she writes posts about foods from a variety of cuisines (Chinese, Mexican, halal), plus sweets and breakfast and everything else under the sun. The thing that got me reading, though, was the eye-catching visual aspect of her blog. Her layout is amazing, with her posts in column format-something I’ve never seen from another food blog-and her photos, with their low-key, dark backgrounds, are stunning. Plus her pups are pretty adorable (scroll to the bottom here).

3. i am a food blog

Another blog that caught my eye because it is visually stunning, i am a food blog drew me even further in because I can’t stop making her recipes, like this burger, these fifteen minute doughnut holes, and this breakfast sandwich that I’m making for dinner tonight. Stephanie‘s heritage is Chinese and many of her recipes reflect this….but she definitely doesn’t play to just one theme. One thing I will say about her food is that it is comfort food, across the board. Her photos are amazing….lots of white backgrounds, but she isn’t “married” to that look. She makes great use of GIFs and fantastic graphics customized for each recipe. Her first cookbook, Easy Gourmet will be released on September 2.

2. 100 Days of Real Food

Lisa‘s blog can be a bit controversial at time. A few years back she started a challenge for herself and her family to see if they could follow a list of “real food rules” exactly for 100 days, later repeating the challenge on a budget of $125/week (of mostly organic food) for her family of four. Now, they’ve relaxed a little bit, but they still follow the rules almost all the time. Lisa posts great whole foods recipes on her blog as well as commentaries about the food that we eat, which is where it gets a little controversial at times, because sometimes people get offended by what they perceive as judgment. I’ve never read Lisa’s tone as judgey….just trying to inform people about the fact that we don’t have to be resigned to eating a steady diet of processed food. One of my favorite things about her blog is her extensive focus on the school lunches that she packs for her daughters. The 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook will be released on Tuesday.

1. Smitten Kitchen

I am sure that you guys are not surprised to see SK in the top spot. I’ve made it pretty clear here that as far as food goes I pretty much worship the ground that Deb walks on. Deb’s blog is arguably the most popular food blog on the inter webs and her recipe index is gigantic and if she doesn’t have a recipe that you need….well, you probably don’t need it. She meticulously studies and tests every recipe until she finds the perfect formulation, then she shares it. Plus her photos are simple perfection. Amen and amen.

So those are my top ten food blogs….what are yours?

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