Blogs I Read: Spotlighting My Friends

I have some seriously talented friends.  They craft, the can their own foods, they plan weddings, they sew, they cook, and they blog.  Plus they’re amazing friends.  Seriously, y’all my friends are awesome.  While I love all sorts of blogs, I especially love my friends’ blogs because most of my close friends live far away and blogging is such a great way to keep up with them.  It’s just a side benefit that they are all really talented writers.  

Last week I shared some of my favorite food blogs, and today I wanted to tell you about my friends’ blogs so you can see for yourself just how great they all are.

Christine’s Little Blog – Christine is my best friend; I met her in college (she was my freshman year roommate) and now she lives with her fiancé in Ohio.  Christine is an athletic trainer and she blogs about that, money and personal finance, cross stitching, and what life is like as a future military wife.   

The Life of a Not-So Desperate Housewife – I met Megg in graduate school while we were getting our masters’ in library in information studies.  She’s originally from Massachusetts and now she lives in Seattle with her husband.  Megg blogs about a lot of things including frugality, simple living, decorating, cooking, and her struggles with depression.  She also runs an ongoing series called “I’m Grateful Wednesday” where she shares the things she is feeling grateful. 

Liberal Simplicity – If you’ve been around frugal living or personal finance blogs for a while, you’ve probably heard of Liberal Simplicity (formally Budget Confessions).  Cate is a number of wonderful things, including (but not limited to) a writer, a mother, a wife, an excellent cook, a feminist, and a simplicity junkie.  I’ve never actually met Cate but I was so inspired by her blog and her life (please tell me I’m not the only person who feels this way about certain bloggers) that I emailed her and started corresponding with her on twitter and now we’re even friends on Facebook!  I love making friends online and I’m so happy that I’ve been able to form a connection with someone whose writing I admire.

The DIY Nearlywed – Reese is another friend who’ve I never met but talk to online.  Reese is engaged, working, and planning her wedding.  Needless to say she’s very busy and doesn’t always update daily (which is sad because she’s a great writer!), but when she does post, it’s always really fun.  She has some great series including Random Mondays and Grab Bag where she shares random things she finds from around the web.

With Duck and Goose – Amy is yet another friend I’ve never met. :)  I discovered Amy’s blog through Food Waste Fridays and then started following her on Twitter.  Amy is a bit like me; we’ve both struggled with trying to be “niche” bloggers and realized that we most definitely are not.  Amy blogs about lots of different things including crafting (she has her own Etsy shop!), homeschooling, vegetarian cooking, and simplicity. 

False Dandelions – Ashley is one of the few sorority sisters I actually still talk to.  (Did I ever mention I was in a sorority?  I probably should, there’s a lot to talk about there.)  She’s a journalist who also does a lot of PR and she just got engaged (yay!).  Ashley’s blog is pretty new, but her talent for writing really shines through.  She’s started some cool series including a “What? Wednesday series” that covers some random (and interesting) topics. 

I highly recommend all of these blogs and not just because they are my friends. :)  I hope some of them are new to you and that you check them out! 

Do your friends blog?  Any you want to share?

Blogs I Read: Foodie Favorites

I read a lot of blogs. Like a lot, a lot. I currently subscribe to 102 blogs, which is a huge improvement from this summer where I was reading close to 125 and I couldn't keep up with my feed reader.

Luckily, I've cut back. Well, a little. Is cutting it down to 100 really cutting down on the feed reader clutter?

Probably not, but I don't care. And that's not the point. I should probably make a point, shouldn't I?

The point is I love blogs. I love reading them, writing them (clearly!), sharing interesting things I find with other people, and I especially love the way they offer you a glimpse into someone else's life. So I wanted to take a chance to share with you some of my favorite blogs and why I love them so much.

Being the anal, slightly OCD person that I am, I have all my blogs organized according in categories. And I thought that I should share them with you that way. So today, I'm sharing my favorite food blogs.

I actually don't read that many food blogs. I used to, but my recipes-to-try pile was getting really scary, so I had to cut some out. So these are the ones that made the cut and are my personal favorites. I hope you find something that's new to you and find some new recipes to boot!

Annie's Eats – I don't know if a week goes by when I don't find a recipe I want to try on Annie's Eats. I think this is a beautiful blog run by a woman who seems to do it all. She's a resident, a mom, a wife, a cupcake and cookie decorator extraordinaire, and she throws the cutest parties. Her food is very simple and everything I've made from her blog has been absolutely fantastic.

Bakers' Banter – This is my go-to blog for anything baking. Run by King Arthur flour (the best flour in my humble opinion), they have awesome tutorials, recipes, and excellent pictures detailing every step of their recipes. Even if the blog was complete crap (which it's totally not!), I would recommend it because it led me to these rolls. And once you taste them, you'll understand.

Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice – I like this blog for a number of reasons. The author features a lot of Italian recipes, her pictures are awesome, and her recipes are pretty darn tasty. The author also occasionally hosts recipe link ups which have brought me to some new blogs and some new recipes.

Finding Joy in My Kitchen – If you been around my blog for any length of time, you've probably noticed that I LOVE this blog. I link up to it every week for Friday Favorites and I've gotten some of my favorite recipes from here. SnoWhite is constantly striving to cook healthier and while I don't share quite the same passion (please don't take away my butter!), I enjoy her recipes and her writing style.

How Sweet It Is – This blog is my newest addition. I found it via Tasty Kitchen (see below) and have become instantly addicted. I've already printed out 4 recipes (like this which I would really like right now) and all of them are sweet. I think me and the author share that in common!

Let's Dish – This was one of the first true food blogs I read and my favorite thing about this blog is the way she posts her recipes. The recipe is at the top and then her thoughts and the source are below. I like that because I don't have to wade through a lot of talk (you know – like you do here :) ) just to get to the recipe.

Lynn's Kitchen Adventures - I've known about Lynn's blog for a while, but didn't start reading it until a couple of months ago.  She does Menu Plan Mondays (which I love.  I have a strange fascination with what other people are eating - is that weird?) and a few other cool series like What Is It Wednesdays where she spotlights a cool ingredient, Ask the Readers, and she gives lot of kitchen tips.  Lynn is also one of the best allergy food bloggers out there, so if you are looking for recipes without nuts and gluten, her allergy site is the place to go.

Our Best Bites - It is difficult for me to express just what it is I love specifically about this blog, because I pretty much love everything about it.  This blog is run by two awesome ladies (who just published their first cookbook!) and I love their recipes and I especially love their tutorials. 

Smitten Kitchen - I think pretty much everyone who's in to food blogging readings Deb's blog, but I had to feature it for two reasons. One, it's awesome and she's never failed me when I'm making one of her recipes; her directions are always spot-on.  And two, her son is absolutely precious.  I love that she links to a new picture in everyone of her posts.  He is so cute and I just want to eat him with a spoon. :)  But seriously, if you are looking for pretty much the best food blog out there, this is it.

Tasty Kitchen - I've blogged about my love for Tasty Kitchen before, but I want to just say again how awesome this blog (not to mention the site!!) is.  I love that they have a number of contributors who all bring their own personal styles to the table and I'm a huge fan of the fact that they are trying recipes that others have posted.  It's sort of like blogging about someone's else blog, which I've always found entertaining.  The photos are great, the recipes are sublime, they do great giveaways, so what's not to love?

Okay, so these aren't actually all the food blogs I read. But these really are my absolutely favorites. What are your favorite food blogs?