FB Anonymous

My name is Tara McClure, and I am a food blog-aholic

You thought FB was going to stand for facebook didn't you? Well that might be another slight addiction although facebook tends to just be a necessary part of life these days. But food blogs?! Food blogs are the sweet, sweet cherry cheesecake of the cyber world! They're pure happiness! There is no better way to start your day (after yoga of course) than to sit down at your computer with your breakfast, a big mug of tea and then slowly peruse the daily updates of your bloggers of choice. Sometimes the recipes are to amazing to pass up so you pin them to your Pintrest wall (maybe another small addiction although I've sort of managed to get this one under control in the few last months) where they wait patiently to be looked at again and then brought to life in your kitchen. I gotta be honest though....this RARELY happens. But I have done it on occasion and I have a Pintrest board to prove it. It's called Recipes Already Tried. Of course it's about a quarter of the size of my Recipes to Try board but hey...no one can accuse me of not being ambitious! In fact, somewhere deep down in me I have this dream that I'm going to be a super mom that manages to take care of the kids, the house, work, EVERYTHING and then still comes home at the end of the day, opens up my Recipes to Try file and whips up the best gourmet dinner the family has ever had. And I will achieve all of this while always feeling happy, energized and looking absolutely stunning! Make-up, hair, cool outfit that is stylish and spotless while still being comfortable and mom-appropriate....I'm picturing the modern version of the 1950s housewife. Yeah, that'll be me. Oh, and I'll still have time to workout most days, see my friends, get a full night's sleep and wake up the next day to do it all over again, starting with my breakfast, big mug of tea and food blogs.

Before you say it, I prefer not to use the word delusional. It's just too negative. How about dreamer? Or a visionary? An idealist? An optimist! Or maybe I just have an overactive imagination and too much time on my hands. Whatever! 

Anyway, getting back to the food blogs. I'm obsessed! They're amazing! The photos....they're art! I don't read every entry, usually I just skip ahead to look at the pictures and then check out the recipe. If the recipe looks easy enough and I can get all the ingredients here (that's always a challenge...I have a hard time finding ingredients here that may seem like normal everyday things to us but just aren't in a Greek kitchen. Hmmmmm, a new blog topic idea I think!) then I'll copy it and file it for another day when I'm feeling particularly ambitious.

Or bored.

Or just hungry.

Some blogs I will actually read but that's only if they're funny. And let me tell you, a funny foodie is hard to find! I don't know why that is! If you know any funny foodie blogs, let me know!

So here's a list of some of the food blogs that I read on a daily basis:

Eats Well with Others - http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com

• this one is funny and my absolute favourite, even though she's a vegetarian...but that means you can still eat lamb right? Anyway she's like Carrie Bradshaw if Carrie Bradshaw went to medical school and ran marathons. And it's been awesome lately because she met a new guy and things are going really well so in between all the really yummy looking vegetarian and vegan pics and recipes you get to hear about the love life too. That's what I call a Two-fer! (two 'fer the price of one...who do I have that joke with? Jen? Nicole? Crap, there goes the baby brain again...)

Kath Eats - http://www.katheats.com/

• this one is just motivating. Kath is a total Type A personality, a dietitian, exercise enthusiast, we're similar in age and I just know if we met in the real world we'd be friends instantly...ok that sounds a bit creepy I guess. Actually I look like a lazy lump on a log compared to this girl, she's such a go-getter. Oh, and she's pregnant and due a week after me which is really cool. She started a blog about  that too which is another one of my daily indulgences http://www.babykerf.com/

Everybody Likes Sandwiches - http://everybodylikessandwiches.com/

• another funny one. AND she's from Vancouver which I love because sometimes she talks about places she's been with her friends and I get all nostalgic and warm and fuzzy thinking about beautiful Vancouver. She's probably the blogger that I've tried the most recipes from and I've never been disappointed. Unfortunately today she's posted a rhubarb tart recipe which is totally not Greek kitchen friendly. I don't think rhubarb even has a name in Greek. Latin, yes. Greek, doubt it. Anyway, if you check out any of these blogs with the intent to find an amazing recipe I totally recommend this one. Especially her Sesame Tahini Cookies. Amazeballs!  http://everybodylikessandwiches.com/2012/03/sesame-tahini-cookies/ they're like peanut butter cookies but with tahini instead which is much more accessible and affordable in a Greek village supermarket. If I remember correctly, it's the other way around back in Canada but anyway, if you're looking for twist on the usual peanut butter cookie recipe you should try this. 

Ask Chef Dennis - http://www.askchefdennis.com/

• I read this one because he's an actual chef so you know the recipes will be really good but unfortunately I'm still too intimidated by any of them to try anything. One day I will though! He sometimes posts things that you know will come in handy if you're a bit of an amateur cook like me. For example he doesn't just give you a Chicken Parmesan recipe, he gives you tips and explains what you need to do exactly to make the best Chicken Parmesan even though it's meant to be a simple dish. Things like that. That being said, chef Dennis' Chicken Parmesan recipe is still sitting in my Recipes to Try file...but I'm sure it's going to be the best!  

Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body -http://www.fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com/

• funny, informative and not afraid to make things that you'd never think of making homemade. Like ricotta cheese, wheat thin crackers, baby food (which I'm SO going to do), yogurt, you name it she makes it! She's practically one step away from never needing a grocery store. Well not really, but she's seriously impressive. If she ever moved out of the city, bought a farm, raised her own animals and grew her own food, you could still count on going to her house and having Oreo cookies that were not out of a box. Like I said; impressive!

So those are my main ones that I actually read on a daily basis. I also have a massive list of other ones that I'll check up on every now and then just to see if there's anything that tickles my fancy. 

Probably later today I'm going to add a list of all these blogs in the sidebar here on my blog so if you're interested, bored on a rainy day, or if you are a full blown food blog addict like me and just need some new sites to check out, they'll be there on a daily basis. 

I know this is a bit of weird post today, and unfortunately I don't have any pictures which I know is disappointing. But I really wasn't feeling great yesterday so I was in bed or on my couch all day long....reading food blogs.

I'm much better today though so life will resume as normal. As soon as I hit the Publish button I'm out the door to the beach!

Oh, and if we're not already following each other on Pintrest, you can find me here: http://pinterest.com/taramalli/ and I'll follow you too. I think I have my Pintrest account on a super high privacy setting so you can't find me very easily but this will lead you straight to me. I'm not on there very often at all anymore but I do add things to it once and a while, mostly Greek recipes which as I mentioned is because of the ingredient options I have here. AND because who doesn't like Greek food?? But if you comment on any of my posts on there I'm probably not going to see it because I'm just not on there regularly enough.

SO, I think the ramblings of a pregnant lady are sufficiently exhausted for today.

Off to the beach!!