Sometimes I feel like I’m walking in the shadows of giants. They’re very nice giants, but giants nonetheless.

When I started this little food blog I wasn’t really aware of the sheer number of other food bloggers out there. That realization came later. For the week I spent setting up and getting my first recipe posted, I was really only aware of about 5 other food blogs. From there of course the staggering facts set in that not only was I not operating in a vacuum, but that the other folks doing the same were far beyond me in talent. It was a bit humbling, really.

I haven’t lost my awe of these food blogging greats. I’m still humbled when I’m visited by such powerhouses as Elise Bauer from Simply Recipes (The first cooking blog I was exposed to), Lisa, the Homesick Texan (who never fails to make me think in the process of reading her entries) or the Good Dr. Biggles of MeatHenge (The first food blog that made me think I might not be out of my league. If the Doc could have that much fun working with meat, then I should just keep having fun myself! Haven’t heard of MeatHenge??? Perhaps you’ve heard of the Well Fed Network? Seems the Good Dr.’s name appears on their roster as well.). There’s Jasmine from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, who gave me kind words as I was starting up, never alluding to the fact that she’s one of the most popular food bloggers on the ‘Net, Lis, of La Mia Cucina, who never fails to inspire, and many more I simply don’t have time to mention here.

These people are giants in the food blogging world. They are also some of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I find that all food bloggers are fortunate enough to be a part of a community that supports and encourages itself, without a class structure or a pecking order. We’re in it for the food. We’re all one family.

And I’m proud to be a part of it.

I’m not minimizing the other wonderful people I’ve met along the way either. To all of you, new friends and old, let’s keep up the good work and keep helping to make this little rock we live on a better place to nosh with our families and friends, one recipe at a time…

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In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a new sidebar widget popping up all over the food blogosphere. The Foodie Blogroll, started by The Leftover Queen, has been growing rapidly, and is highlighting some of the most well known food blogs around, as well as some up-and-comers worth taking a look at.

Joining the blogroll is simple. you can either pop over to the leftover queen and leave a comment here, or you can just scroll down my sidebar over there *pointing wildly to the right and down* and click the “click here to join” link at the top. (If you can’t see it you’re probably not running JavaScript, in which case I sound like a blathering idiot, but I’m used to that.)

I will say that I’ve found some neat new blogs through it, and that I’ve seen a bit of a traffic boost as well, so no harm, no foul… As Ms. Stewart Would say (in her ever-so-annoying nasal voice) “It’s a good thing!”

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Hi everyone. I’s been a hectic week around the Russell household. It’s not that I haven’t meant to post a whole lot more this week, I really have, but the weather and that whole “gotta pay the bills” thing have been intruding a bit. Add to that a teething Eight Month Old and a rather needy pooch, and you might start to get a sense of where all the time has gone.

To top it off, I realized that I hadn’t updated my blogroll for quite some time, and that it no longer really reflects my RSS feeds at all, which means it’s not pointing to the sites I actually keep up with.

It’s time to rectify that.

So here it is, a list of the sites I’ve added. These are all talented folks, so please give pop in and say Hi. Just tell ‘em Jerry sent ya.

• At My Table
• Baking and Books
• Becks & Posh
• Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity
• Coconut & Lime
• Cook & Eat
• Daily Unadventures in Cooking
• Food Maven
• Jumbo Empanadas
• Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen
• MattBites
• MeatHenge
• Retro Recipe Challenge
• Sass & Veracity
• Smitten Kitchen
• Souvlaki For The Soul
• Tea & Cookies
• Writing At The Kitchen Table

Please give these fine folks a little love, wouldja!

I’ve also removed those that I just can’t seem to find any time for (or inspiration in) at the moment. It doesn’t mean those folks weren’t equally talented, just that I wasn’t pulling inspiration from them

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I don’t know how many of you use Google Alerts, but for me they’ve become an invaluable part of my day. Each morning I’m greeted with several emails detailing new websites, newsgroup posts and blog entries related to things I really want to keep up with. (Caution, there’s a possibility for information overload here!)

Today was no exception, and among the general stuff I’ll probably never look at, I found a little gem that I’m planning on making later this week. (Well, something like it, Y’All know I never stick to a <gasp!> recipe.)

The recipe? Cranberry Orange Turkey Breast! How good does that sound?!? I’m a sucker for turkey, and haven’t made it nearly often enough this year, so this is a perfect little number to go after in my opinion, though I’ll probably substitute turkey thighs for the breast and cook it in my dutch oven rather than a crock-pot.

At any rate, it just sounds really-really good!

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Let me just start off by saying happy St. Paddy’s Day to all of you who are observing it! I won’t be partaking in the food of the old country tonight, as my wife is off at a bridal shower and it’s just myself and Mr. seat of his Diaper for dinner this evening. I’ll post My belated St. Paddy’s day meal on Monday, most likely.

It seems as though the entire food blog world has been in a bit of a lull this past week. My normally crammed RSS feed reader has been unusually quiet, and the sites I usually visit on a daily basis for updates to the foodie world have been unnaturally silent.

Perhaps the lack of posting has something to do with Daylight Savings. I know the time change has thrown my schedule off a bit. Perhaps, the food bloggers of the world have, like myself, been busy handling the “day-to-day” requirements that keep us up to date on trivial things like rent and utilities. My project load has been heavy enough to send my culinary experimentation to lows such as “Which toppings are we going to order?” several times this past week.

I’ve also been poking around the blogosphere looking for a few “fresh faces” in food blogs. This is due in large part to the inactivity at my regular haunts, but also just to shake things up a bit. In that process I’ve found a few blogs that I think are well worth the visit, and I thought I’d share them with you.

Read more…

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Food blog events are one of the highlights of the food blog community. There’s something about getting to know your fellow food bloggers, or perhaps discovering a new “must read” food blog that’s intrinsically exciting. It really is the community that keeps us going.

The biggest problem facing new food bloggers like myself is that by the time you realize there was an event, you’ve already missed it, and it may have been an event that fit your talents perfectly. That has to be one of the most frustrating things in by burgeoning food blogging life.

So what’s a food whore to do?

Simple. Subscribe to the RSS feed at “Is my Blog Burning?” You’ll be kept up to date on the latest food blog events as they come available, and if you choose, you can serve up your offerings.

Have no clue what I’m talking about? That’s O.K. too. Just jump over to the Beginner’s Guide at Is My blog burning?, and they’ll get you up to speed.

I hope to see you in an upcoming event.

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From time to time I’m going to take a minute and highlight some of the other wonderful foodies out there. This is the first in that series.

There are many wonderful food blogs out there. I’m not going to focus on the blogs that everyone knows already. Lis at La Mia Cucina, Jasmine from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Sandi from Whistlestop Cafe Cooking have all dropped by and handed out kind words, and they are all worthy of praise and affection. (And ladies, you have mine, I assure you!) They are also already quite well known, so I’m going to focus this little snippet for the week on food bloggers who don’t have the name recognition that these great women do.

For this first weeks spotlight: Confections of a Foodie Bride. Read more…

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