Food Blogger Blogoversary Calender 16

I had an idea I thought would be a fun way to support our fellow food blog authors. And help create a even closer community.

I started a calender for listing food blogger blogoversary dates. The date of your food blog's official launch or first post, is your blogoversary.

The calender will allow for clickable links in the description, so you can put your blog's title in the event title, and a description of your food blog, then any links you'd like such as : your blog's link, twitter account, face book page etc. If you click on the image below, you can view an example calender event.



I used google calender to create it. It's easily searchable in the google calendar database. So your readers can follow all of their fav foodies. All public calenders are indexed by google.

You can view it by clicking this link - food blogger blogoversary. There is a small button at the bottom right you can click to subscribe/ add it to your google calender account.

You don't need to have a google account to view the calender, or get updates for upcoming or newly added food blogs :

Click on this link to subscribe with any calender that supports iCal format. Here is a list from wikipedia of apps that support iCAL.


I also burned it through feedburner. So you can subscribe or use it to add to another feed you are aggregating on your sidebar etc.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/FoodBloggerBlogoversaryDates

If you would like to be added to the calender, please fill out this form:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pqxVEg3ssIfUbtGXjEx8DEg

If you have more than one blog, please fill out form for each blog.

I will set each event to continue to be celebrated yearly, so you will get updated every year.

I hope this can be something that is fun and usable for everyone . It gives another way to celebrate and promote your wonderful food blogs.

It's Official - This Blog is a BoB Award Finalist! 0

Hi everyone, I was nominated for a "BestofBlogs" Award in April and I just got word that my blog Renaissance Culinaire has been chosen as a top 10 finalist.

...Support

Small Bloggers
Vote
for me..

This is a really big deal for me - I just found
out today.

Usually the biggest names in the blogosphere are
the only blogs to be seen representing
the top ten finalists
for each category - but this year I was initially
nominated and accepted for a special
"under appreciated blog" category for smaller
blogs. I made a long list of finalists - but the
final list of top ten nominees has been decided
by a panel of judges and Renaissance Culinaire
made the cut!!


If you have visited my blog and like the content,
if you want to see one of the little guys represent
bloggers in a good light --- please show your support
and vote for my blog in the "Best Hobby Blog" category.

This is truly a "people's choice"award!

Voting Ends June 2nd, 2008

So Please visit the link below and on the voting widget: Select 'Abstract2Collective' and click 'vote', to make sure your vote is counted.

http://www.thebestofblogs.com/2008/05/12/best-hobby-blogvote-here/

It would really mean allot to me! If you can help spread the word I would be truly thankful.

Thanks,

Review : Morimoto - The New Art of Japanese Cooking 4

For me this is an orgasmic book of unmeasured proportions. I have loved Iron Chef. I have loved Japanese cooking and finally the two have merged and come full circle. On viewing the book it's self - wow. A nice presentation. A heavy slightly over sized cookbook. 

Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking.

Morimoto

The editing of this book is very well done. Nice graceful modern designs. Page after page of glossy step by step images and techniques, and notations on traditional Asian ingredients and how that translates to using and accessing them (or a finding suitable substitutions) in the US . If I ever wanted to publish a cookbook, it would be in this style.

This book showcases why Chef Morimoto^w is at the axis of a foodie empire, in this creative and intuitive take on Japanese cuisine. When I read this cookbook, I felt like the foodie version of Being John Malkovich , as this book allows you to peer inside the thoughts and actions of this culinary genius.

In relation to skill level, I would recommend this book to people who have at least an intermediate knowledge of culinary techniques. The beginning home cook might not know how to utilize or apply the techniques Chef Morimoto has outlined in this book.

It would be wise to do some further research on Japanese Culinary techniques also, as this book can only highlight certain facets of the cuisine itself and not act as a reference manual or course book on Japanese Cuisine as a whole.

If you have ever had an inkling of adoration for Asian style cuisine, or are awestruck at the complexities of the full spectrum of Professional Japanese Culinary , as I am, you would enjoy this book.

Highlights of this book include:

• An in depth look at how the Japanese chef works his knife magic to create beautiful Sashimi ^w and Sushi ^w works of art out of various ingredients - parts of fish, Octopus , and Various Vegetables .
• Recipes that are full of depth and charisma.
• Master recipes of various sauces and marinades.
• Text about the origins and importance of ingredients utilized in Japanese cuisine.
• Beautiful photography displaying the frame by frame procedures for each culinary technique, and the eloquent plate presentation for each recipe.
• A glossary of Japanese terms , as well as a source guide for obtaining specialty ingredients.

Overall this book is a wonderful culinary journey that enables the reader to cultivate a better understanding of chef Morimoto, Japanese cuisine and the culinary revelations that Morimoto has contributed to todays culinary field. I loved this book!

Renaissance Culinaire Nominated for 2007 BOBs 0

Congratulations!!! You have been nominated for a 2007 Best Of Blog Award!! Especially designed to bring attention to lower profile bloggers, The BoB’s as we like to call them are currently taking nominations in over 20 different categories. To find out more about how your site has a chance to become one of this year’s Best Of’s and how to nominate other bloggers, visit us at www.thebestofblogs.com. Remember voting begins May 5th so make sure you pass the word to your friends, family, and faithful followers.

Sincerely,
Bill Beck
Project Mgr.
www.TheBestOfBlogs.com
Email:Bloggerbeck@aol.com

How cool? I am very excited to be a nominee. It's nice when the little blogger's can get in on the action. Apparently the Best of Blogs had some technical errors and decided to allow more time for nominations .

Below is a new schedule :

• Nominations end April 21st
• Two weeks later on May 5th the Top 10 in each category will be announced and voting will begin.
• May 26th marks the date that a winning blog in each of the 23 categories will be announced.

If you are wondering how the BOB's work here is more info from the BOB site:

After the nomination period, the panelists assigned to each specific category will weed through the nominations and pick what they think are the 10 most deserving blogs in that category. Panelist decisions will be based first on blog content and second on user-friendliness; a blogs visual design will only be a minor consideration.

The fans will then vote on a their favorite in each category. 100% of the popular vote will be used to pick the winner.

I am so happy to be nominated. It is an honor. I had taken a break from blogging, and let this blog remain parked and not updated while I took care of a host of personal business, but people still visited and left comments, and linked. It was great to receive reader emails asking if I was o.k, or mention how they liked my site. It makes my day when I get feedback. It makes me want to blog more.

I have appreciated all the subscribers and fellow bloggers who have supported this blog for the long haul. It has gone through many metamorphosis's , but my interest to share foodie tidbits has been ever increasing. I think about culinary ALL the time...I am such a foodie.

I will be adding more updates about the BOBs in the future. I would appreciate any support when it comes time to vote for BOBs . So if you like this blog and what it stands for --- please consider posting a vote.

If you have other favorites --- there are 23 categories to choose from to nominate your favorite blogger, but you must visit the site and put your nominee in comments under the appropriate category . Make the content that you love soo much , get the exposure it deserves - Vote for your favorite bloggers.

My Foodie-sense Is Tingling : Greasemonkey for Culinary Pros? 1

What is Greasemonkey you might ask? Greasemonkey is a plugin for the Firefox web browser. Note: If you use Internet Explorer, you can use the IE7 Pro Compatibility add-in to permit some Greasemonkey scripts. If you use Safari, you may be able to run some scripts using the Creammonkey plugin. Opera is also known for being able to run a few scripts on their own.

Greasemonkey allows you to change how your favorite pages behave and look. There are many scripts that have already been written, and if you know javascript you can easily create your own.The Greasemonkey install on firefox is very easy .

You can find the Greasemonkey console,which shows all your scripts, under the "Tools" link on the browser menu bar. The scripts are editable. All you need to do is click on a script from the list and click on the edit button --- to access the script code, which allows for customization (in some cases) or bug fixes (if the script author is not keeping tabs on updating.)

Userscripts.org is a repository to download and install Greasemonkey scripts. You can find a script to pimp virtually anything ---blogger, flickr, gmail, craigslist ect. There is a tag function on userscripts.org for most scripts but unfortunately script authors do not always tag. So I actually scrolled through most of the 300 pages...yikes.

I can't believe I missed out on so many greasemonkey scripts lately. I LOVE firefox and Greasemonkey is icing on the geeky-optimizing-browser cake.

Speaking of cake, wouldn't it be great to create a greasemonkey script that would use specific formulas that apply to bakers or chefs or serious foodies?!

I am talking about calculators to compute formulations for : Specific gravity,Baker's percent, Turn-over rate of frying oil, Desired Dough Temp, Variances of Mixer per Qt = in F degrees , ect.

Even better --- have temp converters , and an editable interface to add special reference snippets that are pertinent to you (said foodie). I know there are alot of conversion widgets at Chef2chef.net ---It would be nice to see some of them hacked into the widget.

I think that the best way to showcase this widget would to code it to appear as a slide-in menu in the corner of your browser window. The calculators /converters would be linked via small icons, and would feature a link to your reference library (which would be text files, housed in a folder on your pc) There would be a link for "grab formula/ recipe", also.

This would be a great utility to edit formulas found on the web, on the fly. And the best part is that you can take firefox with you anywhere --- just copy it to a flash/thumb drive, and plug into a computer away from home. All your scripts / plug-ins /bookmarks are contained in the firefox interface, which you load via the thumb drive.

Oh, how utterly SWEET!

I will try to compose something out of code and see if I can get the ball - I mean the script rolling.

How exciting!

Run your tooltip over the screenshot to see what subject the screenshot covers. click on the screenshot to view it's pic page on flickr; or click "larger" link to view original.

Greasemonkey
Screen Shots




*1.)larger *2.)larger *3.)larger *4.)larger



*5.)larger *6.)larger *7.)larger

JUNE: What a Foodie Month it is....... 1

Photo : Egg Washing oat loaves on a proofing board.

June is :

Candy Month (National), Dairy Month (National), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month (National), Iced Tea Month (National), Turkey Lovers Month, and Papaya Month (National) . First week of the month is National Fishing Week.

June 1: National Doughnut Day (always the first Friday in June)

June 2: National Rocky Road Ice Cream Day

June 4: Applesauce Cake Day

June 5: National Gingerbread Day

June 6: Hunger Awareness Day (US National)

June 7: First day ice cream was sold in the US, June 7, 1786; National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

June 10: Iced Tea Day

June 13: Kitchen Klutzes Of America Day

June 16: Fudge Day; Fresh Veggies Day

June 17: Father's Day; Eat Your Vegetables Day

June 18: Go Fishing Day

June 20: Ice Cream Soda Day

June 21: Summer Solstice - First Day of Summer

June 22: National Chocolate Éclair Day

June 25: National Catfish Day

June 26: National Chocolate Pudding Day

June 29: Waffle Iron Day

Foodie links/photog : Red Currant Mini Cakes 2

Wow. What a beautiful picture, I found this while browsing the flickr group I manage : Artisan Artistry , a group for photographs that feature handmade breads/confections/desserts. SO far there are 122 members.

Red Currant Mini Cakes, originally uploaded by La tartine gourmande. 

Here are the most recent group stats:

La Tartine Gourmande  has a tantalizing photo stream.

Visit the food blog for luscious Recipes ---
Red Currant Mini Cakes can be found here .

Flickr has over 4,500 groups which are food related. Yikes...foodie heaven or hell ? You be the judge...

The Foodie Manifesto 0

What is this thing that drives us to savor the cooking or baking practices? Is it cultural traditions - handed down through the ages, surpassing technological advances - famine, war, natural disaster?

OR does our soul manifest it's self into the gentle rhythms; The pungent aromas; The melding of hands into ingredients, that in turn evolved from soil & wildness?

Do we as a race feel a longing , not shaped, but materialized into our relationship with the products we make, which will not be satisfied until we can impart the very essence of emotions into our cooking or baking?

Are we lost - our connections to each other vast and fettered across shallow electronic landscape, lacking personable warmth, which has us chasing a kindred dreamscape of tended dishes & ovens?

It is not an uncomplicated mess, this revelry we weave. Our hearts , minds and bodies, echo the sentiments we have unearthed in our kitchens; our bakeries; our restaurants.

We are not fashionable - with our apron strings and bleached towels. Nor are we trendy wearing our food stained hearts on our sleeves. But the tasting --- that is where the poetry awakens.




--- By Amber © March 06,2005 .All Rights Reserved

Culinary survivalists, money means big business... 0

Hard times. Industries are suffering - layoffs are abounding. Poverty is increasing, people are losing the comfortable lives they so took for granted. But not everyone is feeling the strain.

Like everything else there is a facet to this story that stays constant. Big business, and the women & men who parade these lucrative waters. The sharks are mere transactions, and the billions or trillions of dollars traded and cycled through hands & bank rolls remains in abundance.

For the industries which feed on these illusive corporations & individuals - Hospitality in the forms of 5 star hotels ; Private resorts & spas; Seams to be thriving. Hotels are springing up so rapidly that the urban sprawl is no longer, it is a wide expanse. But where would these meccas of amenities be with out wineries, caviar suppliers, & personal chefs etc - These industries seem to be tailing a never ending cash bonanza. A feeding frenzy - we are all apart of the existential monetary food chain. From the doorman to the Head chef or the organic produce peddler. There is no end to the cycle. Or is there?

Along with the able bodied men and women, comes advances in technology. If technology advances, will the links in this chain diminish? Many of the most luxurious and modern hotels are already turning to computer automated systems. Although technology in the past has proved to be costly & with it's bugs and failures - the switch from man power to machine seems almost natural. Why stick to old methods? When computer capabilities far more exemplify the image of the future.

Where does the human element fit in ? We as a society sift through the pieces of news, radio, magazines - in search of an element, which seems all too lacking. Filling the void has become a dangerous pursuit. We hide in our work, in our vices - connections are skewed. The promise of an honest human effort only appear when the sky is falling or some kind of peril is in our lives. We look to strangers for minute glimpses - of pain, of joy. Hoping to relate or feel a connection.

Maybe that is why people are the driving force in The Culinary & Hospitality industries. The most successful establishments are built on solid business knowledge, granted, but didn't these places start as an idea - a fantasy, built up in the minds or hearts of their owners and patrons? Did their sweat and toil burn off, a vain attempt at greatness? No. Because of individuals who savored foods; the sounds, sights of the kitchen; The anticipation of pleasing a crowd.

Yes, the crowd. People from all walks of life; cultures. Each searching for the perfect atmosphere, palate, and service. What do you expect from an establishment? It varies. There are many levels - fast food to gourmet. But the underlying , main expectation is service. How the customer is treated is of utmost concern.

Amber © 2005. All rights Reserved.

Food Porn ---Post your food picts! 0

Food Porn is a site for foodies to post pictures of...FOOD! Whether you cook it yourself, or if you take a picture at a restaurant, post your pics here

Peanut Butter Kiss by Herr Hans Gruber

For people who are compulsively photographing food 1

Are you looking for a flickr group of like-minded foodieophiles who can appreciate, no, sympathize with your food picture taking habit?

White Raspberries and Fig by libraryman

“About I Ate This

Warning: Licking your computer monitor may be hazardous to your health.

Post images of a meal on a plate (or otherwise!) that you ate. Meals you were particularly happy with would be nice. Everyone eats; lets see who eats what! The food must be the primary subject in the shot. 

Two notes about this:

- Please show the food, not the wrapper or container of the food. (That is, unless you actually ate the wrapper.)

- Especially keep people's faces and eyes out of the photo, as our attention will inevitably be drawn to them, instead of the dish. (Unless, you ate the face and eyes...Actually, No, We'll None of That!.)
 

If you are nice enough to provide the instructions for making the dish in the description, please also add the word "recipe" as a tag.

So the next time you find yourself alone in the kitchen admiring your latest culinary creation , whilst you revel in that moment of Triumph grab your camera, capture it and post it Here!..

Enjoy!”

Link: I Ate This

Foodie Sites of Interest 1

Started in June 2008 - Please click on a banner to visit the site. Get your site listed here.

Food & Drink Courses & Schools

Cook In France. A relaxed friendly hands- on cooking holiday in France. Learn to cook French and world cuisine with our experienced British chef.

Baipai.com : There is no better way to learn Thai Cooking Bangkok once you are in Thailand and taking a Thai cooking class, taught by qualified Thai personnel.

Green Cooking

What's Cooking is a Certified Green business that offers healthy and seasonal cooking classes and birthday parties to children of all ages in the San Francisco Bay Area. In our online shop you'll find unique sustainable gifts and party favors.

We also offer What's Cooking Weekly, our menu service offering recipes, grocery lists and tips on making cooking with your kids fun and simple.

Cooking And Drink Sites

Yesterday's delicious foods with hundreds of recipes collected from family writings and cutouts with sprinklings of our wonderful Australian culture and humor. Join our Supporters for hundreds of extra recipes.

Great Cajun Cooking. Tons of Cajun Cooking Recipes and info. Your last stop for real Louisiana food! Come pass a good time!

Once a Month Cooking World: Learn how to save time and money with our step-by-step instructions and free once a month cooking recipes.

Rockin' Robin's Mexican Food Recipes. A collection of delicious Mexican recipes for the Mexican food lover. We've got enchiladas, Chile Verde, tacos, guacamole, salsas, desserts and much more.

ItalianHomeRecipes.com brings the flavors of Italian Cooking straight to your kitchen. Search our website for easy to make Italian Recipes and Cookbooks!







All Chinese Food Cooking and Recipes. Free mouth watering Chinese recipes, easy to follow and cook. Learn everything about Chinese cuisine and amaze yourself, family and friends with your Chinese cooking skills.







All Indian Food Cooking and Recipes. Free mouth watering Indian recipes, easy to follow and cook. Learn everything about Indian cuisine and amaze yourself, family and friends with your Indian cooking skills.






Your Cooking Tips. Cooking Tips and Tricks. Learn about food items and preparation techniques.







Food & Drink Suppliers

Montana Beef Company. Rocky Mountain Gourmet Steaks is the exclusive distributor of Montana Beef Company beef. Each steak is carefully trimmed and portioned by hand and then they are individually vacuum packed to preserve quality.

Bulk Spices from Avon Spice Company.We buy quality in quantity and pass the savings on to you. Spice Company. Importers of rare herbs and spices, based in Brewster, NY.

Cooking And Drink Blogs




Food & Drink Resources


Cosmo Pages / Cooking. This page links to many home cooking and international cuisine sites, including but not limited to American kitchen, Mexican cuisine, Italian pasta, French cuisine, Australian tucker, English breakfast, Chinese cooking, Japanese sushi, Thai food art, and other Oriental cooking. Enjoy!

Note - If you will be doing a google search for this site for incoming links - Please use the title, Renaissance Culinaire, NOT the url , to get a more accurate result. Renaissance Culinaire is PR5 with a steadily moving Alexa rank . Thanks :)