Yum

I'm getting myself all psyched up for the farmer's market in a couple hours, and I realized I've never talked about my love of cooking on this blog. It's something that I've only recently been doing with any regularity; in San Francisco it's soooo easy to fall into eating out every night because there are so many delicious cheap eats here. Also, going to the grocery store is more of a chore when you're on foot than it is when you have a car. But eating out is not especially good for the health of your wallet or your body, so I have been making a concentrated effort to eat at home.

My dad cooked these amazing meals for my family when I was younger, so I learned an appreciation for a wide variety of foods and cooking techniques from him. I think one of the reasons I like cooking so much is that I can recreate things he made for us. Another reason I like to cook is that it's something I'm fairly good at and am confident in my ability to do it well. That always makes things more fun! And I really like the creative aspect of it, the art of seasoning and spices. It's so satisfying when everything comes together in deliciousness.

My go to for recipes, after my mom and dad, is epicurious.com. They have the archives for every issue of Gourmet. It doesn't get much better than that. But they also have the bon appetit recipe archives, which definitely pale in comparison to Gourmet's, but they're nice to have nonetheless. Also, they have a "recipe box" so you can save all the recipes you like or think you might want to make. I recently made a delicious roasted acorn squash from one of their recipes.

I also get recipes from a couple food blogs. My favorite favorite favorite is 101 Cookbooks. 101 Cookbooks is a recipe blog by Heidi Swanson, author of the James Beard book award (!)nominated Super Natural Cooking. It is updated often and always with the most mouthwatering recipes and photos you will ever lay eyes on. And they are vegetarian and seasonal and healthy....and generally really simple to prepare. Really. My favorite so far is the Spinach Rice Gratin, which I just happen to have at home right now.

Another new favorite blog is Bread and Honey. It is written by two busy moms and is a really enjoyable read. The authors are funny and personable and take gorgeous photos. I've been reading this blog only about a week, so I haven't actually had the chance to try any of their recipes yet, but there are many for which I am itching for the chance. I'm especially interested in this no knead bread recipe; I haven't made bread since I was in middle school and we had a bread maker, and I just bought some whole wheat flour, so I figure I'm ready to go.

Do you have any favorite food blogs? I'd love it if you'd leave me the URLs in the comments! Thanks!

mel