Vegan Visitor is a blog that invites you in with scrumptious recipes and colorful photography. The author starts her introduction by writing, “This is a guide to fill you, satisfy and demystify vegan cuisine.” Then she tells the story of her consternation at learning her fiancé’s parents, who were coming to dinner, were vegans. She had no idea what to serve them and had to research in cookbooks to figure out what to cook. That was a while back; now she’s a regular at vegan cooking and shares her recipes on her blog.

This blog is nominated for the Blogger’s Choice award. It would be nice to take time to vote for it while you’re checking it out.

One major thing I feel is missing from the blog is more description about the writer. I really prefer blogs where you can get to know the person who’s doing the writing. She’s got a great writing style, but there’s no name or picture to go with it. Still her personal stories are interesting and her talent for cooking is obvious. I recommend a look at her recipe blog, for anyone who enjoys vegan food.

Now I’ve got to hurry to get ready for work, and I’ll be out of town this evening and hopefully tomorrow. Today is my birthday and my boyfriend is taking me out on the town in the Eureka, California area. Have fun this Friday night.

It’s that day again. I’m putting on my hat and heading out the door to see what another blogger is up to. Today I’m dropping in on The Pioneer Woman Cooks - another country-style cook, albeit not a vegetarian like I am. That doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from her blog.

The first thing I noticed is that she’s got way too many photographs on the main page - and there’s no way I’ll get them all to load because I’m on dial-up. So I chose a single recipe page and . . . I’m still waiting . . . It is at times like this when I think I may someday break down and get DSL, which is the other option out here in the boonies, for those who can afford it. I hear our prices on DSL are higher than elsewhere.

Still loading.

The second thing I noticed was that The Pioneer Woman’s blog is friendly, personable, and has character. She says her name is Ree. She is the main character, and her side-kick, The Marlboro Man, is apparently her husband. In any case, we get to know who’s there and to put a face to it she has some retro-type graphics showing what she wants us to believe she looks like. In any case, it is cute and entertaining. Almost enough for me to want to do a blog makeover and hire a quality graphic artist to make a cool header for my blog too!

I’m looking at this page: Orange Mini-Muffins with Brown Sugar Glaze.

The Pioneer Woman has a popular blog - not just because she’s a strong, interesting personality - but because she illustrates her cooking experience with step-by-step photos, and that’s just what some people need to have the confidence to try out the recipes she features. And she doesn’t use recipes that are too difficult or confusing for common people. Not only that, she uses ingredients most people have at hand. She says, “I’m a desperate housewife. I live in the country. I love to cook delicious, abundant, satisfying food using the simplest of ingredients. Welcome to my kitchen!” Right away we feel like we know her, identify with her, and want to cook like her.

Still loading.

Well, this site is probably great for people with better internet connections than I have, and is a superb example of what a successful cooking blog can be. You can see she loves cooking and is dedicated to sharing that love and knowledge with people everywhere. I highly recommend a look at her site, to any food bloggers out there. The Pioneer Woman is an expert cook who exudes enthusiasm for her work.

The Pioneer Woman’s blog is insanely popular. The recipe I’m looking at was posted late in June, and has 63 comments on it already. Her fans love her home country cooking, and the detailed instructions. One of the comments suggests some changes to the recipe to make it perfect for vegans. Another says, “I love that you do the printable recipe, now! That helps alot!!” I tried the printable recipe link - it opened a doc file in my Open Office word processing program. Very cool!

There are 35 step-by-step photographs for this one recipe alone. Many of them are still loading into my browser, even though I’ve written all this. When I was a web designer, I tried to keep images to a six-per-page limit for quick loading. But these days with the fast connections, the image-heavy pages are acceptable to most. And for young cooks needing help and inspiration, The Pioneer Woman’s style is ideal.

As I finish this article, I see all the photos are displayed in my browser now, but the page is still loading. ::sigh:: Sometimes I feel so behind the times. Seriously, my town is known for being a throw-back to an earlier time here in California. We’re as remote as you can get in this state. People come here and feel like they’ve stepped back twenty years. Only recently we’ve gotten better cell phone reception and suddenly I see people carrying them around town more frequently. Before this, it was common to see tourists standing on Highway 96 looking desperate as they tried to get their cell phones to work!

Today is my day to get out of my kitchen and see what others are doing about town.

Recently I met Elizabeth, the author of Mom Cooks on MyBlogLog.Com. She’s a Michigan mother of three who loves to write about recipes, cooking, and related topics. She owns a Squidoo Lens, How to eat well and lose weight. She also owns three other blogs: Table for Five, MomReviews, and Getting My Blog On.

I like reading Mom Cooks because she not only gives great recipe ideas, she photographs her creations, and writes about her ongoing diet experiences. Plus it is a nice, friendly spot on the web where I feel welcomed and at home. I also love the graphics and blog design used on this blog.

Elizabeth is using an interesting blog plug-in on Mom Cooks. “BlogFollow” follows people who comment using a valid blog URL, and prints a bit of their most recent blog post beneath their comment. You can see this in action under my comment at Healthy veggie spaghetti sauce - yummy too!.

I hope you enjoy visiting Elizabeth’s food blog as much as I have.

Here’s a recipe for herbal sunburn relief:

Simmer a handful of comfrey root with a handful of crushed marshmallow root in 1 cup of oil and 1 cup of white wine - for twenty minutes. Strain, and apply to burns or sunburns when cool.

Keep an eye on it and keep the heat very low.

I got this recipe from Jeanne Rose’s original herbal, Herbs and Things. I bought my copy in 1972 right after it was published, at a health food store in San Francisco’s Sunset District. A few months later I registered in a class about herbs at Heliotrope University in San Francisco, and Jeanne Rose was the teacher! The classes took place in her kitchen, so I got to see her room full of herbs and her herb garden, and drank herb tea with her. I was twenty at the time, and pregnant with my first child, Joshua, who is now a musician living in San Francisco.

I’m amazed I have a first edition of this book, and now the 19th edition is being sold!

Anyhow, I recommend Jeanne Rose’s book and will probably share recipes and information from it again in the future, though I also use other herbals and the internet for reference material these days.

Here’s an old fashioned scalloped potatoes recipe from the recipe box I keep in the cupboard:

Get out about two pounds of potatoes, a medium onion, a cup of grated cheddar cheese, and a cup of sour cream. Keep paprika on hand. Plus you’re going to have to make about a cup of white sauce.

What could be easier? Scalloped potatoes are an old family favorite I remember from my childhood. My mom made them - not often - but I always was happy to see them on my plate. My grandmother made them too.

Here’s the directions for making the best scalloped potatoes in the world:

Peel the potatoes, then slice them very thin. Chop the onions. Parboil these in salted water until barely tender. It takes ten minutes or less. Then drain off the water - you won’t need that anymore.

Prepare your white sauce then add the sour cream and a pinch of paprika.

Grease your casserole dish and layer the potatoes therein. After the first layer, spoon some of the white sauce over them. Then sprinkle on some cheese. Then go on to the next layer, putting sauce over that, and grated cheese over that, and so on until you run out of things to layer.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. This should be enough scalloped potatoes to serve six people.

If you try this recipe, come back here and let me know how you liked it!

***

Submitted to The Vegetarian Carnival and Carnival of the Recipes.