Big Traveling Potluck 2013 Recap and Friday Faves

I spent last weekend in the hilly wine and avocado country of Temecula, California, about an hour outside of San Diego. I was there for a food blogging conference cum retreat founded by Maggie and Pam of Three Many Cooks and Erika from Ivory Hut. Founded two years ago in Philadelphia as the Big Summer Potluck, the ladies have taken their show on the road and foraged their way west, in the incarnation of the Big Traveling Potluck.

This event is far from a traditionally architected blogger conference. Absent are formal seminars, sponsor booths and non-engaged attendees wondering what to do next. It’s less about what to wear and more about connecting over food, drink and the occasional chia seed pudding.

We were all there for the same purpose, to contribute to one another in a less formal, more intimate environment.

Let me make one thing clear: less formal does NOT mean less grand in scenery, attention to detail or heart.

I’ll be detailing far more about both conferences in the Summer issue of FoodieCrush coming this June. Until then, you truly owe yourself a read of the following recapif you’re of the food blogging variety. Or self-growth variety. Or if you’re just curious what happens when food bloggers gather together.

“Get out of my dreams and into my car. And by car, I mean, into your best creative work.” ~ Helen Jane

Conference speaker Helen Jane Hearn’s speaking commentary comparing 80’s R&B star Billy Ocean to blogging had everyone in attendance spellbound, laughing and connecting the dots all at the same time. A must read.

I feel like I can’t verbalize the experience nearly as eloquently as these very thoughtful and original reads from Brooke and Kate. Please jump over and feel their P.O.V.

I did take a few Instagrams from the weekend—and borrowed a few too (follow the hashtag #BtP1 on Instagram to see a visual snap of the weekend)—to illustrate some things I learned, observed and took away from the 2013 Big Traveling Potluck. Until next year…

1. I miss living by the beach

2. Always leave plenty of time for security

3. There comes a time when it’s time for your blog to graduate and get a job (pic: Carrie)

4. Wine and avocados are a marriage made in Temecula (pic: Jamie)

 

1. I’m a Brat

2. Friends push each other to do better, grow stronger and accomplish what they think they can’t

3. I will always order Baja style fish tacos if they are within 47 feet of the menu

4. If you ever need a food blogger’s cookbook, head to Recipe Girl’s house. She has every one of them. #recipegoldmine

1. Bus rides create conversation opportunities with people you haven’t yet had the luck to get to know

2. Those that have overcome adversity have amazing stories of appreciation (pic: Maggie)

3. Sometimes the brightest lights are found in the corners (pic: Mimi)

4. This is officially not a swag bag

1. There’s nothing like a Pink Moon to frame a party scene (pic: Kelley)

2. Brands can bring bloggers together  (pic: Sandy)

3. Tall girls rule. And they can cook. (pic: Sandy)

4. Learning from one another is even more valuable than learning from an expert. Unless that expert is one of you.

 1. I really, really like guacamole

2. Farm tours are always better with a margarita in hand (pic: Kristin)

3. It takes too much willpower not to dip your toe in

4. Bloggers do more than make food, they help people less fortunate than themselves (pic: Rachel)

1. Photo booths turn adults into 8 year olds

2. Food bloggers like to eat as much as they like to cook

3. I’m often asked to take pictures

4. Homemade Coconut Cupcakes make the perfect going home airport food 

While that song will always be a fave of mine, the duo’s new album out next week (have a listen here) will hopefully push this one out of my summertime-ditty memory bank. 

This Savuer Best Food Blog finalist spills the beans (no pun intended) with her 100 Rules of Dinner
7. There is nothing sadder than a piece of warm pie without ice cream.
68. If you want to get something crispy, the pan needs to be hot. And so does the oil.
83. Three secret weapons of salad dressing: Teaspoon of sugar, dash of Sriracha, chives.
(in the style of and via Yes and Yes) 

Who needs to train Rover to fetch cold ones when you have a remote control beer cooler 

From orzo pasta to coconut scented soap to DIY utensils, these upcoming FoodieCrush mag contributors found an ingenious use for those leftover cereal boxes. 

Have a case of the dinette doldrums? Problem solved thanks to these design ideas to bring your dining room into the latest century.

Happy weekend, and happy feast on Cinco de Mayo eats and cheering with juleps for the ponies.

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch by subscribing to FoodieCrush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. This site includes affiliate shopping links of which I receive a small percentage of sales to allow me to create new and special content like this for my readers, so thank you for your support. All opinions are my own.

Tagged as: big traveling potluck, conference, Friday Faves, Instagram, photography

View the original article here

S’mores in a Jar and Friday Faves

Looking down at my calendar, I’m stunned to see it’s already Friday. The week has flewwwn by, thanks to lots of catch up after a great trip to Monterey earlier in the week with a group of other bloggers to tour the fields of Dole Salads (I hope you didn’t miss the Instgrammed hairnet shots? Just lovely.)

I almost didn’t want to come back, Monterey is one of my favorite spots in the world. More on my trip to come next week.

What else was on my dance card? I had Mother’s Day in the mountains, I ate lettuce in a field, watched a man make art at the ocean and was dubbed the solo coach this week for Smudge’s soccer team. Please Lord, let us play our best. And a win wouldn’t hurt either.

Last weekend we packed up the kids, everyone brought a potluck dinner something or other and we headed to the canyon for a spring campfire dinner.What a way to ring in spring. There’s something that makes you feel so connected when cooking and eating in the great outdoors. I’ll soon be sharing more about our night, and the tasty vittles we devoured while negotiating with the kids to stay out of the river.

While I made this recipe a while ago and ate it whole heartedly at home with my Smudge, I fully intended to resurrect it and surprise everyone campside with S’mores In a Jar. But as will happen, time ran out and I didn’t have the chance to thrill them with its decadence. We still snacked on flaming marshmallows smooshed with chocolate in between the sweetness of yet another twist on a sweet I’ll share soon. I’m such a tease.

But in the meantime, you should totally give these s’mores a go. The sweetened up graham crust is the secret. Well, not anymore.

While Friday is always a great day to celebrate, you can probably tell I’ve already switched gears to weekend mode. You should too. Have yourselves a grand one.

This video is for my husband. I’ll be hiding the chain saws this weekend.

Angelina who? Heather, a friend of mine and many of yours, shares her courageous story about taking her life into her own hands, a story she hasn’t told on her blog in 7 years. Until now.

Soon enough I’ll think about pulling the canner out of the storage room and turning the air conditioner on high while I put up a few bottles of the summer’s bounty. But I don’t have the patience to wait. I want my pickling done now and these pickled pucker uppers is tops on my list.

Free fonts for tagging all of those potential Pinterest images. Aaand, full circle alert: I found them on Pinterest.

I watched the end of The Office last night. My favorite episode? When Michael burns his foot on his George Foreman grill because he fell asleep while cooking bacon. How do you even do that?

How to handle Instagram tagging to save face and keep friends

I didn’t create a grilled cheese for you this week (I know, weird right?) but this one has left me craving more.

Perspective: What will you gladly “waste” your life doing?
“Each day for the past 12 years we have been fighting the good fight of marriage, screaming at each other in the moments where the other one has destroyed us- saying the words you don’t include in your vows, like “f**k you!” or “this is over,” or “I can’t forgive you for that,” apologizing, doing the costly work of forgiving, weeping, burying those we loved most, giving our infant CPR as his heart stops in the back of our car and we race to the hospital.”

From this week: 8 whole foodie blogs you need to know about.

Vanilla Ice, ice baby. Ice blue KitchenAid that is. Did you enter to win?

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch by subscribing to FoodieCrush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. This site includes affiliate shopping links of which I receive a small percentage of sales to allow me to create new and special content like this for my readers, so thank you for your support. All opinions are my own.

Tagged as: chocolate, desserts and sweets, marshmallow, pudding, recipe, smores, sweets

View the original article here

Indian Butter Chicken and Friday Faves

There is a glaring omission in the recipe repertoire of FoodieCrush which I am in the process of remedying as we speak. Chicken. Simple, easy and basic chicken.

While this recipe for Indian Butter Chicken tastes far from basic, it’s one I really can’t forget to share and is so simple to bring together it works great as a weeknight meal. Even the picky kids will love it’s creamy, tomato flavor. Well, minus those pesky peas of course.

I’m such a fan of chicken thighs. I know, everyone boasts about the virtues of boneless chicken breast but where’s the flavor? It’s all in the thighs people.

Head over to get the recipe for Indian Butter Chicken and let me know what other veggies I could throw into the butter chicken mix. Broccoli? Mmm, maybe. Carrots for sure. Mushrooms are an absolute yes, but I love mushrooms. Maybe even zucchini? Mmmm, I think so.

This week started off slightly off-kilter thanks to a flu bug that will keep me from enjoying Mexican food again for a good long while. Such a shame.

Thanks to this bug-imposed cleanse, I spent the entire day of Monday bed-bound which gave me the chance to catch up on all residual episodes of the new season of Real Housewives of OC plus reruns of BH and Atlanta. Sometimes you just need to let your mind not think. Which makes a perfect match with anything on Bravo. I heart Bravo.

After a full day mind-suck filled with 4-inch heels and plenty of contrived circumstances (shockingly placed hand to heart as my jaw drops at just the right banal beat) I balanced out the vixen-fest with my DVR’d episodes of Dr. Oz.

I find myself intrigued with his cheesy visuals of fat expanding in the body or how the liver detoxifies that circle the really good, solid health information he actually delivers. Even if my husband says it’s more like an informercial and some of it simply isn’t pretty. I on the other hand, can’t keep from perusing through each and every episode.

On Monday my husband was at my sick side as we watched Dr. Oz interview Joe Cross about his documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and witnessed his wicked juicing ways.

By Wednesday I  figured I may as well keep the unscheduled cleanse going which resulted in this:

With a swift print of a 20% off coupon for Bed, Bath and Beyond and not much food yet in my stomach, the decision to buy the tricked out 900 Watt Breville Juice Fountain was easily made. My justification was food blogger research —aka tax write-off —and hey, it’s almost Mother’s Day. Plus, I WAS SICK!

We’ll see how long this juicing thing lasts. But with husband on board and his obsession with cucumber juice in full swing with a 7-iron in hand as we speak, this Very Green Juice with kiwi and cucumber is at the top of the weekend’s recipe list. After we get our tomatoes planted.

How about those Friday Faves…

If they would have taught music history like this I may have actually stayed awake because I would have been singing and along.

In for the save! An on-demand aka printable Mother’s Day card that’ll get you that extra piece of pie.

A future contender on The Voice and she’s only eleven years old. Proud to say she’s a Utahn too.

I’m crossing my fingers and maybe two toes in hopes that the Mother’s Day fairy (aka my husband) has been watching over my shoulder while I’ve been shopping and that I’ll wake up on Sunday to find this birding beauty in my front yard.

My mom and Oprah told me I should read this book about loss and healing through inner strength. And a lot of hiking boots.

One of my most favoritest movies ever. A reminder to appreciate a mom’s love under every circumstance.

Schmooze or lose: a lesson in business that doesn’t have to be cheesy. Unless, like me, you love cheese. 

After perusing blogs heavy on photos of cupcakes, chicken wings and barrels of pasta, I sometimes like to lose myself in these short stories that bring me along on the journey of two brothers in search of simple adventures.

Have you fallen victim to fellow diners who always want to split the meal but then stiff the tip? This free tip calculator app lets you leave the table still as friends and with your head held high. 

I am such a bath whore, savoring my nightly ritual no matter what time I go to bed. These DIY bath salts will make my soak that much more stellar. 

Grow up and dump the red cup with this handy infographic that will help keep your glass half full. 

My dream Mother’s Day brunch if I wasn’t going out: Salmon Salad Sandwich with Avocado Mayo, Rhubarb Floats and finish it off with Lemon Pound Cake. 

Did you enter to win a copy of Lauren’s ecookbook yet? Giveaway ends Sunday night but you can still buy a copy for yourself and one for mom too. Great idea, eh?

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch by subscribing to FoodieCrush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. This site includes affiliate shopping links of which I receive a small percentage of sales to allow me to create new and special content like this for my readers, so thank you for your support. All opinions are my own.

Tagged as: chicken, dinner, Friday Faves, recipe

View the original article here

Strawberry Bruschetta Grilled Cheese and Friday Faves

It was that sock that sat right in the middle of the floor for over a week. And her flip-flops that were haphazardly strewn about the living room along with a pile of papers and markers and other 8 year old stuff. And the pile of yet to be cleaned paint brushes sitting on the counter after my husband deposited them, left to languish next to the pile of clean towels that never seemed to get put away.

The little annoyances that last week gave me prickly heat every time I saw them, melted to the background after several national events reminded me that life as we know it can change in an instant.

I’m just grateful I get to once again have this gentle nudge to not take “stuff” so seriously. It is, afterall, just stuff.

As I show you my favorite recipes or share the latest shoes I covet, I don’t want to be insensitive—or on the flip side too melancholy—to events beyond our control. I think it’s important to remember that while we’re all affected by national circumstances, and while saddened or frustrated by them, we must also learn something from them. So I’m working on learning to turn a blind eye to MY issues with what gets my dander up, and be thankful I have loved ones to contribute to my self-induced peeves.

Yesterday I asked Facebook what you were craving to continue my Grilled Cheese Month Friday recipes: Savory or sweet? While the savory side seemed to weigh in pretty heavy, there were a fair number of you in the sweet camp as well. So I made a compromise: Let’s do a savory AND sweet grilled cheese this week. And here she is.

I present…Strawberry Bruschetta Grilled Cheese.

You’ve seen fruit bruschettas before (I made one for Maria’s baby shower) and you’re seen strawberry grilled cheese sandwiches. So what’s different about this one? Here’s the difference: A little olive oil, a little aged balsamic, plenty of fresh basil melted into soft, creamy brie—with just a touch of a bite—on thinly sliced baguette and toasted just right.

You can see how the melt factor can sort of get away from you with that sandwich on the middle, oozing effusively. Oh, it tastes good.

If you aren’t a fan of brie, or are looking for something sweeter for a breakfast griller, substitute the brie for mascarpone or provolone. Or a combo of the two.

So there you have it. A little sweet for some of you, a little savory for most of you. And a flavorfilled grilled cheese for me. It’s going to be a great weekend, I can tell.

Strawberry Bruschetta Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

8 thinly sliced pieces of sourdough baguette 4 large strawberries, chopped (about 1 cup) 4 large basil leaves, slivered 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil Instructions

Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread, then flip the bread buttered side down and repeat with the other 6 slices. Add the chopped strawberries to a small bowl, sprinkle with the basil leaves and dress with the extra virgin olive and balsamic vinegar. Mix gently then top with lemon zest and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Slice the brie and spread on unbuttered sides of the bread. Spoon a generous amount of the strawberry mixture on 4 pieces of the brie topped bread. Place the strawberry stacked bread, buttered side down, in a non-stick fry pan over medium-high heat and top with the other slice of buttered bread. Cover with lid and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden. Reduce heat to medium and flip sandwich to the other side and cook for 2-3 minutes or until bread is toasty golden and the cheese has melted. The second side will cook faster than the first so watch carefully. Repeat process with the other sandwich ingredients to make the rest of the grilled cheese sandwiches. Enjoy hot.http://www.foodiecrush.com/2013/04/strawberry-bruschetta-grilled-cheese/Happy Friday Faves everyone. I’ll be coaching Smudge’s soccer game, digging up some dirt in the yard (fingers crossed) and getting a jump on next week’s to-do list since I’ll be heading to Temecula for The Traveling Big Summer Potluck. Will you be there too? 

If you missed yesterday’s giveaway, here’s the link to enter. Good luck!

1. After a week of senseless tragedies and senate decisions influenced by the lure of money rather than by the wants of the people they represent, I for one could use a little more happy. Thanks to Amy’s share yesterday via Twitter, this has done the trick. Hey, I sing 80’s songs in the car too, so why do they sound so much better than me? Oh, and yes, he’s playing the keyboards on his iPad. Nice. * New band crush *

2. If I said it once I’ll say it again, I’m a sucker for packaging. Almost as much as I’m a sucker for good pickles. Luckily Yee-Haw Pickles have both things in common. And they’re local. And I now have 3 bottles in my fridge. And I’m a happy pickle-eater.

3. I had my first experience with the Clarisonic when I had a facial at Tucson’s Ritz Carlton Spa where we celebrated my mom’s birthday. I came out my facial with the skin of a 3 year old. Okay, add 35, or maybe more, years to that and we’ll be good. The Clarisonic was a revelation, and lucky me I now have one of my own, and hellllooo, it comes in orange!. As a product hoarder, I’ve decided their cleansing gel is my new fave. With this kind of glowing skin people might start to think I’m pregnant. I’m not.

4. Spring has sprung which means food blogger award season. Take a look at a round up of bloggers who have excelled in their craft and are now nominated for the coveted Saveur.com Best Food Blog Awards. Voting ends tonight so don’t wait don’t waste another minute to uncover some fabulous new food discoveries of your own and make sure you cast a ballot in their favor. It is an honor to be nominated indeed. Winners announced Tuesday, April 23.

5. I’m getting into doing more video (stay tuned next Tuesday for my newest attempt) and so I love catching up on blogs with video added to their site in fun ways. Aube of Kitchen Vignettes does it exceptionally well. Which is probably why she is the Savuer.com 2012 winner of Best Video Blog and is nominated again this year. I could spend all day being teleported to her kitchen.

6. Are you inspired by these excellent food blogger nominees and would like to start a food blog of your own? Follow the advice of my friend and one of last year’s Best Cooking Blog award nominees, Kathryn of Cookies and Kate, who shares her tips and tricks of how to create your own food blog. Just do it, there’s plenty of bites to go around.

 7. I often need to send and receive contracts and their are so many options out there. I was recently delivered one from Hello Sign and I quickly became a convert for my own biz. Simple and easy while looking good all at the same time.

8. My shopping habits are either feast or famine and right now I am acting like I may not have another meal because the feast is in full force. These Stuart Weitzman Mach 1 loafers (hibiscus and orange–full speed ahead ladies) are next on my hit list. Maybe after I win the lottery.  

9. The Grilled Cheese Academy’s Recipe Showdown 2013 is still in full swing. With so many great prizes you owe it to yourself to enter. In case you are in need of inspiration for what ingredients to pull together to make the ultimate grilled cheese, check out Allison’s book, 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, a comprehensive Ode to curd between two slices of bread.

10. It works in the kitchen. It works in the garden. I think this apron from Food 52 will work on me.

Tweet of the Week: “We are living in a world where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.” ~ Alfred E. Newman via @exceptionalfood

Keep your lemons real. Have a great weekend.

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch by subscribing to FoodieCrush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. This site includes affiliate shopping links of which I receive a small percentage of sales to allow me to create new and special content like this for my readers, so thank you for your support. All opinions are my own.

Tagged as: blue cheese, cheese, grilled cheese, lunch, sandwiches, strawberries

View the original article here

Mini Blue Cheese Balls and Friday Faves

So, say someone was going to an Easter brunch and needed a little something to contribute to the feast of the bunnies. Something a little savory, easy to whip up because that egg hunt takes some time to finish and a dish that lets guests sneak a few bites popped right into their mouths in between sneaks of the chocolate covered eggs that ‘somehow’ found their way into the palms of their hands.

I won’t be partaking of tulips and Easter Ham at a loved ones home this Easter, unless you count your loved ones as those who are bellied up to the sounds of ringing slot machines and the hoots and hollers of winners at the roulette wheel. But I bet I will find a buffet that will offer a little something to snack on, although nothing is as good as a home cooked meal made with love.

Unless its the 943,287 desserts that the hotel buffet offers up. That I most likely won’t pass by without taking full advantage of as I plot my escape plan to take another spin on the Wheel of Fortune machine. I can hear it now…”Wheel. Of. FOOOOOORRTUUNE.” It’s my Vegas vice. What can I say…

These little Mini Blue Cheese Balls are easy. Easy to make, easy to eat. Pair them with apple slices, dried fruit or some savory rosemary crackers to compliment the blue-ness and the savory side. And of course champagne. What’s a brunch without a little clink of the champs?

Wishing you all a festive and frolic-filled Easter filled with egg salad sandwiches and chocolate bunnies. Happy Friday Faves!

1. And to the egg salad. It’s that time of year to revisit my most controversial post ever:  the debate of Mayo vs. Miracle Whip in Egg Salad Sandwiches. Which camp do you mark your stand in?

2. I love seeing food bloggers create videos and this video from Joy is totally inspiring. Oh Joy, what else is new? I mean is there anything she touches that doesn’t inspire and bring a smile to your face? I’ve been working on a video I’ll be sharing with you guys in April and like most videos, while the footage is all important it all comes down to the song! My first video was a little more instructional, while this one will be more playful and finding the right accompaniment is hard! Flavia recently tweeted me asking if I had any suggestions on where to find good royalty free music. A friend who is helping edit my video suggested I check out Premium Beat (around $40 per download), InCompeTech and Jewel Beat (only .99 per song) and I think I finally found a winner.

3. Most of you may have seen this populating Twitter feeds and Google + because Lori has created a definitive guide for food bloggers with her 150+ Links to Everything You Need to Know for Food Bloggers. Even if you’re blog niche isn’t food, there are amazing resources you must heed. Nice work Lori.

4. We all know its egg time thanks to Easter, but do you know how to boil the perfect egg? I am still trying to perfect it so they peel right without stripping the white in big chunks. My latest major dilemma, any suggestions? Sandy shares her boiled egg basics plus a deviled egg round up that includes everything from edamame to bacon. Oh, twist my arm.

5. I love this new line of dog glasses, so smart and still stylish. My dogs definitely need some. Ha, right. Did we getcha? April Fool’s Day is Monday so what tricks are you going to pull? I like the idea of changing the language on my husband’s cell phone. Don’t worry, he won’t know, he doesn’t read this thing anyway. Here’s some awesome April Fool’s Day pranks to make you smile. And my dogs would look like rock stars pimping some Warby’s.

6. Will you be donating a post to The Giving Table: Food Bloggers Against Hunger?  I will. Join the cause and help families in need by creating awareness. Big thanks to Nicole for rounding this amazing group up.

7. Easter. Hot Cross Buns. Kathryne shows us the way all the way from across the pond.

8. Google analytics, they are a hot mess of stuff I don’t understand but need to. This Google Analytics tutorial will definitely set my ship straight.

9. This takes me straight back to 9th grade and my obsession.This pillow might be all it takes to persuade me to go off the wagon. Watch out, I might start singing to The Cars again too.

10. Tweet of the week thanks to Tammy @runwithtweezers

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch by subscribing to FoodieCrush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. This site includes affiliate shopping links of which I receive a small percentage of sales to allow me to create new and special content like this for my readers, so thank you for your support. All opinions are my own.

Tagged as: appetizer, blue cheese, cheese ball, Friday Faves, poppers, small bites

View the original article here

Mini Blue Cheese Balls and Friday Faves

So, say someone was going to an Easter brunch and needed a little something to contribute to the feast of the bunnies. Something a little savory, easy to whip up because that egg hunt takes some time to finish and a dish that lets guests sneak a few bites popped right into their mouths in between sneaks of the chocolate covered eggs that ‘somehow’ found their way into the palms of their hands.

I won’t be partaking of tulips and Easter Ham at a loved ones home this Easter, unless you count your loved ones as those who are bellied up to the sounds of ringing slot machines and the hoots and hollers of winners at the roulette wheel. But I bet I will find a buffet that will offer a little something to snack on, although nothing is as good as a home cooked meal made with love.

Unless its the 943,287 desserts that the hotel buffet offers up. That I most likely won’t pass by without taking full advantage of as I plot my escape plan to take another spin on the Wheel of Fortune machine. I can hear it now…”Wheel. Of. FOOOOOORRTUUNE.” It’s my Vegas vice. What can I say…

These little Mini Blue Cheese Balls are easy. Easy to make, easy to eat. Pair them with apple slices, dried fruit or some savory rosemary crackers to compliment the blue-ness and the savory side. And of course champagne. What’s a brunch without a little clink of the champs?

Wishing you all a festive and frolic-filled Easter filled with egg salad sandwiches and chocolate bunnies. Happy Friday Faves!

1. And to the egg salad. It’s that time of year to revisit my most controversial post ever:  the debate of Mayo vs. Miracle Whip in Egg Salad Sandwiches. Which camp do you mark your stand in?

2. I love seeing food bloggers create videos and this video from Joy is totally inspiring. Oh Joy, what else is new? I mean is there anything she touches that doesn’t inspire and bring a smile to your face? I’ve been working on a video I’ll be sharing with you guys in April and like most videos, while the footage is all important it all comes down to the song! My first video was a little more instructional, while this one will be more playful and finding the right accompaniment is hard! Flavia recently tweeted me asking if I had any suggestions on where to find good royalty free music. A friend who is helping edit my video suggested I check out Premium Beat (around $40 per download), InCompeTech and Jewel Beat (only .99 per song) and I think I finally found a winner.

3. Most of you may have seen this populating Twitter feeds and Google + because Lori has created a definitive guide for food bloggers with her 150+ Links to Everything You Need to Know for Food Bloggers. Even if you’re blog niche isn’t food, there are amazing resources you must heed. Nice work Lori.

4. We all know its egg time thanks to Easter, but do you know how to boil the perfect egg? I am still trying to perfect it so they peel right without stripping the white in big chunks. My latest major dilemma, any suggestions? Sandy shares her boiled egg basics plus a deviled egg round up that includes everything from edamame to bacon. Oh, twist my arm.

5. I love this new line of dog glasses, so smart and still stylish. My dogs definitely need some. Ha, right. Did we getcha? April Fool’s Day is Monday so what tricks are you going to pull? I like the idea of changing the language on my husband’s cell phone. Don’t worry, he won’t know, he doesn’t read this thing anyway. Here’s some awesome April Fool’s Day pranks to make you smile. And my dogs would look like rock stars pimping some Warby’s.

6. Will you be donating a post to The Giving Table: Food Bloggers Against Hunger?  I will. Join the cause and help families in need by creating awareness. Big thanks to Nicole for rounding this amazing group up.

7. Easter. Hot Cross Buns. Kathryne shows us the way all the way from across the pond.

8. Google analytics, they are a hot mess of stuff I don’t understand but need to. This Google Analytics tutorial will definitely set my ship straight.

9. This takes me straight back to 9th grade and my obsession.This pillow might be all it takes to persuade me to go off the wagon. Watch out, I might start singing to The Cars again too.

10. Tweet of the week thanks to Tammy @runwithtweezers

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch by subscribing to FoodieCrush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. This site includes affiliate shopping links of which I receive a small percentage of sales to allow me to create new and special content like this for my readers, so thank you for your support. All opinions are my own.

Tagged as: appetizer, blue cheese, cheese ball, Friday Faves, poppers, small bites

View the original article here