simply smitten with Smitten Kitchen

Just try and say that title five times fast! Now that you're tongue's tied in a knot, on with today's post! Instead of a recipe for our food for thought friday I wanted to share a food-related site that not only offers great recipes but makes for great reading as well. Smitten Kitchen has won numerous accolades from a profile in the Boston Globe to a mention on Martha Stewart's show, and I can see why.

Smitten Kitchen gives readers tasty recipes, helpful tools and resources (did you know light cream is 18% butter fat?), and seriously engaging copy (check out her search for purple potatoes). Plus the fabulous photos, often step-by-step, help those of us who may need a little hand holding while experimenting with flourless chocolate walnut cookies. (Who says you have to celebrate Passover to enjoy a decadent flourless dessert?)

Recent recipes also include a lemon yogurt anything cake--just try and keep from drooling when you see the finished product! I'm not big into lemon but that's not going to stop me from trying this cake. By the way, I'm a pretty good cook but not a big out-of-the-box thinker when it comes to recipes so I absolutely love the list of substitutions and suggestions she included with this one. Extra details like those are why Smitten Kitchen is beloved by so many readers. The recipes and writings put gourmet cooking within reach of expert macaroni-and-cheese chefs like myself. --Emily

If hunger makes you irritable, better eat and be pleasant. --Sefer Hasidim