When I first broached the idea of starting a food blog, I decided to do a bit of research. 

Those who know me well know that I never ever do anything without doing  my background research first.  It’s a bit of a thing for me.  Ever since I was an elementary school kid who took on my own self-study projects through the summer and spent evenings in the air-conditioned library looking for information on Marie Curie’s life, or Greece, to inform my final paper. 

At any rate, at the time, I didn’t even really know what a blog was.  Is it a web page?  What makes it a blog?  Why the frig is it called a blog?  Such a funny word.

One of the first blogs I found was Annie’s Eats, and it is, to this day, my go-to for so many things.  Annie’s posts are short and sweet with just the right personal touch, so that you feel like she could very well be your baked goods-touting best friend.  Before I really even started getting into reading her blog on a regular basis, I was thoroughly inspired (and still am) by the fact that she juggles this incredibly professional, well laid-out blog with excellent, thoughtful recipes with being a mother of two and a physician. Annie became not only my favourite resource for recipes that I knew would work, but also the hallmark for what I wanted to accomplish with my blog:  an well-presented blog that I balanced with all of the other things going on in my life and an outlet for my creative energy.

 I’ve since made and adapted so many of Annie’s recipes.  I used her croissant dough to make these pistachio, goat cheese and chili honey croissants:

This croissant dough is Annie’s recipe! Incredible!

When I saw this Strawberry Bacon Balsamic pizza on Annie’s blog, I knew I had to make it.

These quinoa cakes are a regular in our house, thanks to Annie.

As I started to explore blogging a little more, and I had gotten to the point of creating a blog and had started to populate it with some recipes and photos before launching it to the world, I reached out to Kelly Neil, a local food blogger and photographer.  You see, when I Googled “Halifax food blogger,” everything came up Kelly.  Her blog is visually stunning – well, obviously, she’s a photographer – and her writing concise and thoughtful.  As if that weren’t enough, Kelly is just as lovely as her photos, and has been a great support to me.  She helped to found Halifax Food Bloggers, which has helped a lot of us local bloggers get a little recognition and make connections with each other.  She has been a big inspiration and help to me with my food photography, and is always quick to answer any technical questions I have. 

 Molly Wizenberg, the woman behind Orangette, is another blogger I greatly admire.  I discovered her blog early on, and avidly devoured her book, A Homemade Life.  Hers was the first blog whose writing gripped me, and made me realize that this little space on the internet could in fact be a place to share that writing that I’m supposed to be doing every day if I’m to be considered a bona fide writer.  Through Molly’s blog, I started to see how I wanted Purple House Cafe to look and feel.  Her pistachio citrus pound cake is one recipe I’ve made many times:

Then I discovered Movita Beaucoup.  Have you read this woman’s blog yet?  She will crack you up.  She’s a ballerina/baker who recently took a big career leap from the world of dance (or maybe it was more of a plie, or something) to attend baking school.  Her recipes and photos are some of the best in the biz, but her irreverence and laid back attitude about blogging make plain the fact that she’s in it for the love, not the Google Analytics stats.  The best part?  She’s a local gal.  Her recipes and anecdotes are among the bright lights in my blogfeed, and I look forward to each and every one of her posts.

Joy the Baker is another go-to for me.  I love her writing style – it’s the kind that wraps you up in a blanket on her couch with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun and makes you think you – and her trillions of other readers – are her best friends.  Her photography is beautiful and real, and her recipes work, and are always interesting and delicious.  What more could you ask for?

These coffee bacon sandwiches were to die for!

I’m seeing a coffee trend here with Joy’s awesome recipes…I make these coffee coffee cake muffins on a regular basis

Finally, one of my favourite blogs of all – Not Without Salt.  This is another blog that I find myself coming back to every couple of days, hoping to be able to take a little time-out from life to read Ashley’s most recent post.  Her recipes are enticing, her writing beautiful to read, and her photography exquisite.  I identify with her experiences of motherhood and life, and consider her blog one that I look to for inspiration on a regular basis.

These meatball subs with basil almond pesto were featured as one of her Dating My Husband posts, which will form the basis of her book, which I cannot wait to buy!

I hope these talented ladies give you some inspiration in your own kitchen and lives!  Check their blogs out – I know you’ll love them just as much as I do.