food and beverage

There is an old adage that one should not buy a woman a gift that plugs in or that she can't wear in public. Well that might be true for some women, but there are some things that are exceptions that prove the rule. Luxury items, things that are out of the day to day budget or represent the best of the best are that for me. My husband will tell you that some of my favorite gifts are my Dyson vacuum, and my Wagner steamer(I know that sounds lame!), and my Bahama blue LG front-loading washer and dryer.

As a foodie, and a mom, I cook a lot and have a lot of food on hand, and we have had an old fridge in our garage that holds our waters, and extra perishables since it seems our fridge is always bursting at the seams. Finally, the poor thing died, and after looking at possible replacements, I talked my husband into getting a new fridge for the kitchen and moving our current fridge which works great but is over ten years old to the garage... and so the search began. We agreed that we would get what we want, rather than just what we needed and it would count as my birthday present - I was cool with that since I had my eye on one of the new french door models to replace my existing side by side.

What were the features I was looking for? I wanted space and shelving that is flexible to hold extra tall things as well as jugs of tea, and juice, and milk that we never have room for. Probably like a lot of you - my fridge seems to be overrun with condiments and ethnic ingredients that must be refrigerated- 4 kinds of mustard, kim chee, 3 kinds of olives, plus assorted cheeses, salad dressings, pickles, black bean sauce, marinated artichokes and sundried tomatoes in oil from Costco-leaving no room for actual fresh food !! While it is a luxury, ice and water on the door was a feature we wanted because my family is a bunch of ice fiends, and we save money by using filtered water instead of bottled. I want spillproof shelves (because someone is always spilling something), and I want shelves and bins that are strong and supported from underneath since we are always filling our bins full of lettuce, cabbage, or 20 containers of yogurt that I got on sale, which caused the plastic tracks of our current fridge to crack and break,and cost $30 per track to replace. The other thing that Iwas looking for was the accessibilityof the water filter, since our existing fridge had to be moved in order to change the filter.

I love my LG washer and dryer and so we started there, but my husband wanted to look at the Samsungs since we had heard a lot of good things about them. Seriously, when we opened the new Samsung, I thought a choir of angels should sing- the energy-saving LED lights came on gradually just like stage lights in a theatre. It had all the features we wanted...and and extra ice maker in the bottom freezer to boot!! We were sold... but our new fridge is backordered, so I have to wait between 7 and 21 days to out it to the test. Happy birthday to me!!

What do you think? What about your fridge do you love... or hate?

Since I started blogging, now almost two years ago, foodblogging has exploded as a medium for chefs and home cooks alike, giving a voice to those who love food in all its forms from Boise to Boston, from Manila to Marseille, from Dehli to Dusseldorf. The food blogging trend started in the big cities that are full of unique and diverse food experiences, but soon, family cooks in small towns around the world found that blogging gave them a way to capture their own food traditions and to share those experiences and insights with other "foodies" around the world.

And what a rush! I was so excited the first time I got a comment from a reader in Scotland who worked in a lab as well and confirmed that scientists and engineers swarm food at the coffee pot in Scotland too! And being listed on Epi-Log in the same list with food luminaries like Ruhlman- I still have to check periodically to make sure that is real. I now have foodblogging friends all over the world. I share not only in their recipes but in their lives. I know who has had a baby, and who has lost a loved one, which one knits hats and booties for preemies, and which one has moved or renovated their kitchen, and which one is a photographer, which one makes their own sausage, which one loves baking and even which ones have turned their blogs into books! Foodblogging is like having an extended family in cyberspace.

Which brings me to Julie and Julia, which is causing a stir across the food blogosphere. Julie Powell's story,on the surface is a food blogger's dream - to have a blog that turns into a book and then a movie is amazing validation of what began as a labor of love, not to mention financially desirable. But it is Julie's personal journey that parallels what many of us "invisible" bloggers enjoy and endure every day. We have full-time jobs, families, responsibilities,but find that making time to cook and to share that with others is rejuvenating, rewarding. We get up at 5:30 AM or stay up with a Coke or coffee after the family is asleep to post our latest dish or visit our "regular" sites. We can't eat a dish without snapping a picture whether it is with a cell phone or a camera, to the consternation of our family and guests. We spend hours when we could be reading the latest hot novel or relaxing poolside searching for the perfect bread recipe, or the best pimenton, or a tip for poaching eggs.

Many foodbloggers I follow have been lucky enough to turn their blogs into books, and I celebrate that with them, and I am truly in awe of Julie Powell's journey to the big screen ("I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!) But other than the few bucks I make from the hits on my blog or the free sample I get to review now and again, my blog will likely never make me money. However, I have made lifelong friends, I have captured the foods and experiences that make up my life and my children's memories so that long after I am gone they can recreate Grandma Dowd's Sausage stuffing, or my "Fricken Chicken", and remember and share the story behind each of those dishes. I have learned about foods from around the world, the struggles and triumphs of farmers and bakers and waiters, all who share a common love of food. So, like many of you, as I wait to see Julie and Julia, I know that even if my blog doesn't make me a dollar, every day it still makes me very, very rich.