Everyone's a Foodie

Whether I'm in a hotel for business or pleasure, I find myself browsing through all of the provided reading materials (save the Bible tucked away in a drawer). Last night, I discovered a Seattle magazine with a picture of some amazing blueberry pancakes on the cover. "Breakfast for dinner would be great," I thought to myself, yet decided on some standard room service fare instead.

Everyone, it seems, is a foodie these days. From culinary mini-classes at Williams-Sonoma to 30 Minute Meals recipe books, who doesn't think they can be the next Thomas Keller? Gourmet.com just relaunched their site, which is a clean and easy-to-navigate version of it's predecessor. It's yet another resource for everyday people to find inspiration for their upcoming meals.

Photography has played a big role in this shift. With Flickr tagging (my last "food" search yielded 2.477MM results) and sites like Tastespotting (which I have blogged about before!), culinary inspiration does not just come from the higher powers anymore. Every time I'm in the kitchen, I often have the need to grab my camera and snap a few macro shots myself.

So, maybe the person that took the blueberry pancakes picture wasn't a self-proclaimed foodie. But his/her work was enough to get me thinking about possibilities in the kitchen...and what my next brunch should look like.

There's a Party in My Tummy

I tend to get insatiable cravings for Japanese food on a weekly basis. And while I love dragon rolls and and yellowtail and rainbow rolls, nothing makes me happier than a bento box full of other goodies. Chicken teriyaki and tempura are my favorites and seeing both of them presented on a giant lacquered tray is quite awesome.




Some very creative (and digital!) people have combined their own love for bento boxes with the blogosphere. While food blogs are still good sources of recipes and cooking tips, I have been keeping up with bento blogs too. They are colorful, fun and inspiring...plus they make me think about the lunches I used to take to school when I was little. Trust me; nothing in my Cabbage Patch Kids lunch box looked nearly this cool.



Buon appetito!

Bento Yum
Lunch in a Box
Kitchen Cow
Adventures in Bentomaking
Flickr member Sakurako Kitsa (amazing bentos)