Bites from other blogs

It's time for another confession.

You see I've got a bit of an addiction.

Some of you might be able to relate.

My name is Dolores, and I'm addicted to collecting and categorizing recipes.

My bookcase overfloweth with cookbooks. I can't add another one without a donation or two or ten to freecycle. But Amazon keeps calling my name...

And then there's the Internets.

I was much better off when it was 'manual'. I surfed the 'net for recipes visiting my favorite blogs one-by-one. I managed my "to try" list as a word document. Adding 2-3 recipes per week, I maintained the delightful delusion of self control.

Then came the aggregate feed reader, making it possible to visit 20 40 hundreds thousands of blog posts in a week. And with delicious I could click through and bookmark my favorites -- categorizing on the go to appeal to my inner list geek. And TasteSpotting and FoodGawker upped the obsession ante by providing a daily dose irresistible food porn.

So I've spent the last couple of weeks justifying my obsession by building my menus around some of the recipes I've gathered.

For brunch on turkey day we indulged in what one creative commenter dubbed Piggy Cups with Eggs from Dragon's Kitchen. Grab a couple of ramekins and line them with prosciutto. Add some eggs and some herbage and bake. Yum!

Four blackening bananas required immediate attention, but plain old banana bread didn't appeal. Enter Melanie of My Kitchen Cafe and her phenomenal frosted banana bars. I took a bit of liberty with the frosted part - using the last of Shuna's caramel buttercream goodness in place of the cream cheese - which paired perfectly with the base bars.

I've long categorized Dim Sum with sushi -- yummy but reserved for restaurants as it's way outside of my comfort level in the kitchen. DP at Blazing Hot Wok shattered that paradigm with her Cocktail Shrimp Balls. We doubled the recipe intending to serve them at November's Open House. Then when I allowed a couple of sous chef guests to take the lead mid-party, we forgot about them in the back of the refrigerator. Friends, reheated cocktail shrimp balls drizzled in a bit of sweet chili sauce are a most excellent substitute for popcorn as a late night movie snack.

As we're trying to expand our everyday past the ubiquitous boneless, skinless chicken breast, I've been paying special attention to recipes for the other white meat, and Brooke's Pork Tenderloin Parmesan emerged at the top of the to-try list when it employed a lot of "need to use" ingredients and with Martha's influence, plated pretty enough for company.

Another new favorite that *did* make the open house buffet: Melissa's take on Ina's Classic Pan Fried Onion Dip. Ditch that envelope of soup mix folks -- this one's WELL worth the extra work.

And last but certainly not least, Micha's sensational *and* seasonally appropriate Pomegranate Ginger Pork Tenderloin Medallions will make the regular rotation during pomegranate season for years to come. We've made it three times in three weeks for three different audiences -- all with rave reviews.

Six recipes down. Three thousand eight hundred forty two to go...

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From the archives...
In 2006 I pondered the butterfly effect -- change one thing, change everything.
In 2007 I went for the gold.