Speaking of herbal liqueurs, Anita at Married …with Dinner has alerted us to one that is totally new to us: Kümmel. Sporting flavors of cumin and caraway, it’s sure to add intrigue and a certain je ne sais quoi to a variety of cocktails. Right out of the gate, we think it would be an awesome addition to bloody marys, but Anita shares a recipe from her fave bartender that pairs Kümmel’s complex notes with the brightness of lime and depth of bourbon: The Currier.

Oh, how the booze-fueled days of college inspired creativity. Left with unlikely ingredients was never reason not to have a cocktail — just mix, match and see what happens! Laura Rebecca points out one such collegiate concoction: the Dr. Kevorkian. The combination of vodka and Dr. Pepper is sure to go down smooth. Fewer ingredients than your childhood suicide blend, but after a few of these you’re bound to need some assistance.

Although Lara Bars first struck Bunnyfoot’s Rae as “nothing more than a new take on that old seventies classic, the dreaded date roll,” the “mostly vegan” blogger recently discovered that the all-natural energy bars may have actually earned their popularity among sporty health nuts.

Not to be outdone, Rae has created her own “homemade Lara-type bars.” Check her post for the recipe and some very yummy ingredient combinations (cranberry + coconut = yes, please).

Bailey’s — feh. Kahlua? No thank you-a. No, for something a little different, a little richer and a lot more home-grown, we’re gonna whip us up a nice big batch of some chocolate & whiskey liqueur, recipe courtesy of Chocolate in Context. While this sounds like it would be just fine on the rocks on a hot summer afternoon, we rather like her more refined suggestion of pouring it over shaved ice in a parfait glass with sliced fruit for a refined and refreshing dessert or aperitif.

As the dreaded Emeril would say, it’s a pork fat thing. And yet, it’s so obvious, we slapped our foreheads with a loud thwack for not thinking of it ourselves. Bacon mayonnaise. Of course, it’s simplicity itself! Leave it to The Pragmatic Chef to devise the recipe, adding just enough of the smoky good stuff to make your next homemade mayo a thing of bacony beauty. Just think of the possibilities: Porky potato salad. Pig dip. BBLT sandwiches. Or just by the spoonful.

Yesterday would have been the birthday of the arguably the most influential figure in home cooking in America, Julia Child. Such an event could not go unnoticed by the food blogosphere, of course. So Lisa of Champaign Taste put out the clarion call for bloggers everywhere to make and post their favorite recipes from one (or more) of Julia’s cookbooks. A dozen bloggers total took heed. The net result is a recipe for one massive birthday feast for the grande dame of lovers of food and cooking everywhere. Bon appétit!

Maybe ThisNext’s favorite bloggers should collaborate on a cookbook full of coffee drink recipes that put Starbucks’ high-fat, high-sugar decadences to shame. First we discovered a 25-calorie iced mocha from Skinny Daily Post. Now, Iron Benny’s got a Frappuccio alternative that he dubs the “kind of treat that gives you jazz hands.” The secret ingredients: fresh brewed coffee, CytoSport Complete Whey Protein in vanilla bean, vanilla soymilk, and Splenda. Check out the recipe for yourself and see if it leaves you feeling good as Benny - i.e., “giddy with excitement, like when El Guapo got a sweater for his birthday.” (FYI: Three Amigos references = 1,000 bonus points.)

If you pine for the days of yore, when meals involved creamed this or jellied that, check out the mid-century modern marvels at Retro Food. Featuring mainly recipes from The Modern Family Cookbook, this site will give you a glimpse into the culinary life of the Eisenhower era. Just slap on your A-line dress, a frilled apron and your June Cleaver pearls, and you’re ready to make magic in your brand-new All Electric Kitchen ® .

Those of you out there who are sports drinks addicts know only too well how fast that bill can add up, so you may have asked yourself at one point or another: Why don’t I try to make some myself from scratch?

Oh yeah, this is why.  

On the bright side, Cheap Eats to at least one way to save a buck: Buy the Kirkland (CostCo) version instead. 

Dark chocolate with crunchy, salty bits of bread. What could be better than 3400 Phinney’s Bread and Chocolate Bar? Well, we suppose the only thing that could improve upon it is if it were to be reproduced in …

… gelato form.  Yes, that would do very nicely indeed. Props to Cookbook 411 for taking a nearly perfect thing and just going that extra mile. Spoons up!

There are snack crackers on the market today in practically every flavor imaginable, but that certainly shouldn’t deter the crafty home chef from dreaming up new ones. And thank heavens they do. We are so going to whip up these easy, spicy Masala Ranch Oyster Crackers (or “Oysterz” if you will) for our next part. Or maybe for dinner tonight…

The elements of a margarita are simple, right? Tequila, lime juice and triple sec … or is that Gran Marnier? What about Cointreau? Which combination delivers that perfect sweet-tart-boozy balance? There’s only one way to find out: A knock-down, drag-out battle royale between the various ingredients. The verdict may surprise you, as it’s an “and” not an “or” in the end.

However, they don’t address the salt-or-no-salt issue …

My friend Kathleen is a self-proclaimed cookie monster. She has never met a cookie she didn’t like, and can turn out some mean confections from her modest kitchen. Myself, I’m not much of a baker, which is why I have unlimited admiration and respect for those that are. And Anna at Cookie Madness has my undivided attention. She serves up an astonishing array of sweetness, neatly categorized for easy research. Check these scrumptious-looking New York Brownies, for example. Wait, are brownies cookies? Oh, who cares. Just send ‘em our way.

Perhaps the most significant thing about the blogosphere it is truly the everyman’s publishing house on a global scale. It’s for that reason we love coming across blogs that highlight the culture, experiences and (of course) food of places not our own. We have yet to encounter a Zimbabwean restaurant, so reading Carolyn’s missives on Field to Feast makes for a satisfying dose of armchair tourism by way of the dinner table. At last, you’ll know what to do with those masau, madumbe and mawuyu you just couldn’t resist at the market. 

Here in America, we have Martha Stewart; the Brits have Nigella Lawson. But Down Under they have Donna Hay. And like her antipodean counterparts, Ms. Hay has her share of Donna wannabes who adore and celebrate her domestic prowess. Food bloggers love challenges, and so it’s little wonder that the fourth installment of Hay Hay It’s Donna Day inspired nearly 20 bloggers to come forth with their best bruschette as inspired by Donna Hay Magazine. Cheers to Bron Marshall for bringing the food world together to revel in this simple, succulent treat.

Looking for something a little, shall we say, different for a loved one’s birthday this year? If that loved one is a devoted carnivore, then this gorgeous meat cake may be just the ticket. If you think you’re going to get fluffy cake, rich buttercream and sugary red glaze, you may be surprized to cut through three layers of meatloaf, frosted in mashed potatoes and glazed in ketchup. Don’t be fooled by the girly doily — this cake’s pure manly-man fare.

Why, oh why do you need this charming white Buddha mug? (And you do need the Buddha mug, you realize. Right? Good, as long as we’re on the same page here.) Well, as if kitsch value alone weren’t enough, and the sheer joy of sucking through a straw in the enlightened one’s belly didn’t tickle yours, the main reason is that it is the only acceptable vessel for this swingin’ tiki cocktail: The Happy Buddha. Throw back a few of these, and you’ll be on the fast track to Nirvana. Or at least Nirvana-adjacent.

We — that’s the royal we — have a serious chili pepper problem. It’s a total addiction; capsaicism, we suppose. Suffice to say we haven’t found anything that chemical heat doesn’t make better.

So the very thought of Paul at eatnz’s Thai-influenced chile-infused cocktail, complemented with tropical flavors of coconut, ginger, cilantro and citrus, sends us into fits of apoplexy and uncontrolled salivation. Just park us on the beach with a steady stream of those, please.

There are those of us in the world, myself included, who are unabashed adorers of garlic. To us, culinary applications of the stinking rose are boundless and unlimited. So we’re even curious about this garlic martini, proffered up at Garlicster, a blog about all things garlic. Just plop in a pickled garlic clove instead of an olive for a surprising twist on a classic cocktail. I’ll drink to that!

YouTube revolutionized the internet by providing a stage upon which anyone can strut their stuff, but what people choose to strut often leaves us scratching our heads (or washing our eyes). Frankly, we like to be educated as well as entertained, which is why we just love Crash Test Kitchen’s peppy instructional cooking videos. Waz and Lenny whip out tempting fare such as a perfect French onion soup, or some mouthwateringly simple peas and feta, all while narrating in their charming Ozzie accents. Real people, real food, real fun.