Blogger Spotlight
Megan Hastings started her blog A Dash of Megnut in college as a way to learn how to cook and bake. After being diagnosed with several food allergies, Hastings gradually figured out which foods agree with her and which don't, and her blog has transitioned to incorporate allergy-friendly recipes. She is based in Chicago.
Driftwood Gardens
Jen Leeman is based in Forked River, New Jersey and is the blogger behind Driftwood Gardens. She is a mother to two children and three pets. Leeman dedicates her blog to making easy and healthy plant-based recipes. She also loves gardening, going to the beach, home improvement projects, and entertaining at home.
Johnna Knows Good Food
Johnna Rowe is the Culinary Content Network blogger and creator of Johnna Knows Good Food. She created her blog in 2007 to share her recipes with her family and friends, and readership took off from there. Rowe is based in Washington, D.C. and writes restaurant reviews, explains etiquette tips, reviews products, and shares recipes.
A Mind “Full” Mom
Kristen Chidsey is the blogger behind A Mind "Full" Mom, and she's this week's featured member of our CCN. She is an Atlanta-based mother to two children, but is soon moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. Chidsey is passionate about living a healthy and wholesome life and shares recipes and inspiration with her readers.
FoodFash
Kristin Vrana hails from Austin, Texas, and started FoodFash back in 2009. She wanted an outlet where she could combine her passions for cooking, photography, and writing, so she turned to blogging as a hobby. Vrana shares simple and healthy recipes for her readers to try out and enjoy.
Lace & Lilacs
Abby Ingwersen is a San Diego-based blogger and will soon be moving across the globe to Paris to pursue a degree in photography. Her lifestyle blog Lace & Lilacs is a culmination of her passions for travel, literature, and fashion. She started her blog two years ago at 14 years old as a way to share her favorite recipes with readers.
Persnickety Plates
Melissa Williams is the Culinary Content Network blogger and creator of Persnickety Plates. Her transition to blogging came about in 2009 when she was trying to document all of her favorite recipes in a notebook, along with planning her wedding. Food blogs were an up-and-coming thing in the Internet world and Williams wanted to share her recipes. She focuses on simplicity and cooking with ingredients accessible that are easy to find in most grocery stores.
No Spoon Necessary
Cheyanne Holzworth-Bany is the blogger for and creator of No Spoon Necessary. She is a culinary school graduate and restaurant alumni based in Pinehurst, North Carolina. She was a pescatarian for over 10 years until she was forced to eat snails and frogs, which opened a new love for food for her.
Savory Experiments
Jessica Formicola is the blogger for and creator of Savory Experiments. She is based in Baltimore and started her blog to share culinary tips and ideas for cooks of all levels for all occasions. By day, she works as a psychotherapist, and by night, she is a home chef and photographer.
Steph in Thyme
Stephanie Kirkos is a Culinary Content Network blogger and creator of the blog Steph in Thyme. She's based in Boston, and her blog focuses on meat- and gluten-free recipes for everyone — not just vegetarians, vegans, or people with gluten sensitivities. She created her blog in 2014 after she and her husband noticed that they felt physically better after cutting meat out of their diets.
The Baking ChocolaTess
Kim, the creator of The Baking ChocolaTess, is based in New Paris, Indiana. She loves baking easy recipes — especially ones that involve chocolate. She calls herself a "chocoholic," but also incorporates healthy desserts on her blog. Kim advocates for a healthy lifestyle, but thinks it's important to give in to sweet treats once in a while.
The Redhead Baker
Coleen is a Philadelphia native who blogs at The Redhead Baker. She cares for one child and two rescued dogs with her fiancé. Coleen works as a graphic designer contractor in the daytime and loves spending her free time baking in her apartment. Coleen also enjoys reading, shopping, and scrapbooking.
Watch Learn Eat
Sherri Hall is based in Brick, New Jersey and is the blogger at Watch Learn Eat. Sherri and her husband Gregory created the blog together after posting cooking videos online. They are parents to two daughters and share their recipes to connect with other home cooks looking to make easy and delicious recipes.
Coley Cooks
Nicole Gaffney, a.k.a. "Coley," is based in Brigantine, New Jersey — a small island north of Atlantic City — and is the blogger at and creator of Coley Cooks. Gaffney was the second runner up on the tenth season of Food Network Star. Gaffney has also been featured on The Rachael Ray Show, The Chef's Kitchen, and My Family Recipe Rocks.
Boil and Trouble
Gamalier Maldonado resides in San Juan, Puerto Rico and writes the blog Boil and Trouble. He graduated from college with a degree in biomedical sciences and worked at a medicinal chemistry and microbiology laboratory until he sustained a hand injury, which steered him into another path that he loved — cooking. Today, owns a wine bar and restaurant with his husband and loves home cooking and entertaining.
Chef De Home
Savita Verma is based in Tustin, California and is the blogger at and creator of Chef De Home. Along with being a cook and food blogger, she is also a computer engineer and holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science. Verma firmly believes that eating at home is the best way to eat healthy and believes that everyone can be their own "chef de home," or home cook.
Platter Talk
Dan and Scott Zehr are based in Neenah, Wisconsin and together run their blog Platter Talk. The two are fathers to six sons and a Chihuahua named Buddy Guy. They share recipes that reflect their lifestyles, ranging from desserts to Sunday suppers to gluten-free dishes. They also have a section of their blog called Food Flash, which focuses on cooking and kitchen tips.
Obsessive Cooking Disorder
Natalie Uy is a medical school student based in Houston, Texas who enjoys cooking, baking, and eating when she is not studying to become a doctor. She created her blog Obsessive Cooking Disorder (fondly known as OCD) as a way to keep her recipes in one place, and then started to develop a passion for food photography.
Click for the Blogger Spotlight: Obsessive Cooking Disorder.
Rawfully Tempting
Barbara Kessler lives in Hillsborough, New Jersey and is the blogger at and creator of Rawfully Tempting. She leads a raw, vegan lifestyle and shares plant-based recipes with her readers. Kessler tries to incorporate raw food to every meal that she prepares and believes that uncooked food possesses a multitude of healing properties.
The Picky Eater
Anjali Shah is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is the blogger at and creator of The Picky Eater. She creates "husband-approved" recipes, meaning that they are tasty yet healthy. Shah is a self-taught home chef that began cooking at age 24 and loves traveling and outdoor activities in her free time.
Click here for the Blogger Spotlight: The Picky Eater.
Feeding Big and More
Cynthia Landrie resides in Fredericksburg, Virginia and is the blogger at and creator of Feeding Big – and more!. She is a stay-at-home mom and spends her time preparing home-cooked meals for her family. Landrie's mantra is that cooking is not just about preparing food for the dinner table — it's about giving a gift to those you love.
Blogger Spotlight: Cooking on a Budget
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Blogger Patty Anderson is on a mission to help families that feel they can't serve wholesome food on a budget.
Coffee Machine Cuisine
Katja Wulff's Coffee Machine Cuisine is coming up with some innovative ways to cook with her coffee maker. She has her own Youtube cooking show, is a published author, and the Swedish version of it, "Kaffekokarkokboken", won Best Food Blog of the Year back in 2010! She is creative and funny- check her out!
Blogger Spotlight:The View from Great Island
What are five of your all-time favorite posts?
That question makes my mind spin — I have over 1,000 great recipes on the blog!
Read more about L.A. blogger Susan Lightfoot Moran here and be sure to check out her beautiful blog The View From Great Island!
Blogger Spotlight: Johnny Prime’s Steakhouse Reviews
From New York City, New York, blogger Johnny Prime aims to be the definitive source for NYC steakhouse reviews and all things pertaining to meat and meat education on his blog Johnny Prime's Steakhouse Reviews.
John Prime's site is comprehensive and detailed— so much so that he has developed a 100-point rating system for steaks. His writings are witty and his humor is dry and a tad crude— which really just makes this blog awesome and fun to read.
To"meat" Johnny Prime and find out the story behind Jonny Prime Steakhouse Reviews, click here.
Blogger Spotlight: Oat and Sesame
By day, Scranton, Pennsylvania's Emily Brees is a university program coordinator; by all other times she is inspiring others to eat healthy with her food, travel, and gardening blog, Oat and Sesame.
Blogger Spotlight: ‘Giggles, Gobbles, Gulps’
Blogger Linda Arceo put her professional writing skills and love for cooking to work when she created Giggles, Gobbles, and Gulps. On her blog, Arceo shares relatable food and drink recipes as well as travel experiences with her followers. Her claim to fame is her chili, and her recipes have garnered attention from major national media outlets such as Huffington Post Taste and the Today Show, to name a few.
Blogger Spotlight: Western New Yorker
The Western New Yorker, aka creative homemaker Liz Cleland, is a devoted mom, perpetual learner (she's currently getting a master's degree in education), and a contributing member of The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network of food bloggers.
She writes about food, gardening, her family, her various travels, and most importantly, about enjoying life. This week on Blogger Spotlight, we get to know her a little better. Check it out here!
Blogger Spotlight: Simple, Sweet & Savory
Erin Proctor, an '80s-loving Utahan and full-time working mom of two, combines her two passions, writing and creating recipes for her family, on her super sweet food blog, Simple, Sweet & Savory.
Her main mission is to lend a hand to busy parents (just like her!) and provide her readers with recipes for easy, no-stress, tasty meals for their families.
Blogger Spotlight: Primlani Kitchen
Rashmi Primlani, the author of The Primlani Kitchen food and wine blog, describes herself in the following way:
"An Indian girl raised in Delhi, India, I have the soul of a Mexican grandmother, the heart of an Italian mother, and aspirations of a French chef."
Primlani eats, sleeps, and breathes all things food and wine. Her blog features artfully photographed original recipes as well as a thorough documentation of all her eating and drinking experiences at restaurants and events in Orlando and beyond.
Notably, Primlani recently obtained a certification as an Italian Wine Ambassador as well as a Wine & Spirit Education Trust level-3 diploma. Moreover, she is working toward an advanced wine degree at the Court of Master Sommeliers. In layman's terms, Primlani has acquired an extraordinary amount of wine knowledge; these are extremely impressive accomplishments that require serious dedication, time, work, and drinking studying.
Blogger Spotlight: Mid-Life Croissant
You may be surprised to know that Mid-Life Croissant food blogger Christine Siracusa didn't love cooking until her 40s. In fact, she rarely cooked! "When I was in my 20s," she writes, "I ate out or ordered in. Every night. You would be justified in wondering how a young actress living on an inconsistent salary managed to live this way."
But now, this Brooklyn-based blogger operates a lovely recipe blog complete with beautiful photography and inspired recipes.
As a member of our Culinary Content Network of food bloggers, The Daily Meal would like to introduce you to Siracusa in this week's Blogger Spotlight; click here for her interview!
Blogger Spotlight: Spache the Spatula
This week we catch up with Spachael — I mean Rachael — Dart, the mastermind behind Spache the Spatula food blog.
Although not professionally trained, she creates some beautiful food, and it is quite clear that she is passionate about her projects. Check out her blog (especially if you are egg- and/or dairy-free!) and enjoy her honest prose, sweet recipes, and pretty food pictures.
Without further ado, meet The Daily Meal's CCN food blogger Rachael Dart!
Blogger Spotlight: Ev’s Eats
Evi Aki of the Los Angeles-based food blog Evi's Eats lives by this famous Julia Child quote: "Learn how to cook — try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!"
On her blog, Aki documents her passion for food, cooking, and sharing a meal. She writes, "I believe that food connects and brings us all together. My grandmother and mother instilled in me the importance of cooking and family, and this is something that I try to pass on to my friends and whoever else I come in contact with!"
Blogger Spotlight: The Kitchen Whisperer
Just north of Pittsburgh, Lori Monte lives a double life: nerdy engineer by day and cook/blogger extraordinaire... well, also by day.
Monte is the talent behind food and recipe blog The Kitchen Whisperer, which seeks to inspire people to conquer their fears of being in the kitchen. She tells us, "I believe food is love and is meant not only to taste good but to help build memories. My mantra is 'there's always room at my kitchen table,' while my tagline is, 'Taming the kitchen one bite at a time!'"
Monte is a member of The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network of food bloggers, and this week we get to know her a little better; click here to read more.
A Chick Who Can Cook
From Spooner, Wisconsin, food blogger Kayla De'Leon cooks, bakes, and eats with her awesome hubby and three beautiful daughters. She focuses on fun, family-friendly recipes and documents it all on her food blog, A Chick Who Can Cook.
She runs a tight ship and keeps her kitchen OCD-level clean. As an eater, though, De'Leon says of herself, "I am not much of a picky eater except when it comes to any kind of green veggie or tomato— my adult taste buds have not yet come to surface."
As this week's featured food blogger, we chatted with De'Leon to get to know more about her blog and her lifestyle. Check it out here.
Blogger Spotlight: Fitful Focus
Meet Nicole Handler, the woman behind the fitness, food, and lifestyle blog, Fitful Focus. Back in 2012, Handler decided to challenge herself to live a healthier life, and since then she has not only lost weight but also ran her first marathon and became a certified NASM personal trainer.
Handler believes in a holistic approach to fitness; her emphasis is on happiness and how both eating well and feeling fit can help her achieve that goal. She likes to try new things to keep it all interesting and writes, "Switch it up, try new moves, take new classes – that's what I'm all about. After all, you can only realize new passions if you step outside the box!"
We chatted with Handler to find out more about Fitful Focus and her life behind the scenes. Check it out here.
Blogger Spotlight: Basil Momma
Heather Tallman is a busy mom of two who likes to cook; as she puts it, "Now, I don't just mean whipping up some Hamburger Helper between swim practice and Zumba, I mean researching the perfect recipe, tweaking it to be my own and making magic on the LG."
She first created her food and Indiana lifestyle blog, Basil Momma, in an effort to record cherished family memories, but it has since grown to be a wonderful resource for food, travel, and real-life advice/empathy for families in Indiana and around the nation. As a member of The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network of food bloggers, we were able to chat with Tallman and feature her on this week's Blogger Spotlight. Check it out here.
Blogger Spotlight: ‘The Healthy Cooking Blog’
"Real food, real easy... for real people": That's Holly Clegg's motto and the guiding principle of her website, The Healthy Cooking Blog.
It's debatable whether Clegg may need an introduction here as she has been a presence in the blogging world since the early '90s, written numerous cookbooks, appeared on TV and talk shows, and is the soon-to-be recipient of the Baton Rouge Epicurean Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Although you may know her name, her blog, or her books, we are sure you want to know more! Check out her interview with The Daily Meal here.
Blogger Spotlight: The Ninja Baker
Kim Watkinson is The Ninja Baker. Although a current Santa Monica, California, resident, this crafty cupcake aficionado and baker spent the first 17 years of her life living in Tokyo with her businessman-father and pro-tennis star mother (Dorothy Knode). Through her time in Japan, she not only learned the nuances of the language, but also developed a deep love and appreciation for the culture. Specifically, she notes on her blog that the appreciation "simple beauty and simplicity" has especially influenced her life and her baking.
With her food blog, Watkinson says she "aim[s] to build a bridge between the East and the West through baking, blogging and book writing."
This week on The Daily Meal, we feature Watkinson and draw attention to her recipes and writings. Check out her interview here!
Blogger Spotlight: DelishPlan
"I am so tired after a long day of work. I don't have the energy to go to the store and cook. So we usually end up getting take-outs... Does any of this sound familiar?" asks Sharon Chen, the blogger behind the recipe- and meal-planning website DelishPlan.
On her blog, Chen offers practical tips for prepping and batch-cooking beforehand, provides tried and true (gorgeously styled) recipes, and lays out multiple done-for-you meal plans to meet your different cooking needs.
DelishPlan is set apart and made special by the expert food photography and beautiful food styling, but what I personally found equally compelling was Chen's voice and how she addresses her readers. Yes, she markets herself (it's a business after all!) but she is not self-serving; the mission of her blog genuine and is approached with relatable honesty — she even offers a free download of her mini-cookbook: Top 7 One-Dish Meals.
Blogger Spotlight: DelishPlan
I am so tired after a long day of work. I don't have the energy to go to the store and cook. So we usually end up getting take-outs... "Does any of this sound familiar?" asks Sharon Chen, the blogger behind the recipe- and meal-planning website DelishPlan.
On her blog, Chen offers practical tips for prepping and batch-cooking beforehand, provides tried and true (gorgeously styled) recipes, and lays out multiple done-for-you meal plans to meet your different cooking needs.
Blogger Spotlight: Full Belly Sisters
Justine Fontinell, a board-certified health coach, and her sister, Flannery Fontinell, a Lamaze-certified childbirth educator and International Board-certified lactation consultant, teamed up to become the Full Belly Sisters: a blog specifically designed to be a resource for women, pre- and post-pregnancy.
The duo's extensive health experience gives the blog a special voice and authority, and Full Belly Sisters not only offers information pertaining to breastfeeding and childbirth education but also shares recipes in conjunction with nutrition and wellness coaching.
Blogger Spotlight: LeMoine Family Kitchen
"Let me start with this," writes Angelia LeMoine, the voice of LeMoine Family Kitchen. "I'm a lucky lady, my friends. I'm married to my high school sweetheart and together we have two beautiful boys. I'm a stay at home mom, life is busy and crazy and I wouldn't change a thing!"
LeMoine comes from deep Italian roots — to which she attributes her serious love of cooking and feeding others, especially her family. Her recipes, however, don't just stick to the Italian classics. LeMoine dabbles in other cultures' cuisine and provides meal planning tips for her readers, too.
LeMoine is this week's featured blogger; check out her interview with us here.
Blogger Spotlight: Blogghetti
Blogger Lisa Kerhin's love of cooking and documenting her kitchen adventures first began as a logical way to organize her cookbook collection, personal recipes, and kitchen notes. Now a full-fledged blog, Kerhin's Blogghetti is a space for her to share her favorite recipes with friends, family, and beyond.
She invites her readers to "grab a cup of coffee" and take a look around, noting that while she may not have the prettiest of photos, her recipes are worth our time and encourages us to try new things.
"One of the things I have learned is that you have to step out of your cooking comfort zone and dive into a recipe that may not be on your level of expertise," she writes in her 'About Me' page. "How do you know if you can move to a new level in anything if you don't try, right?"
As a member of The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network of food bloggers, Kerhin is this week's featured blogger — check out her interview and a selection of some of her favorite Blogghetti recipes here.
Blogger Spotlight: ‘Mission: Food’
Each week, we choose a food blogger from our vast Culinary Content Network of contributors to highlight. This week, allow us to introduce Victoria Kabakian of the Mission: Food blog.
Kabakinan has been blogging for nearly eight years and covers everything from recipes and cookbooks to Disney attractions and restaurants. A Rhode Island native, she has a particular weakness when it comes to cookbooks; not only does she collect them (she notes that she has more than 200!) but also loves to review new releases; testing their recipes and commenting on their usability.
To find out more about Kabakian and Misson: Food, click here for her Q and A.
Blogger Spotlight: Chillies and Limes
Coming to you from Malé, Maldives, Nazeeha shares a taste of culture and country through her love of cooking on her blog, Chillies and Limes.
Although she considers herself a "closet blogger," Nazeeha is a wonderful addition to The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network of food bloggers. Nazeeha — who often goes by Nammi — is a stay-at-home mom of two boys and a perfectionist cook who takes pride in her mastery of a recipe before she shares it with the world. Her blog, Chillies and Limes, is not only a resource for people looking to cook and understand her cuisine, but it is also a place for Maldivians living abroad to stay connected to home through food.
Blogger Spotlight: Tasteover by Jackie
Jackie Newgent almost needs no introduction; as a classically trained chef, registered dietitian nutritionist, award-winning cookbook author, professional recipe developer, and media personality, Newgent has had quite the prolific career thus far.
Her cookbooks, The With or Without Meat Cookbook and The All-Natural Diabetes Cookbook, to name just two, are full of her original recipes and expert advice. However, Newgent, a New York City-based chef, shares the bulk of her healthy, plant-based recipes on her blog, Tasteover by Jackie.
This week, Tasteover by Jackie is our featured blog of the week! Click here to find out more about Newgent and her healthy eating blog.
Blogger Spotlight: Baking in a Tornado
A proud former Bostonian living in the Midwest, Karen Blessing uses her blog, Baking In A Tornado, to share her recipes, writings, and funny stories with the internet.
Blessing is an avid member of the blogging community. She participates in and initiates collaborations with her peers in various series such as "Fly On the Wall," a sequence of quotes and anecdotes providing a glimpse into her life; "Secret Subject Swap" wherein another blogger sends her a subject prompt to write about; and "Funny Friday," a monthly caption contest with a group of other five bloggers.
Each post has a story and a recipe — the two not necessarily connected, either — that gives insight into Blessing's happy life with her husband (referred to as "Hubs" on the blog) and her two boys; her culinary muses affectionately dubbed "College Boy" and "PurDude."
As a member of The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network of food bloggers, Blessing is our featured blogger of the week; click here to read her Q and A.
Blogger Spotlight: Munchies and Munchkins
Hailing from Swansea, Wales, Becky Gwynne is a 30-something mum of two and blogger behind the food/travel/recipe website Munchies and Munchkins.
She writes, "This blog is my creative outlet – I love to write, cook, and travel and it's been a lot of fun documenting this over the past four years. On the blog, you will find recipes and general day-to-day rambles amongst music festival reviews and drool-worthy food festival coverage."
Continue reading to find out more about Gwynne and her awesome blog. She recently took over The Daily Meal's Instagram page, too; click here to check out her tasty journey!