A Cross Country Culinary Tour

I was so surprised and honored when Christiane at Taking on Magazines asked me to participate in a Cross Country Culinary Tour.   Last Sunday I was one of the blogs she featured on her site.

This Sunday it is my turn to play.   Let me take you on my “three-eee blog tour.”   (Please hum the last phrase out to the Gilligan’s Island theme.   Get it?   A three hour tour????)

gilligan

Hopefully, our tour won’t end in a shipwreck.   The rules of engagement  here are simple:

  1. The host blogger answers a few pre-set questions (see below).
  2. They then nominate three bloggers to continue the theme on the following Sunday (kind of like a chain letter).
  3. The next Sunday it all starts again with these three bloggers naming three more and then it just grows exponentially from there.

Before I talk about myself, let me get back to Christiane who featured me last Sunday.

Christiane at Taking on Mags—what can I say?   She makes me laugh.   We all have bloggers we wished lived next door, those that we would love to share a weekly cup of coffee, swap recipes, and laugh with.    Christiane is one of these bloggers.   As she pointed out in her Culinary Tour, we guess we are about the same age.  That has to do to some 80’s musical references, I believe, or a discussion of some other fads like big hair.   I love the concept behind her blog.   Please check her out here.

Before we travel on the tour of my three featured bloggers, I have been asked to say a little something about myself.  It is good to know one’s traveling companions.

What am I working on currently at EE?

Someday I hope to move beyond WordPress and have a professionally designed site.   Until then, I will just muddle along.

I am excited about a few things coming up like Ten Days of Tailgating and my annual Christmas-themed posts.   At the end of this month, I will post the round-up for 1000 Days in Venice for Cook the Books (of which I am a co-host).

How does my work differ from other foodie blogs?

I’m a little OCD and I am a little spastic.   At one time, EE had a theme of focusing on everything locavore.   (Yes, I did jump on that bandwagon.)   Although we still strive to grow our own and buy local, that is not the main focus of the blog anymore.   This summer, it seems like canning and preserving has been the focus.   I may do multiple posts about a trip.   I might post exclusively about an ingredient over a week or two (see Gala of Grapes,  Sweet Potato-Palooza, or Peach-Palooza.)  I might revisit a time in my life where I lived exclusively to enter recipe contests (see OCD Recipes Revisited).  Or, I might just bore you with the Great Pantry Clean-Out of 2012.

You just never know what you’ll read here.

Oh, and by the way, you all are the only ones that know I blog.   Yep, besides The Hubs and one acquaintance that accidentally found me out,  none of my family and friends know that Eliot’s Eats exist.

Why do I write what I do?

This blog is a creative outlet for me.   I can rant and rave and pout.    I can be snarky, be silly, and be adventurous.    I can talk about food and cooking and gardening and other things I love.   And, since my family doesn’t know about my secret blogger-self, I can talk about them.   (Bless their hearts.)

How does my writing process work?

Again, I am OCD and spastic.    Some of my writing gets done at 3:00 a.m. when I wake up and can’t go back to sleep.   Generally, it is some work related drama that has made me rise at 3 a.m.   Lately, though, I try to write between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.  about three times a week.   During the weekends, I will try to carve out some time to cook and write.   I have been known to do four or five recipes, shoots, and blog posts in one weekend.

Since school has started, I have found little writing time….I miss it.

I have most recently moved the lap top to an antique library table in what will one day be a full-blown library.   Now, it is where I stash all the canning and the occasional overnight guest.

PicMonkey Collage1

Well, enough about me.

Let’s get on with the tour.   All aboard!!!!!

train

We will depart from my homes state of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma map
Let’s head north first to Michigan were are are going to stop at A Day in the Life of on the Farm.
michigan-county-map
Wendy and her husband are retired cops and now are striving to find peace and joy on their farm.   They have a lot of the same beliefs as we do….eat healthier, grow your own, be conscience of your surroundings.    I will have to add that Wendy is probably a whole lot more fit than I am though.  🙂   Wendy is also my canning buddy and I have learned lots from her regarding food preservation.
Wendy and her husband are living their dream!!!   I applaud you both!
Check out this beautiful marinara sauce.
DSC_0006
Wendy is my newest blog-o-sphere friend and is also a member of Cook the Books and Food ‘n Flix.   You must check out A Day in the Life on a Farm.  Now let’s buzz over to Florida and meet Tina.
floriday
Tina actually does double-duty on two blogs:   Squirrel Head Manor and Novel Meals.    Tina has been leaving comments at EE for about three years and I have tried diligently to do the same.   I became acquainted with Tina through Cook the Books  as well.     Squirrel Head Manor is mostly a culinary site where she also posts a Wine Wednesday.  (See why I love her?)   There is a bit of travel on her blog as well. Novel Meals is a blog she created to focus on culinary creations inspired by books.   I don’t know how she keeps up with both of them.  Tina’s also a proud Army mom (and the proud “mom” of two adorable dogs).
Here is a delicious salad that she created for a recent CTB post:  Tomato Mozzarella Salad with Capers.
photo 3-1
Please check out both of Tina’s sites.

Now, take your Dramamine, pack up a good book, and charge up the Kindle or the iPad.    We are boarding for a long flight.

australia

G’day, mates!   Yep, we have just landed in Australia.   Wow, after such a long flight it is good to know that we are going to meet  Urvashi (aka Uru, Choc Chip Uru, or CCU for short) from Go Bake Yourself.

Uru is a university student in Australia and I have followed her blog for a long time, since before she passed her exams and made it to “uni.”

She is a remarkable young woman who creates the most delicious looking and sounding desserts.   She also is an “undercover” restaurant critic and you can find reviews sprinkled throughout her posts.    I love the way she writes and her humor.   Check out this gluten-free bread baking extravaganza she most recently took her readers on.

bread

 

It has been a pleasure traveling with all of you but sadly our “three-eee blog tour” is now over.   I hope you enjoyed your visits with Wendy, Tina, and Uru.   Please check out their respective sites next weekend to see where each one of them will take you and to see the wonderful bloggers they will introduce to us all.
Thanks for traveling with me!

18 comments to A Cross Country Culinary Tour