Kicking Off Year Three - WHB # 105
The party's over. It's time to call it a .... hey, wait a minute! Yes, I see candles still burning at a table 10,000 miles (16,094 kilometers) long. Weekend Herb Blogging* just celebrated its 2nd anniversary, but that's hardly the end of the story. There's definitely a glow going on, a luminous buffet of thirty-one unique and exquisitely rendered dishes from almost every conceivable culinary corner of the globe. Better take one of the dinner plates, as big as the man on the moon, as you line up to sample the smashing good feast that lies ahead. Don't be too polite, now; you know you may have to go up for seconds....
Jupiter, plays a tureen filled with shitake,
nuts, gravy and ground poultry.
Rich, red tomatoes, slowly roasted and strewn
with sharp and tangy herbs makes for a marvelous
burst of flavor in every "Plump Ruby Bite."


VegeYum of A Life (Time) of Cooking
Adelaide, Australia
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knock you off that grocery shelf now.


Florida, USA
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A powerhouse of protein and comfort, a perfect
bowl of broth, beans and greens for a tired school
teacher to dig into at the end of her long day.

Utah, USA
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There's more than just spinach that meets
the eye in this provincial meatloaf
reminiscent of early Pierre Franey.

The rich and nutty goodness of spice-charged

The sweet and homey aroma of cranberry
almond bread is a much better part
of waking up than Folgers in your cup.


Chris of Mele Cotte
Georgia, USA
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Steamy, flaky, savory biscuits were
born for slathering in your best butter.
Don't let one crumb or drop go to waste.

Everyone needs an Aunt Vaike to leave baskets
full of antioxidant deep-blue berries on your doorstep,
or someone in Estonia is going to have to open
a bed-and-breakfast soon.


Carrots can taste like they were roasted
in a forest when mixed with
handfuls of robust, earthy sage.
Jeni of The Passionate Palate
California, USA
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God bless the lentil, the fastest food in
the legume family. A hearty bowl of hot
stuff can be yours in less than an hour.

Rice is nice, but lime tang, glowing
papaya and creamy coconut turn the
humble grain into a work of delicate art.

With the strict dietary requirements of
a gluten-free lifestyle, a colorful mix
of fruit and vegetables fill Asian rice wrappers
as well as the belly.

going, but it knows exactly where

On Holiday from Italy
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A mix of tender mesclun greens is the
perfect tussled bedding for a crusty plank of
ciabatta and tender cuts of lamb.
Out of the oven and onto a plate,
lamb shanks garnished with broad bean
emeralds create a rustic still life painting.

Victoria, Australia
No, there are not four-and-twenty blackbirds
baked underneath that artisan crust,
but a classic British filling of beef and ale.

Maninas of Food Matters
Croatia
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me gets thrown for a loop. This time
it's larb. Don't know what larb is?
To know larb is to love it.

this robust, fall stew will have
you falling all over yourself for more.
with its medieval fragrance. Just imagine a
kitchen quivering with pans of fruit draped in
rosemary and studded with star anise...

Ronell of My French Kitchen
Touraine, France
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Gather ye tomatoes while ye may, the more the
merrier, for this meltingly rich and delicious quick brunch
or light sup from the south of France.
With a center as pink and glistening as tourmaline,
Greek gourmet touch with fantastic feta,
mushrooms, yoghurt and balsamic vinegar.


Peter of Kalofagas - Pursuit of Good Eating
Toronto, Canada
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refreshingly bright and clever cocktails
would make a mermaid out of me.

Gwen of Intoxicated Zodiac
Hudson River Valley, USA
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potato treats tempt and satisfy the sweet
tooth without too much guilt.
accompaniment to a glass of wine.
Rosemary makes memorable even the
simplest of savories.
Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen
London, Ontario, Canada
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but mustard seeds sputtering in a skillet, enhancing
a "Plain Jane" of a vegetable for her camera close-up.

Framed in a healthy crust and heavy with herbs,
this egg-rich and elegant pie serves up smiles
and sighs after weeks of eating on the road.
piping-hot fillets filled with parsley and bay leaves
are just a few of the delights while dining in Palermo.
Simona of Briciole
California, USA
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New York, USA
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Susan, this is a beautiful round-up and well written, too. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou did a wonderful job on this roundup, Susan. So many great recipes too!
ReplyDeleteWonderful roundup Susan. Your description of each dish is as captivating as all of the fantastic recipes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic job you did on this. I can imagine how long it takes to do so many photos, and your write-up of each one is wonderful. Now I will start reading the ones I missed, which seems to be quite a few of them! Thanks so much for hosting.
ReplyDeleteA great roundup of so many fabulous dishes! How to choose? Each one looks very special.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing us this roundup - it seems it took a bit of work, and we all appreciate it very much.
wonderful, wonderful round up! Love love how you write so beautifully for each entry!
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan, for a wonderful roundup. An incredible array of dishes to choose from. --Jai
ReplyDeleteSusan, lovie - The labor must have been one of love, for the result of the round-up is incredibly detailed and thoughtful. Your introduction for every entry entry is both exact and charming. You're a poet in the blogosphere!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way round-up to kick off year #3!
Well done!
ReplyDeleteLove the layout and the words!
And I can totally emphasize with getting almost there and having the blog host start acting out....Triumph through adversity!
Great roundup and such a fabulous setting. Creates an atmosphere that one doesn´t want to leave the party even when I didn´t participate. Hope you don´t mind me linking to it and picking my favorites to visit more often. :)
ReplyDeleteFantastic round-up, Susan! I really enjoyed reading it! Thank you! :D
ReplyDeleteps. I am from Croatia, but now i live in Britain, so it's croatia / britain for me! :)
Susan, you slaved over this, didn't you? The personal touch is really evident. Lovely round-up, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for an enjoyable round-up - you've raised the bar very high now:)
ReplyDeleteGreat, great, great!! Everything looks so tasty. I can't wait to go through all the postings. Thanks for all your hard work on this!
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful array of recipes. i discovered a couple of new blogs through this rounup. thanks, susan.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great round up Susan. Gottusee some new blogs from around the world. will bookmark this for reference.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful job! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely and delicious array of dishes - I can't wait to try them all. And thanks, Susan, for hosting us!
ReplyDeleteDear All,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind kudos. I will respond to each one individually, probably tomorrow. Thanks again. You've been great guests to host.
What they said.
ReplyDeleteThoughtful, exquisitely chosen words my friend. For all of us. So many new blogs to check out - always fun to participate for that reason alone.
hey Susan, Lovely array of recipes. I wanted to contribute but was held up with lots of personal stuff. wish I could participate next time:)
ReplyDeleteSusan ,what magnificent round up. Lovely dishes congrats to all of you.
ReplyDeleteSusan...oh my gosh. This all looks phenomenal, especially the parmesan thyme biscuits. My mouth watered! I wish I had time to cook such fabulous, delicious looking meals (and by fabulous, I mean more than an hour in the kitchen). I've been hitting up the frozen food aisle lately, but it's okay because I found my new favorite frozen dinner brand (to hell with all the bland stuff nowadays!). For all of you fellow working professionals, you should check out the new brand inspired by Rocco DiSpirito (from The Restaurant and guest chef on Top Chef). The frozen dinners are called Bertolli's Mediterranean Style frozen dinners, and they're so good and so easy, and even more so, so tasteful. Check it out, as well as some really great cooking technique videos from Rocco himself, in case any of you are fans, at http://www.whatsyourmedstyle.com and let me know your thoughts on the Rosemary Chicken (my favorite). Thanks again Susan for such a great blog!
ReplyDeleteSusan, that was a lovely round up. You must have been really busy with all that hard work
ReplyDeleteThanks, Burcu. : )
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Maryann, thanks. There ARE so many great recipes. I’ve always thought that about WHB to begin with, but when you are actually putting the round-up together, you get really, really close to each recipe, spending a lot more time than you usually do when you read a post. You realize the recipes are even better than you initially thought.
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Thank you, Pam. I enjoyed writing for, as well as the reading of, each recipe.
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Kalyn, it was a trip! And one, you already know, I am signed up again for sometime next year. Yes, the photos were very time consuming since I had to resize them fairly without distorting some of the images that default dimensions would have created. Thanks for the opportunity. I was happy to do it.
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Vegeyum. Thank you. It is impossible to choose, but we don’t have to. Each can be enjoyed at leisure without any pressure; that’s what’s so great about round-ups. They are like cookbooks; you just pick up where you left off.
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Dear Anh – Thank you very much.
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Jai – Happy to pull this together. Thanks.
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Hi, Shaun – Nothing worth it is ever easy, eh? Who said that? I am not the owner of that quote, but it's certainly handy and bears repeating. Seriously, thanks for your sweet compliments.
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Hi, Katie. Thanks! I felt Blogger was testing me for something, but I know not what. It was frustrating for a time, but nothing that more time didn’t cure.
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Thank you, Helene. I would be very flattered if you would link to this round-up. Hope you can participate in some of the many WHBs to come.
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Maninas. Thanks. I sent you an email on how you would like me to rephrase your location, but I’m happy to site you as Croatia and United Kingdom.
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Sra, a slave to love of good eating for all of us. Glad you liked it. Thanks always.
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Thanks, Pille. All the round-ups are fun to read with their own special touches. Looking forward to yours this week.
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Chris – Many thanks! I still wish fresh cranberries were available all year round.
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Thanks, Bee. There’s always a new blog around the corner.
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Hi, Padma. So glad you’re enjoying this. Thank you!
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Colleen – Thank you. My day’s going to be crazy busy; lentils are the way to go!
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Thank you, Rose. Now, where, oh, where will I find those sweet little cape gooseberries?
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Dear Lucy, thank you. ‘Tis true; there are so many blogs that would have been off the radar, particularly without the popular round-ups like WHB.
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Thank you, Sharmi. No worries. There will be other events in the future. Most important thing is you tend to your family.
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Hi, Sylvia. Thank you. That is quite a crowd of great dishes!
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Welcome, Patty! Don’t be so hard on yourself. I don’t necessarily know that food bloggers all cook and eat to our highest post standards every day. As pleasurable as it is, contemplating recipes, grocery shopping and all the zillions of little steps that go into a great dish/meal do require a lot of time and energy. That’s what convenience foods like frozen are all about. In my case, I love a big, super-quick bowl of buttered pastina. Thanks for visiting.
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Sandeepa – Thank you. There are 48+ hours of my life which I do not remember outside of pulling together WHB!
thanks for hosting. i am continually amazed at the results of each WHB event!
ReplyDeleteGreat round-up, I am definitely linking to this post when I blog tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the number of gorgeous dishes in this roundup! Wowie. So inspiring.
ReplyDeleteGwen - You're very welcome. It is incredible just how much creative culinary energy there is out there.
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Cynthia - Thank you.
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Lisa - And these round-ups have been going on weekly for two years! I can't believe it, either.
hey Susan , great round up, the write up is so nice, i missed on this one n many interesting events while I was on a blogging break :( it does look gorgeous
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rahin! How are you? I'll have to go visit you, assuming you are posting again or getting ready to...
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