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In 2008 I read a lot of shit on the internet.  Some of that shit didn’t smell.  Here’s a list of blogs that were time and time again good reading over the past year.  My faithful readers should know about them.  The components of a good blog are information, inspiration, visuals, and personality.  Without these, it’s just words.

IDEAS IN FOOD -The single most engaging food blog on the web.  The information and inspiration that this site provides is huge amenity to the food world.  The frequent updates from this husband and wife teams blog entice my tongue and stretch my perceptions of what can be done with food.  A recent post about short ribs still has me drooling.  Check out their ideas on Foie Gras and Hot Ice Cream. Chefs Aki and Alex write a web column for Popular Science, called Kitchen Alchemy, and can also be followed on Twitter.  They even appeared on Food Network.  Congratulations to these two brilliant Chefs on their new baby!!

eggbeater-  When you Google “Pastry Chef Blog” the first hit you get is eggbeater.  Shuna fish Lydon a gift to this planet.  Her words, so often, have spoken right to the heart of me; seen me.  I have also learned a ton from her.  Be sure to explore her recipes, read her posts on Chefdom, and Visit her Flickr page.  You can check her out on Twitter, as well.  From what I gather, she’s just moved to London, and is running a retail operation.  I feel Shuna…I think that’s why I enjoy reading her blog so much.

Line Cook- high up in the rankings for Google search “line cook,” you’ll find this great blog.  Intuitive musings about restaurant life, pictures of the good food at nopa in San Francisco, and just good reading.  On a personal level I don’t know much about Line Cook’s author, I think his name is Richie.  I know he owns a rabbit and writes this kick ass blog. He cooks delicious looking food.  His writing has made me pensively reflect on my career, and wax poetic about where it will lead. He has a knack for describing kitchen situations vividly, using cook jargon fluidly.  His post about pastry certainly struck a chord. I know Ruhlman, Shuna, and even Micheal Laiskonis all read, so your in good company.  Read into the archives, you’ll find a lot of good stuff. This blog is creating a buzz on the web, and I couldn’t be happier.  If you work in a kitchen, you should be reading this.

David Lebovitz-  I have benefited greatly from this blog, as well as the man’s book The Perfect Scoop.  His down to earth approach to writing and great recipes have given me great ideas.  His Salted Caramel Ice Cream is one of my favorite recipes of all time.  I’ve used it as a base for both raspberry and apple.  He loves eating as much as I do I think, and writes about it often.  He also lives in Paris, of which I am jealous.  His site contains an extensive recipe section, blurbs about his books, and of course tons of great interesting content. He’s also tweeting like crazy, and who isn’t these days?

Ruhlman-  The dog-eared copies of his book The Soul of Chef are passed around among cooks everywhere, seen almost as frequently as Kitchen Confidential. He sometimes judges Iron Chef America, was one of the judges of Next Iron Chef.  He went on to write The French Laundry Cookbook with TK, and book with Eric Ripert from Le Bernardin. He has also written one of the most definitve volumes on Charcutertie, the art of cured meats.  He latest book with TK, the eye-popping Under Pressure, I covet highly.  As you might imagine, a blog written by this guy has got to be good.  And it is.  Frequently updated and packed with great recipes, insights, and pictures,  it’s well worth the bookmark.

Michael Laiskonis- Last but not least, the blog of one of my personal heroes, the pastry chef at world reknowned Le Bernardin in New York, Micheal Laiskonis.  His posts are always well written and packed with information and insight, as well as glimpses of whats it’s like at Le Bernardin.  His desserts are amazing, and when he posts a recipe, I always pore over it repeatedly, trying to glean what it is to be a world class pastry chef.  I have a special file on my computer for his recipes.  Apparently, he was thinking of quitting the blog, but instead started a second one. His blog is a benchmark for Chef’s everywhere.  Great photos, exceptional writing, profound insight and luminous inspiration.

So there’s my list peeps, hope you enjoyed it.  Now go back to reading Reddit.  Or Digg, if your one of those types.