The envelope, please.

I noticed the other day that I was getting more hits than usual from Susan’s link to me over at Food Blogga—yeah, I’m still new enough at this that I geek out and check such things. So I wandered over that way and saw that she’d nominated me as a Thinking Blogger. Wow. Coming from Susan, this is high praise indeed. She’s one of a handful of bloggers I read faithfully as much for her wonderful writing style and thoughtful ideas as I do for the great food she showcases. Thank you, Susan.

So the way this works now is I have to nominate five bloggers as fellow Thinking Bloggers. Or rather, I have to edit my list down to five. Susan got away with ten because this is the second time someone’s named her and she didn’t do a list of her own the first time. Or anyway, that’s her story and she’s sticking to it.

So here’s my list, not of the five but of five, in no particular order:

Molly over at My Madeleine. Anyone who reads her wishes, as I do, that she posted more often. But every story is a wonderful, thoughtful jewel. Her current post marks her second anniversary blogging—it tells the story of how unexpected events completely changed her life and her blog far more eloquently than I can here.

Nick and Blake at The Paupered Chef. These guys just blow me away with their view of food as adventure. Not in eating deadly blowfish or any such nonsense, but in exploring cooking techniques just for the sake of doing it. Roasting a chicken at the lowest temperature possible [140ºF, the temperature at which it is completely cooked], for instance, or cooking half a pork belly. And they’re not afraid to share their failures, an admirable quality.

Kristen over at gezellig-girl.com. What can you say about someone who boasts “Winner of absolutely no blog awards!” on her home page [Relax, Kristen—I don’t think this really counts]? She is smart and fresh and plain fun to read. And the day I found this snapshot on her charming blog titled hula-hooping until the chicken is done, I was totally hooked.

Ann at A Chicken in Every Granny Cart. Ann is another blogger who makes me think and smile with every new post. She often starts with something sounding completely off topic—a recent example: “I keep telling myself that the little old lady didn’t mean to do it, but I’m not really sure I believe it.” And then she entertainingly brings it back to food. Delicious food, beautifully photographed and discussed.

Oh, dang. I’m down to my last allotted Thinking Blogger. Okay.

How can I not mention Patricia and her wonderful Technicolor Kitchen? If this Brazilian native is this eloquent in English, I can only imagine how poetic her Portuguese-language version is. Patricia is funny, self deprecating, warm and forever upbeat and enthusiastic. And her amazing baked goods both entice me to try a little more baking and intimidate the bejesus out of me with their beauty.

So, there are five. If I were a cheating kind of person, I’d also be tempted to mention Last Night’s Dinner, French Kitchen in America, Kirsten’s Home Cooking Adventures, Smitten Kitchen… But of course, I’m not.