Food on the Brain

"If you, too, find yourself obsessing about about lunch while you're eating breakfast...welcome! You're among friends." So reads the About page of Food on the Brain, a clever, quirky blog created by Jessamyn, a Washingtonian who loves food and also confesses that she has "far too many hobbies" (including playing the flute in a Celtic band). Jessamyn's voice is chatty and warm, and her relaxed prose evokes more chuckle-out-loud moments than your average food blog.

Jessamyn is adept at unearthing little-known recipes, such as the Brie Pancake she found in a book by Barbara Passino. She's not afraid to adapt recipes to to her own tastes, taking Moosewood's Hungarian Mushroom Soup and adding beef "for a carnivorous household." Often, she takes matters completely into her own hands, as with a batch of Ricotta and Blackberry Crepes made with local goat's milk ricotta, and an Impromptu Chickpea Salad: "I had originally intended to make a Turkish salad of chickpeas, cumin and lemon, but then I got sidetracked -- one of those cooking moments that seem to happen to me so often, where I have two or three cookbooks open and end up ignoring all of them."

As further evidence of Jessamyn's ability to multi-task with the best of them, Food on the Brain also includes a restaurant reviews section, where she writes candidly about "just some places we've gone to eat." Entertaining and informative? You bet. Pompous and judgmental? Not this blog!