Food on the Brain

Reciprocity

  

"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!