Sunday, July 1, 2007

Baking Blogs

Watermelon Strawberry Sorbet
photo by Ariela Pelaia

The best part of baking is sharing: recipes, tips, a slice of pie or cake. So it’s no surprise that baking blogs—in which amateur and professional bakers share their stories with the rest of the world—attract hundreds of thousands of readers. Or that every day new baking blogs appear on the Internet.

If you’re not quite sure what we’re talking about, here’s an overview. A blog, or weblog, is an online journal written by one or more authors. Blogging tools such as Typepad, Blogger, and Wordpress make getting started easy and inexpensive (or free!), even for people with zero programming experience. If you’re on the shy side, one program, Vox, lets you limit your readership to people you know. The vast majority of bloggers blog as a labor of love, but some accept advertising or sell books through their blogs: for example, see cookbook author Dorie Greenspan’s blog.

Sound appetizing? We thought so, too—especially after we chatted with eight talented, successful baking bloggers from around the country. Not only did they generously share their stories, they even gave us some of their favorite recipes!

Baker's Profile

September Sweepstakes Winner Karen Hamilton

Karen Hamilton

Karen Hamilton has nine grandchildren, which means her Baldwin, Michigan, kitchen is often covered in sticky fingerprints, spilled sugar, and flour. The three youngest kids—two 3-year-olds and a 6-year-old—love spending time making goodies with their grandma, and their enthusiastic pouring and mixing leave a bit of a mess.

Not that Karen minds. "I love how excited the kids get in the kitchen," she says. "Their favorite things to bake are cookies and cakes, so I'm always keeping an eye out for new recipes like the ones on C&H boxes and the C&H website."

In the News

Sweet Sentiments from the 12 Special Memories Sweepstakes

12 Special Memories
Thanks to everyone who participated in C&H’s 12 Special Memories Sweepstakes! During its 12–month duration, more than 140,000 people entered the sweepstakes a total of 4,571,357 times. Although we could choose only 12 as sweepstakes winners, we loved reading every entry. Your enthusiasm for baking and for sharing sweet memories are abundantly evident!