This post was written several months ago, but I never got a chance to post it between one thing and another. However, it is a dish I really enjoyed, so I decided to post it, unedited. But before I go ahead into that post, I want to briefly discuss my blog and kitchen goals for this year.

Most of you who have been reading this blog for the past 2 years, will notice that the posting content has made a subtle transformation over the years from Mediterranean foods to incorporating more local and organic (when possible) foods, still within that cuisine’s flavor. This year I am going to continue to talk about making the best out of your leftovers, but I plan take it further to continue to my goal of becoming more sustainable by trying to make more of our daily diet foods at home (it started with making our own bread in 2008), things like yogurt and begin to learn the basics of canning and preserving. We are also going to be trying to expand our porch garden to include more than just a tomato plant and a few herbs. I have always loved gardening, and in our current living space, that has no yard, we have been unable to do that. But this year we are going to get creative and see how we can expand the space with which to work. I really want to get more and more away from the grocery store and begin relying on local producers and ourselves for food. In some cases this will not work entirely, but the point it to try to move more and more towards these goals. Now onto the post…

As I have often mentioned before I have a real respect for raw food cuisine. I am not talking about people who blog about eating a mango and a banana for dinner with some grapes and a shot of wheatgrass. While that is all well and good, if you are into that sort of thing, for me that is more of a diet plan than a cuisine. Cuisine is reflective of something that transforms raw (no pun intended) ingredients and creates something beautiful, delicious and imaginative. Cuisine requires creativity and finesse. When you have only a small set of ingredients with which to work, and you are still able to make something gourmet -that is what I call really thinking outside the box. This is food I really get excited about.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and that 2009 is the healthiest, happiest and most delicious year yet for all of you. Thanks so much for all your support of the Finest Foodies Friday (FFF) and The Foodie Blogroll this year. We continue to get great blogs signing up all the time and I am proud to say that our community is closing in on 3000 blogs strong!

As always here is what the FFF is all about. Finest Foodies Friday! FFF is a weekly Friday post featuring favorites from The Foodie Blogroll! We do this so we can share in the rich diversity of what The Foodie Blogroll has to offer by featuring some of our favorites and yours!
What is the Foodie Blogroll? It is the first and fastest growing free membership blogroll for food bloggers and has become a wonderful community (just over 2500 strong) to share ideas about all things food related.

The only requirement to be featured here on FFF is to be a member of The Foodie Blogroll and be displaying The Foodie Blogroll widget on your blog. If you are not yet a member, but you have a food blog and would like to join us, please click here!

If you have a favorite foodblog on The Foodie Blogroll, that you would like to be featured here on FFF, please join us over on The Leftover Queen/Foodie Blogroll Forum, and post your favorite Foodie Blogroll foodblogs here.

Angelnina’s Cottage
This is a rather new blog to The Foodie Blogroll, but I had to feature it in the new year. Angelnina’s Cottage is a blog about living a more simple life. This is something we have been working towards ourselves during the past year and plan to do even more this year. So I always enjoy blogs that are focused on similar goals to get ideas. This is a very positive blog and a very fun read.

Over A Tuscan Stove
Here is another blog that I cannot believe has never been featured here. This seems to be happening a lot to me. I guess it is a sign of age. But this is a blog certainly worth mentioning! Judy has been living in Italy since 1984, teaching cooking and running tours there. I am not extremely familiar with Tuscan cooking and so I always find something new to try on Judy’s blog!

VeganLovlie
I feature a lot of vegetarian and vegan blogs on FFF. It makes sense because for one, I enjoy my veggies and therefore I am always inspired to learn about more ways to get veggies into my diet in creative ways. But there is another reason, which is that I have found time and again vegetarian and vegan bloggers are very adventurous and meticulous about their food. If you are of the opinion that Vegan cooking is all about rabbit food, I encourage you to check out this blog. The photos and food are delicious!

Gluten Free in South Africa
This blog gives you a perspective of cooking in the Southern Hemisphere with exotic ingredients for those of us living in the Northern. There are also lots of baking tips and recipes, which is always a challenge for many living a gluten-free lifestyle. The photographs are also lovely and there is something for everyone, even if you aren’t gluten free!

Southern, Eh?
This is the blog of Tia, a University student from Louisiana now living in Canada. She is a fairly new member of The Foodie Blogroll, but has become an active member in our community, participating in the forum and entering her first Royal Foodie Joust! She makes no claims about being gourmet and has a palate that is pretty easy to please but her husband’s taste buds are a bit more picky! Join her in her kitchen adventures!

That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed this week’s FFF. Remember, if you would like to see a blog featured here, who is part of the FBR please visit the forum and nominate them.
I NEED NOMINATIONS!!!!!!

Also we all love to know how people came to find our blogs, so please visit all of our featured bloggers today and don’t forget to tell them that you found them via Finest Foodies Friday!