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 to share ideas about all things food related. With a membership of almost 4000 food blogs, I am sure you can find much inspiration and new friends!

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.

Food on the Dole
We are all concerned about the economic times and looking for ways to pinch our pennies and stretch our food budget to make it last. However, I have yet to find a blog that is as dedicated to doing this in style and using economic hardship as a life changing experience like Hugh over at Food on the Dole. His blog focuses on stretching the food larder in fun and nutritious ways – like shopping at farmers markets, making things that you generally buy rather than make, like yogurt, pickles and pasta. This is an inspirational and well written blog!

Cafe Chocolada
Sometimes photos of food can really get your taste buds working. If a food photo is bright and colorful enough, you can almost imagine tasting it. This is the case with this blog. Everything just looks so picture perfect. I have never tried (or heard of) Lika Pie (a cake that is from the own of Lika in Croatia) but wow, I should could go for a slice right now, based on the gorgeous photo and look at this yummy Spicy Pizza.

Cafe Liz
Liz blogs from Tel Aviv and although she is not vegetarian, her kitchen is, so everything she creates in her kitchen is vegetarian and kosher. She gets excited by outdoor markets, cooking stores and cute dishes. Check out this interesting veggie salad bathed in buttermilk or how about this beautiful purple and green spring frittata !

My New 30
This is a great blog that does a wonderful job of displaying southern living both in regard to food and gardening. I really love all the gardening tips, being a budding gardener myself. I love her natural home remedies for getting rid of aphids. But if gardening is not your thing, check out her recipes for Southern Red Beans and Rice !

The Vanilla Bean
This is a delicious blog full of yummy new recipes. Alanna, the author loves to bake, and her love for baking really comes out in her very first post about making red velvet cupcakes which was very fun to read and really allows you to see her personality – she definitely has fun in the kitchen. If you prefer more savory recipes, her latest post Thai Green Curry Shrimp looks pretty good! A nice dish for summer!

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!!!!!! I know we all have our favorite blogs that we read everyday, and I would love to know about them. We have a very diverse food community, and I would love to see more of the blogs you love featured. We also have a lot of humanitarians out in the Foodie Blogosphere. If you think there is a food blogger out there that deserves a little recognition for their culinary skills, or what they are doing to help the world through the lens of food, please tell us about them!!! Please post your favorite Foodie Blogroll foodblogs here.

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! They would love to have your feedback.

The Royal Foodie Joust is an awesome and fun monthly peer voted competition that is hosted on
The LeftoverQueen/FoodieBlogroll Forum! It gets better each and every month as the competition gets stiffer as Jousters try to outdo each other every month! It is also one of the friendliest competitions I have ever seen. So please don’t be intimidated to come and join us this month in another round!

We don’t bite, unless of course there is real food in our faces.

The only rules for the competition is that each Jouster create one dish and each entry must feature three ingredients in common. This competition has been referred to many times as the “Iron Chef” of the Food Blogosphere. Each month’s ingredients are chosen by the previous month’s Best Overall Entry winner. The Best Overall winner of each Joust not only wins the Queen’s favor, bragging rights and a cool icon to put on their blog, but is also awarded with a super awesome Royal Foodie Joust apron! There are also prizes for the winners of the other two categories:
Best Photo and Most Unique Interpretation

So what are you waiting for? Come over and join us this month!

If you would like to participate in this month’s Joust, be sure to submit your entry by 12 NOON, Eastern Standard USA time on the First of the following Month!

If you have an idea you would like to share about how to make the Joust a better community event, please join us in discussing it here

Now onto the winners of this month’s event. The ingredients for this month were chosen by last month’s Best Overall winners, Peter and Christey from FotoCuisine and instead of choosing ingredients, they chose the colors Red, White and Green to inspire people to create dishes that focus on both how food tastes AND looks! We had a lot of very creative dishes come out of this Joust.

But there can be only one Best Overall Winner, and this time, the title was given to my friend Nuria of Spanish Recipes with her Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Cod Brandade over a Parsley sauce:

This dish was beautiful to look at, and I am sure the taste was amazing. Nuria always comes up with very creative, fresh and gorgeous dishes on her blog, and this was no exception. The photo was so inviting that she also won in the category of Best Photo – which seems to be a trend as of late – Best Overall winners also taking the top spot in Best Photo. I guess having a good photo makes it almost possible for you to taste the dish from the screen, giving you the extra edge. Ah the power of food porn! So congratulations to Nuria for your picture perfect dish. You will be receiving a Royal Foodie Joust Apron AND mug!

We have a different winner for The Most Unique use of ingredients – or in the case, the most unique use of colors. Now this dish was the first dish to be entered into the Joust this, month, and just like I told the winner, the amazing Elle, from Elle’s New England Kitchen, when I saw this dish, I knew it was a winner, as it was just so creative. So without further ado, here is Elle’s “Guacamole” Ice Cream :

She made an avocado ice cream, and instead of tomatoes, white onion and cilantro, she used strawberries, coconut and mint. And a shortbread cookie “tortilla chip.” How cool is that? She set the bar really high from the get-go, and it really got other participants thinking outside the box! Thanks Elle, and congrats!
You will be receiving a Royal Foodie Joust Mug!

Thanks again to all the participants!

>If you would like to see all the entries please check them out here

Now for this month’s Challenge:

Here is a message about the challenge ingredients from Nuria:
“RICE because it’s the most consumed cereal in the world and because everybody should have bowl of rice at least twice a day. TOMATO because it’s a basic ingredient in the Mediterranean diet; cheap and healthy. And BACON because… who doesn’t love bacon?”

(If you are a vegetarian, vegan or cannot eat pork, please feel free to use a bacon substitute!

Please check out the rules of participation here

AND

Please post your entries here

So let the games begin!

Our friends Chris and Erin, from The Olive Notes host a weekly community potluck dinner for all their friends, here in Saint Augustine. It is a way for all of us to get together on a regular basis. You don’t have to RSVP, just be sure to come with a dish, dessert or a drink based on a pre-determined theme. Sometimes these Tuesday night Community Dinners fall on a holiday, and today was one of those times. So of course the theme for tonight was Mexican.

I really didn’t know what to make. I hadn’t gone to the grocery store in about a week, so I started rummaging through the pantry. Originally I thought I would fall back on beans and rice. However I saw a can of coconut milk and a can of sweetened condensed milk. I had a mango in the fridge, so I thought about making a mango-coconut ice cream. That was until I pulled the mango out and realized it was still hard. However, next to it was a papaya that was very ripe.

When I pulled out the can of sweetened condensed milk, I read the back and the recipe was for flan. Lo and behold, on the ingredient list was also a can of coconut milk and a few other ingredients I had on hand. I was in the mood for ice cream so I decided to use all the same ingredients for the flan, but instead make ice cream. I cut the papaya into rounds, took the seeds of of the middles, sprinkled them with sugar and popped them under the broiler for a few minutes. Once they got caramelized, I took them out, squeezed a fresh lime over top and sprinkled the papaya liberally with cinnamon.

I made the ice cream, while the papaya was cooling, and once it was blended and still soft and creamy I scooped a big dollop of ice cream and placed it in the hole of each papaya slice. I also put a fresh mint leaf on top – and it was almost the color of the Mexican flag! Then I put it in the freezer to harden.

This was a nice cool treat to end a meal of spicy Mexican dishes! Happy Cinco de Mayo Everyone!
I am a bit late with this, but I dedicate this dish to Peter and Christey of FotoCuisine, who picked the ingredients for this month’s Royal Foodie Joust, which were the colors, Red, White and Green.

Voting closes tomorrow, so be sure to cast your vote for your favorite overall, best photo and most unique interpretation of the dish. Stay tuned to the LOQ blog to find out the winners!

(*still to come – the last of Italy – Rome)

Caramelized Papaya with Flan Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS:

1 can of coconut lite milk
1 can (from coconut milk) of whole organic milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 large organic eggs
1 tsp Tahitian vanilla extract
1 large papaya cut in rounds and de-seeded
sprinkling of sugar
juice of 1 lime
dusting of cinnamon
fresh mint leaves for garnish

METHOD:
Peel papaya and cut the papaya into rounds, take the seeds of of the middles, sprinkle rounds with sugar and pop them under the broiler for a few minutes. Once they get caramelized, take them out, squeeze a fresh lime over top and sprinkle the papaya liberally with cinnamon.

While the papaya is cooling, make the ice cream. In a large bowl blend 3 milks, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour into ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the ice cream is blended and getting frozen, yet still soft and creamy scoop a big dollop of ice cream and place it in the hole of each papaya slice. Garnish with a fresh mint leaf and serve.

You may have noticed that the widget has been updated to include FOUR giveaways this month. This is exciting on a number of levels – 1) we are getting more and more people and companies interested in doing giveaways through The Foodie Blogroll 2) This month 3 out of 4 giveaways are available to all members of The Foodie Blogroll, regardless of location. 3) 3 out of 4 giveaways are being sponsored by members of The Foodie Blogroll!

Having giveaways that come directly from people who are bloggers and members of the Foodie Blogroll is very cool! We are always happy to promote our fellow members and food bloggers! So if you have a food related product that you would like to promote by doing a giveaway with us, please contact us at support(at)foodieblogroll.com!

We have two really cool books to give away, Becoming Whole by Megg Wolff who blogs at Becoming Whole and Secrets from My Tuscan Kitchen :: Divina Cucina by Judy Witts Francini who blogs at Over a Tuscan Stove

Becoming Whole is Meg’s first book about how she battled breast cancer by changing her diet and bringing her body into balance and back to health. It is an inspirational read for anyone, and includes many of her favorite healthy recipes and meal plans for starting your own journey to healthy eating.

We will be giving away a total of 4 books, one each week of May, and this giveaway is open to anyone who is a member of The Foodie Blogroll, regardless of location.

Judy’s cookbook, Secrets from My Tuscan Kitchen is a collection of 93 of her most favorite Tuscan recipes. For 25 years, Judy has shared her knowledge of Italian cuisine and culinary history with fellow food lovers in and around Florence. She’s lived in Florence among food experts and foodies, exchanging ideas and recipes, and developed her own style, one that is easy-going and entertaining. And all recipes are Tuscan husband approved!

We will be giving away a total of 4 books, one each week of May, and this giveaway is open to anyone who is a member of The Foodie Blogroll, regardless of location.

To sweeten things up this month, we are also featuring a giveaway of Chocolate and Licorice treats from Andrea of Licorice, Chocolate and other foods to love . She is celebrating the 11th anniversary of her store Marina Market and doing this giveaway as a way to celebrate! How nice is that?
You will not want to miss a chance to win a packaged filled with goodies like: Raspberry Licorice Logs, Raspberry Chocolate Log, natural licorice and a licorice lollipop! Trust me, even if you don’t think you like licorice, you will love these tasty treats. We did a tasting of them at my house with several people who “don’t like licorice” and they really enjoyed these treats from Marina Market.

We will be giving away 4 of these goodie bags, one per week for the month of May. This giveaway is open to anyone who is a member of The Foodie Blogroll, regardless of location.

We also have an exciting giveaway linked with an awesome contest! I am sure that most of you have heard of Steven Raichlen , writer of “The Barbecue! Bible“. He has since become America’s most revered and trusted grilling guru, working each year to inspire and innovate, pushing culinary boundaries and documenting his adventures in his best-selling books, at his Barbecue University, and on his PBS show, Primal Grill. This year, however, Steven is turning the tables—challenging America to show him something he has never seen before on the barbecue trail. Steven Raichlen’s Ultimate Grilling Recipe Contest is looking to you, fellow foodies, to come up with the next big grilling idea. And Steven, along with the Workman Publishing family, can’t wait to see what barbecue buffs around the country come up with. Starting April 27, you can visit www.barbecuebible.com to read the contest details and submit your recipes, photos, and/or videos. For terms and conditions, please read them here.

On Labor Day weekend, Steven will deem one lucky winner “America’s Next Ultimate Griller” and present him or her with the grand prize: an all-expense-paid trip to Barbecue University at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

To entice all you foodies to submit a recipe, the folks at Workman Publishing are giving away
10 T-shirts to Foodie Blogroll members! So fire up your grill, tie on that apron, and get to work!
This t-shirt giveaway is available to those residing in the USA since “America’s Next Ultimate Griller” is a US based contest.

Happy May Day to everyone out in the Blogosphere! Hope you all have a good one! In the spirit of this time of the year, Roberto and I have added two new additions to our porch garden – a Celestial Fig tree, which is a white fig (can’t wait to see them!) that already has several figs starting to emerge and a Blueberry bush that is heavy with berries! We are seeing our first crop of ruby red strawberries, and banana peppers, and our tomato plants are getting loaded with tomatoes. We are also enjoying our mini herb garden – basil, oregano, cilantro, lemon balm, mint and chives. So I hope everyone enjoys a beautiful weekend!

Also as a reminder, this month’s Royal Foodie Joust is coming to an end, in terms of entries, however, the voting will begin today, so please don’t forget to come on over the The Foodie Blogroll/Leftover Queen Forum to cast the vote for your favorite entry (we have 3 categories to win in now!).

Now, the reason we are all here! Finest Foodies Friday!

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 to share ideas about all things food related. With a membership of almost 4000 food blogs, I am sure you can find much inspiration and new friends!

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.

Chef Tess Bakeresse
As many of you who read my blog know, over my years of blogging, I have developed a passion for baking bread. I love learning new recipes for quick and easy breads that don’t require a lot of kneading. However recently I have kind of grown to not even mind that too much. So when I come across a blog that focuses on bread, I always have to browse. But it is rare that I come across a blog with such beautiful bread – and trust me, you have to visit to see what I am talking about.

Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
This is a blog that is dedicated to mostly Italian American comfort foods! Now that is my kind of blog! Reeni blogs and cooks alongside her trusty assistant, Moon, the original Kitchen Cat. I am currently drooling over Dreamy Creamy Tuscan Soup and her Tomato and Onion White Pizza !

My Halal Kitchen
I must admit that I don’t know much about Halal. I have seen the word often when shopping in large outdoor markets like Boston and New York City. But I have learned quite a bit about it on this blog. I was attracted to this blog mainly because the dishes on it mostly focus on fresh ingredients, cooking from scratch and avoiding processed foods. So I would say that if you enjoy food s based on these principles, you will enjoy the recipes on this blog, whether you eat Halal or not.

Dairy Free Tried and True
A lot of us have some kind of food allergies or intolerance to deal with. I always marvel at food bloggers who are parents to children that have severe food allergies. For some of them, this is what spurred their interests in the culinary arts, for others, a new challenge to overcome in the kitchen. Either way, I find that over and over again, you can eat good and tasty food even when someone in your household deals with this issue. If you need some dairy free recipes, or just plain ‘ol kid friendly food, this is a great blog to check out.

The Cocoa Factor
Well two of my favorite things to read about are obviously food and dogs. So when I stumbled upon The Cocoa Factor, which is named after the author, Kerry’s dog Cocoa, I knew I wanted to read more. She has lots of nice recipes that feature mains, desserts and everything in between.

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!!!!!!
I know we all have our favorite blogs that we read everyday, and I would love to know about them. We have a very diverse food community, and I would love to see more of the blogs you love featured. We also have a lot of humanitarians out in the Foodie Blogosphere. If you think there is a food blogger out there that deserves a little recognition for their culinary skills, or what they are doing to help the world through the lens of food, please tell us about them!!! Please post your favorite Foodie Blogroll foodblogs here.

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! They would love to have your feedback.