Cooking and exploring food has been a passion of mine for many years. I used to bake all kinds of things from a very early age because my mom refused that chore. To me, it was a pleasure. There is no other feeling like conquering a complicated recipe in a fearless way. A blog that exemplifies this is eat make read created by Kelly Carambula.

Kelly is a graphic designer, but her wonderful blog is full of food, recipes, information and inspiration. Plus, some darn good photography. That’s one of Kelly’s fabulous images above. One of her endearing qualities to me is that she is a self-professed picky eater from way back. You would never guess that fact on any given post with the colors and variety of foods she uses. It gives me hope for my two little boys who fall apart at the site of a mini broccoli tree.

eat make read is a big proponent of local food. Kelly declared a Market Week for herself in July and invited her readers to join in. The objective was:

Over the weekend purchase all your groceries at your local farmer’s market (or farmer’s stand or your own garden) and create 5 dinners using market ingredients. You may use flour, oil and spices from your cupboard, but the goal is to create market-focused meals.

Market Week was great motivation to go out and try meal planning strictly from the local farmer’s market. I was able to do a few meals using my market ingredients and some herbs from my garden. It’s a great feeling to support local growers and be rewarded at the same time with the food’s freshness.

Now, this girl is after my own heart, because she also has the most intoxicating recipes for cocktails! I don’t mean they get you drunker – Kelly uses fresh ingredients to create some of the yummiest drinks. She tried some homemade vodka infusions (I can’t wait to try the Peanut Infused Vodka), a frothy mint lemonade and homemade ginger ale!

I could go on and on, so why don’t you jump on over to Kelly’s blog here. All of your senses will thank you.