Now let me be the first one to say I love Paula Deen. She's fat, fun and fabulous. And I love that she offers the occasional vegetarian southern recipe. But I was watching the Food Network the other day, and she made the most haram, trayfe, vile sea-insect concoction I've seen. It was crab-stuffed butterflied shrimp, rolled in bacon and broiled. It made my stomach turn, but at the same time it got my mind working.

First of all, there really should be at least one vegetarian cooking show on Food Network. Then, there really oughta be a Black cooking show on Food Network as well. Perhaps I ask for too much?

Growing up I wasn't allowed to watch much TV, but I could watch PBS, and had it been around in those days I could've watched Food Network. I loved to watch Justin Wilson, that crazy Cajun man, cook up. Another favorite was the Galloping Gourmet, not to mention Julia Child and Martin Yan. Basically I gleaned a lot of my culinary skills from watching these shows, and I learned how to modify recipes from pork-full to pork-free. People love my veggie Jambalaya and my vegetarian Cornbread Dressing, especially when I include the Morningstar veggie sausage products. No one misses the meat.

There are some good cookbooks out there, but once a cookbook is printed, it's dead (at least until another edition is printed). And while I'm certainly not one to follow food trends, there's definitely something to be said for all the new products being introduced, not to mention all the great markets like Whole Foods and local co-ops who carry items you don't see in Ralphs, Rainbow, Vons or Cub Foods.

So what does all this have to do with Hip Hop? I'm a Hip Hop chef! I've cooked for Hieroglyphics, Dilated Peoples, Self Scientific, dead prez, DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill, KMD, and many more artists that I've interviewed. I'm working on a cookbook about these recipes and more as we speak.

You know, my blogging experience really began on a food blog. The Julie/Julia project on Salon.com filled my boring days working reception with exciting food-related reading. So I wanted to find some more food blogs. And I've compiled some of the really good ones here for ya'll.

The Pie Queen

Restaurant Whore

Delicious Paths

The Soul Fusion Kitchen

Burning My Fingers

The Cheese Diaries

The Cracked Cauldron

And this, a most comprehensive list of food-related blogs and websites can be found here at KipLog