Best of Blogs: 5 recipes to make right now

Something terrible happened the other week: my hard drive died. I realise there are greater tragedies and evils in this world, but it has been so difficult letting go of all the old writing, photos from our trip to Mexico and pictures of my little cat, Quincy, when she (yes, she) was still a kitten. In my obsessive backing up of my PhD, I neglected all those other things I didn't think about every day that were nevertheless so important. Like the photo of enchilades with mole poblano I was going to blog about next.

But every so often we must start over - whether by choice or not. So here goes. Seeing as I'm short on photos this week, I thought I'd tell you about five of the recipes that have kept me afloat from over the past couple of weeks - recipes from some of my favorite blogs. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

And do let me know if there's a recipe out there that's inspired you recently; it's a nice thing to be able to share.

1. Thick, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies at Smitten Kitchen

These are so, so good. I took Deb's advice and flash froze a bag of these: they're especially good as a study snack.

2. Roasted broccoli with shrimp at The Wednesday Chef

If you've never roasted broccoli before, let this be your introduction. The vegetable takes on an utterly addictive texture and there's no easier way to prepare prawns and make sure they cook to perfection.

3. Sour cream apple pie at Posie Gets Cozy

This wonderful, delicious pie and sweet website was brought to my attention by the crazy and hilarious kids at the food paparazzi. It is easy and makes the house smell wholesome when you bake it - what more could you want?

4. End of winter carrot and raisin salad at Homesick Texan

I turned to this about two weeks ago when I felt like coleslaw but didn't have any cabbage. This salad is so much more than the sum of its parts; it is sweet and juicy and refreshing. I served it with roast chicken, but it was awesome the next day for work lunch, too.

5.Banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping at Orangette

Everyone knows about Molly Wizenberg's beautiful blog, Orangette - but here's a link in case you haven't tried her Banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping. It is moist and deeply flavoured and truely the best banana bread I've ever come across.