| With Thanksgiving around the bend, foodies everywhere are gearing up for Super Thursday (Nov. 27), as it were. For my part, I’ve been collecting an arsenal of food magazines for inspiration, but there’s one I end up going to time and again. Maybe it’s because I used to work for the magazine (in the home design department), but Better Homes and Gardens has in recent memory been featuring holiday food that’s more creative and doable than most. (This year’s focus? Updating classic recipes. Green Beans with Lime or Ginger Pumpkin Meringue Pie, anyone?)
 I lean on such quality food magazines (including Gourmet, Saveur, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Martha Stewart Living) because of all the testing that goes into each recipe to ensure it’s fool proof. That’s really appreciated when money and time are precious.
When I’m not getting the skinny from magazines on how to tempt my friends and loved ones into eating our way into food nirvana, I’m apt to be reading any number of food blogs that provide up-to-the-minute news and opinions about food, restaurants, the eating culture and more.
 That said, I know we can’t all dine together this holiday season, but at least we can all read together. I hope you find a delicious topic buried within the magazines I’ve mentioned above, as well as the instantly accessible blogs below. (For me? My most recent fixation comes from BreadBasketCase.com. Thanks to a scintillating photo of some biscuits she recently made, I just ordered Dorie Greenspan’s baking book to get the recipe.) I guess it’s true that on the Web, one good turn really does leads to another.
- The Kitchn: Yes, that’s how it’s spelled. And bookmark it for great recipes. (I especially love Elizabeth Passarella‘s fine insight and writing.)
- Serious Eats: By writer Ed Levine; one of the best, most topical ones going.
- The Amateur Gourmet : By Adam Roberts; a very funny writer.
- The Food Section: Gourmet calls this “the consummate gastronomic blog”; very newsy.
- Matt Bites: A fave of Martha Stewart; a self-described “man obsessed with food, drink, and everything in between.”
- Leite’s Culinaria: Described as “Hot food, dry wit.” Dead on.
- Delicious Days: Voted by Time as one of the “50 coolest Web sites.” Luscious photography.
- Eddie Ross: A designer who was a contestant on Bravo’s “Top Design“; he used to work with Martha Stewart before going to culinary school; he now focuses on entertaining with style.
- Smitten Kitchen: Features excellent how-to shots and seasonally focused food.
- Orangette: Gorgeous photography; nice writing.
- Chocolate and Zucchini: By Parisian Clotilde Dusoulier, this is an English-language blog offering captivating insights into both fresh food and decadent respites. Fun music spotlights.
- Breadbasket Case: Written by Marie Wolf of Minneapolis, who focuses a lot on baking.
- Dorie Greenspan: She’s co-authored books with Julia Child and really knows her stuff, especially about baking.
- Tasting Menu: A Seattle-based duo teams up for interesting takes (thoughts and photos) on food.
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One of the holiday ornaments I cherish the most is a little red chair in the Chinese Chippendale style. I found it in an antiques shop several years ago, and though the piece isn’t old, and not intended as a tree ornament, I love the attitude it reflects, and keep it displayed somewhere in my house most of the year.Looking at it in tandem with the droves of home furnishings catalogs that have arrived this season—many with pieces reflecting similar style influences—has me thinking about the whole Chinese Chippendale influence on modern furnishings. And that’s led me to dig deeper into the Chinese Chippendale style.The main thing to know is that the squarish and stalwart, beautifully carved mahogany pieces created by 
Bleached oak Louis XVI chair from 
Carved light wood six-arm 
A scene from the Rob Dailey-designed 
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