Follow Fridays: Introduction and #Reading

In my first months of tweeting I learned about #FF which stands for Follow Friday. It’s a way to suggest to your followers who they might enjoy following on Twitter based on the fact that you like how they tweet. If you are starting out on Twitter it is also a great way to get your handle out there and show some appreciation for the people who keep you tweeting. Friday’s hold a special place in my heart thanks to Twitter and it is all because of #FF. Since I still tweet my series of #FF every week, I thought I would explain the people I typically suggest. Also, I wanted to extend the list beyond the 140 character limit to include the accounts I like but don’t always make room for on Fridays. For the next six or seven Fridays I will give you a post on Friday mornings with all the accounts I like in one overall category.

To begin with I always give a list of my favorite writers or sources labeled as #Reading. This list stays pretty consistent but changes depending on what I am reading that week. If the author, magazine or blog I’ve been into lately has a Twitter account I will always include them. So here is how I tend to get things rolling on Friday mornings:

@GaelGreene – Gael Greene is a food critic and author best known for her hats and sensual writing that blurs the line between food and sex. When I started tweeting as @culinarylibrari the second season of Top Chef Masters was airing so my love for Gael was just starting to bloom. After I read "Insatiable" this past fall my head was filled with all sorts of naughty ideas thanks to Gael. My appreciation fully bloomed and she has been on every #FF #Reading tweet since their inception.

@ruhlman – Around Christmastime I learned about Michael Ruhlman while watching Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations Holiday Special. I thought to myself—who is this handsome man with great knife skills and even better hair? After Googling him and finding a recipe for homemade English muffins on the first page of his site I knew I wanted to learn more about him. He is the author of a myriad of books about cooking and being a Chef in addition to the handful of books he has co-authored with the heavy hitters like Thomas Keller and Eric Ripert.

@immaculateinfat – Immaculate Infatuation = Chris Stang and Andrew Steinthal. The best restaurant reviews in New York City. Amusing and on-point writing. If you live in the city, you need to follow them.

Me and David Lebovitz

@davidlebovitz – To be completely honest, I don’t know how I didn’t start following David Lebovitz sooner. Cooking + French + Chez Panisse + Living in Paris? It’s crazy how long it took me to find out about him. After a giveaway from another favorite blog Always Order Dessert (@nandita below) I started reading his posts and devoured his book on the plane ride home from Paris. Needless to say—if you like my blog, you will really love David’s.

@thekitchn – I came by Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn after attending Kelsey Nixon’s Learning Annex class this past February. They post a lot during the day and I was also trying to get my Google Reader filled up at this point so it made for a good fit. Their Twitter feed highlights favorite posts throughout the day and is a good way to keep up if you don’t use an RSS feed. Be careful—at least ONE thing a day they post will make you drool! Be it a recipe, a kitchen tool or a huge dream kitchen that you never knew you wanted.

@nandita – Alejandra Ramos is one of my heroines! Through The Kitchn I found her blog when they posted her recipe for homemade sugar cubes. Ever since I’ve been hooked! She posts mouth-watering recipes, smart entertaining and kitchen tips and great writing that always has an interesting story. All in all she’s one of my favorite bloggers and tweeters!

@melanierehak – When I attended The Locavore’s Dilemma at the NYPL in the fall I had the pleasure of meeting the author of "Eating for Beginners", Melanie Rehak. I loved her book and she tweets like a true author. Also, she is working on a project involving Ralph Waldo Emerson. Not sure what it’s about yet but you can follow the account here: @dailyemerson

@wastedfood – Jonathan Bloom falls into the #FF category of #Reading as well as next week's category of #Activism. He blogs about food waste at Wasted Food and wrote the book "American Wasteland". In December I got to meet him at an Eating Liberally and NYU Food Studies event for his book and discussion about food waste and ways to prevent it. His tweets will include links to articles about how people are preventing waste, others about too much waste and some about fun things like whether or not a rotting plum is just a prune in the making.

@katflinn – Truly a favorite author of mine- I was happy to see that Kathleen Flinn is a devoted tweeter. She is the author of "The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry" and the upcoming "Kitchen Counter Cooking School". Her tweets are about food, Seattle, travel and lately her new French Fridays posts. Every Friday you will find a blog post about French cooking. The latest post was how to cook en papillote. Check back to her blog today for this weeks!

@diannej – Dianne Jacob is someone I really believe in because she writes about food writing. Author of the food writer’s bible “Will Write For Food” and blog of the same name, Jacob tweets links pertinent to food writing, writing in general and other food-related things she finds interesting. As far as I can tell she is an endless resource and a must-follow for anyone who writes about food.


@mrjonathandixon – The author of "Beaten Seared and Sauced" has yet to start fully riding on the Twitter bandwagon—but I do my best to encourage him! Jonathan Dixon wrote his great book about attending the CIA and is overall a fantastic writer (just look at his article on GiltTaste). Follow him and encourage him to start tweeting more! (And my post about his book and book discussion is the most read on my blog!)

And the top Food Magazines for #Reading:

@bonappetitmag – Bon Appetit Magazine

@saveurmag – Saveur Magazine

@fandw – Food & Wine Magzine


Next Week: #FF #Activism
Not following me on Twitter yet?: @culinarylibrari