Lovely Internet 9.12.14

1. I love my front porch. It’s my favorite place to sit, read, take business calls, drink a coffee (or a cocktail), and watch my neighborhood. Long live porch sitting!

2. This past winter I contributed 50 recipes to a DK project- The Meat Cookbook, which came out this month!

3. It takes a lot of bravery to be totally honest like this. The past few years I have often struggled with the balance of blogging and freelance and finding a way to remember the joy when sometimes it feels like you’re just gutting through your to-do list because you have to, not because you want to. It’s a result of blogging weekly for years on end, and I completely respect John and Sherry for putting so eloquently what I have often felt (and know a lot of other fellow bloggers have felt).

4. How fake is food styling?

5. I always knew Italian women had it right.

6. How pimento cheese became an iconic Southern food.

7. I bought my first iPod in 2004, right after I graduated from high school. Its name was Chanandeler Bong and he served me faithfully until 2008, when I bought my first iPhone. Rest in peace, iPods.

8. Do you love food festivals?

9 The Evil Reign of the Red Delicious

10. I remember, very clearly, sitting in Señor Moreno’s Spanish class when one of the Beason sisters, Carrie maybe, came to tell us that a plane had flown into the WTC. Later, watching the videos of the second plane over and over again, I remember noticing just how blue the sky was that day.

For more tidbits from Elena the person, follow me on twitter (@elenabrent or @biscuitsandsuch), instagram, pinterest or facebook. Subscribe to my bloglovin’ feed to make sure you never miss a post. Follow along with MissElenaeous for thoughts on everything other than Southern food.