**The Blissful Adventurer is running about Italy at the moment so in his stead we happily endorse and support the work of the following blogger, The Passionate Culinarian. Please check out this post, leave comments for exchange with the author, and give their blog a read.**

The Passionate Culinarian believes that cooking is a form of worship and should be treated as a blessing, not a burden. Long live the Family Table! He resides in a house overrun with estrogen, and longs for the day when he can get a male dog to eliminate the hormonal imbalance he daily contends with.

First: Grazie molto, fratello, per questa l'oportunita!

Now let's get dangerous.

How many cookbooks do you have? Whether you're a seasoned culinarian, or a newbie exploring the wonderfully strong world of food, I guarantee you have at least one cookbook. I have only 3 cookbooks that I rarely use. Most of my recipes were self-handwritten, on notebook paper, while learning to cook in Italy. I reference them when needed. As I pursue this passion of mine, the more I develop my own culinary identity. The cookbooks I have are merely guides.

Cookbooks prompt me to steal from another and reshape that booty into mine own. (Not that I am opposed to this. I encourage people to steal my recipes and make them into their own. I will hardly be offended.)

I mention all this because I detest reading the recipes of strangers. These 'famous people' cookbooks are written by people I will never meet. Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri? They're not even approachable. They are corporate, at best. A brand. A name. A commodity. *facepalm* They cheapen culinarianism for the sake of status.

Most of the cookbooks we read are lacking any familiarity of spirit, and are presented to us so we can vicariously achieve ' foodie rock-star status'. I have seen people say, "Well, this is a recipe I got from (insert some famous chef's name) and it's amazing!" Well...I mean...it's not their recipe, then. They are merely parroting someone else. Where's the passion? Where's the pride in ownership? Where's the culinary mindset? Be honest: Do you really need someone to tell you how to bake a chicken? There's only so many ways to do it, and we probably all know them.

If you want a real recipe, I know where you should go. I am speaking of the Foodie Bloggity-blog world.

Like having a conversation in real-time, when I read foodie blogs and their recipes, I feel as though I am there with them, learning about them. These are real people, with real blogs and real lives, and they use their precious time to share their culinary acumen and real-world culinary experiences. And the best part is, I can email them with questions or even leave a comment, that I know will be read, on their blog. I love that kind of interaction and approachability. It's so...not...corporate.

I harp on local organic farming and sustainable local organic food production quite a bit. I would rather know where, and from whom, my food is coming, instead of the cold and impersonal corporate food brainwashing and cheapened slavery that is readily available in grocery stores across our Nation. So it goes with recipes. I can buy a cookbook from someone I will never meet, hoping to eventually name-drop them when I mimic one of their recipes, or I can read and digest recipes from real foodies, with real food blogs, and embrace their passion and creativity.

I know I want others to view my blog in that light. I want others to visit, to read, to contemplate, and to steal from me by making my recipes theirs, with their own little something. Even Michael, here at TBA, has shared part of who and what he is through a recipe or two. I adore that.

Please, visit your approachable foodie bloggers and let them speak to you through a recipe. It matters.