Blog Review: Bitchin' in the Kitchen

After going through the titles and perusing the ones with interesting titles, I decided to review "Bitchin' in the Kitchen with Rosie."  If you are so inclined, you can check out her blog yourself at http://rosieskitchen.blogspot.com.

1. Rosie's blog is a combination of recipes, recipe reviews, experiences with recipes, a couple cookbook reviews, general journal-type entries, and rants.  There was a lengthy entry devoted to her and her husband's trip to the West Coast that included a travelogue of sorts in addition to the food she tried while on vacation.  There are a few pictures.  The first one is of her (I think) and a friend pretending to drink their own individual bottles of liquor, a bunch from her trip, and a couple of the various cookies she made (or tried to make) for the holidays.

I like the general layout because it isn't  excessively littered with colors, patterns, or hard-to-read-fonts.  I am all for personal style and decoration, but it is hard to read something that has so much going on around it, so I commend Rosie on keeping the design simple.

2. The main purpose of Rosie's blog appears to be keeping family, friends, etc. updated on what is going on in her life.  As mentioned before, there is a quite a bit about recipes and food but she also talked about how excited she was to buy a house (with a GAS stove).  In regards to the information and reviews of recipes, restaurants, and other food related posts, Rosie wants to share her love of food with anyone who is interested.  Some of her posts are dedicated to restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, so perhaps she wants her neighbors to branch out a discover what their city has to offer.  She is especially excited about a doughnut shop called Audino's that brought back childhood memories of eating "fried dough."  She had extensive photos of the donuts, the woman who made the donuts, and the buildings.  Not all of Rosie's posts contain a picture so it's clear she really wanted to point out how great she thinks these doughnuts are.

Speaking of photos...I'll talk more about these since the topic came up.  The photos include things that I think Rosie finds impressive.  She and her husband went to the San Magherita market and had a polish sausage sandwich like no other.  She documented the process of making the sandwich and then the sandwich itself so the reader could see the size of it in comparison to a candy bar (which was dwarfed by the sandwich, by the way).  There are also close-ups of cookie sheets with rows of freshly baked cookies or just the cookie itself.  Shots like this seem to be a staple of food blogs.  Perhaps it adds credibility...a good photo of food means that you know what you're talking about when it comes to food. 

I think another purpose of her blog is entertainment.  Not for others, but for herself.  The tone will be discussed shortly, but the tone suggests that Rosie enjoys writing the blog as much as she wants others to enjoy it.  I get the feeling she cracks herself up with some of the things she has written.

3.  Photos...see above

4. Rosie's tone is conversational, playful, sarcastic, and sometimes full of slang.  She loves to say "dammit" a lot.  Given the title of her blog, it is safe to say that mild profanity is scattered throughout the blog.  At one point, she tells her readers that larger pieces of walnuts are a "bitch to cut."  She makes a joke about her husband being a male stripper and refers to him as a "smartass" in her biography.  Then there is the entry of being "anti-food porn" that I will discuss later.  See what I mean about the blog being written for her amusement?  I think she gets a kick out of this.  I don't think this negates any of her credibility as someone who knows food, but it does get a little excessive at times and can be a bit of a turn off.

5.  Here's the information given about Rosie:  She is in her mid-forties, lives in Columbus, is a recent first-time home buyer, she loves to cook, try recipes, and enjoy an occasional drink.  Some of which are documented on her blog.  She appears to go on a vacation once a year, some more exotic than others.  I don't think she and her husband struggle financially, but they definitely would not be considered wealthy.  In the post about getting the house, Rosie shared how she and her husband were able to get it with the help from this company that specializes in first-time home buyers.

She seems to be proud to be from Columbus given her interest in local eateries and her efforts to bring attention to them.

Rosie seems to appreciate simple things...a well made sandwich, discovering a little cafe, a well baked cookie.  But she is also quite sassy.

6. I have a feeling Pierre Bourdieu would pass some judgment on Rosie.  He would say that his theory of income being related to the food one eats holds true for this blogger.  Bourdieu would expect a blog from someone of the working class to be about doughnuts, sandwich shops, fried chicken, and local burger joints since this food can probably be categorized as more working and middle class than the upper class.  Also, Rosie goes on quite a rant at one point where she criticizes a cookbook for having beautifully styled photos of food but the recipes were expensive and the food did not live up to her expectations causing her to rant about food looking good vs. tasting good.  According to Bourdieu, if Rosie was of the upper class she would have appreciated the stylized small portion of food.  In regards to Rosie, Boudieu's theory is flawed when he talks about the "taste" of the various classes and how the upper class has more "freedom" while those who are not so privileged "have a taste for what they are anyway condemned to."  I have a feeling Rosie would take offense to that (as many people would to Bourdieu's theory).  She has posts about visiting Asian and Middle Eastern Markets in the winter since they have a better selection of fresh produce.  She has experimented with Bok Choy and ghost peppers and goes to little cafes to interact with other "foodies." 

I would say that Bourdieu would explain that by insisting that Rosie is trying to be someone she is not since she is venturing into cuisines not "meant" for someone of her class.  Let me be clear, BOURDIEU would say that NOT Kim Oclon.