Adopt-a-Blogger 2 is quickly approaching the end of its first month. I hope that all of you are enjoying the relationships you are building and are learning a lot from each other!

When this round of Adopt-a-Blogger started, I gave you all a brief introduction to my adoptee, but I think it is high time that Jessica from Apples and Butter gets a formal introduction from me. Jessica has a beautiful blog. She is a great writer and is a pro at food photography! I can’t believe how good her pictures are considering she has only been blogging for four months. I asked Jessica a few questions so that we could all get to know her better. At the end of the interview, I have a challenge for all of my readers, so please check it out and leave your feedback in the comments section on this post.

Without further ado, please welcome Jessica from Apples and Butter to the food blogging community!

If you had to describe your blog in one paragraph, how would you describe it?

Apples and Butter is about finding the balance between healthy cooking (an apple a day keeps the doctor away) and rich foods (butter). I’ve done both extremes of the spectrum – cooking all rich foods, or trying to be healthy all the time – and neither one left me very satisfied. So, here I am, trying to find balance. At the end of the day, I hope Apples and Butter is really just about good food and beautiful food photography.

When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging in June of 2008. I have wanted to start a food blog for years and after taking some pictures in my garden one day and making food from some of the same things I had photographed, I thought – you know what? Today is the day. I’m starting a blog. It was planned for years, yet very spontaneous at the same time.

Is there anything about the blogging world that frustrates you?

Sometimes I get a bit frustrated with the technology side of it. While I consider myself pretty tech savvy, I’m a long way away from learning how to write html and work on the design of my site. In that sense, I’m still really limited.

What have you enjoyed best about blogging?

I have really enjoyed how consistently Apples and Butter has kept me cooking. I love nothing more than being in the kitchen, but with my busy life, sometimes a whole week would go by without my making much more than a quick weeknight meal. Apples and Butter has given me a reason to put in the extra effort and I have been so much happier as a result. I also have enjoyed getting to know some of the other food bloggers out there who are as obsessed with food as I am!

Do you have any other hobbies? If so, what are they?

Cooking is absolutely my main hobby. It’s what my friends know me for. It’s why I bring my own knives with me on vacation – so I can cook in the downtime. It’s why when my family gets together, the first question is always – what’s on the menu?

What are some of your favorite websites?

Smitten Kitchen

Dine and Dish

The Leftover Queen

Life Lightly Salted

If you knew someone who had been blogging for less time than you, what advice would you offer them?

Dive right on in! The food blogging community is a great place with a ton of people waiting to read your stuff and compare recipes. Just know that to get the love you have to give the love! Make sure and visit lots of sights to let people know what you think of their cooking.

What are three things you hope to get out of the Adopt a Blogger program?

Kristen has an amazing site with a beautiful design and clearly a large audience. I am really excited to hear some of her tips on growing Apples and Butter and making it look like a beautiful and professional site!

Kristen here again. Isn’t she great? I’m so excited to be her Adopt-a-Blogger mama! Now, this is where you all come in. Jessica has a ton of really great recipes on her site. I want you to go take a look at what she has to offer (and please leave her a comment to say hi!), and then come back here and in the comment section of this post choose what one recipe of hers should be the first one that I make? The recipe with the highest number of “votes” will be the first Apples and Butter recipe I feature on Dine & Dish.

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I feel like I used to have a good finger on the pulse of who all was blogging. I felt like I knew a lot of you through your blogs and was fairly involved in the community. Things changed, I got swamped with life and had to step back on my involvement for a bit. Now, when I go food blog hopping, I am amazed to find a number of food bloggers who have been doing this for awhile who I am not even aware of! Blink your eyes around these parts and things change like the wind.

Food Blogging events are creeping up everywhere. New ones, old ones… they are still going strong and involvement is more triumphant than ever. It is such a neat thing to watch.

Because of this continuing upswing trend in food blogging, I have decided to bring back, by popular request, the Adopt a Blogger event. I’m going to change things around some… some new rules which equals some new fun! I’ll be posting about this next week, so keep your eyes on Dine & Dish to get involved.

As a part of my goal to get re-immersed into the food blogging community, I am also submitting these delicious shortcakes as an entry to one of my favorite food blogging events. Sugar High Friday… an oldie but goodie! With the theme as “berries”, how could I resist? Head on over to Susan of Food Blogga’s blog to check out the other delicious berry entries.

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