I wrote on my personal blog a few weeks ago about the decline in relevance of the venerable Gourmet magazine and the alarming blurring of the line between the magazine’s editorial copy and advertising, and I had two interesting responses from Jeff, who brought up, as an aside, this “Whining & Dining” blog. Here are excerpts from his second post:

There are many blogs out there devoted to food and what we would like Gourmet or Bon Appetit to really be like – basically not selling a lifestyle … but all about the food!
Blogs like W&D are fairly similar to NY Times, SF Chronicle, etc, and are very useful for the local buzz on the restaurant scene, farmer’s market finds, the local grocery now carries great new ingredients, etc, but aren’t necessarily like some food blogs that are strictly related to the food, cooking, recipes, ingredient sourcing, etc.

I think what Jeff is distinguishing between here are blogs that are primarily newsy and blogs that are primarily about the process of cooking particular dishes, recipes and so on.

Which kind of blog is “Whining & Dining,” and what would you readers of “Whining & Dining” like it to be? Or is “W&D” a combination of both types of blog? And is that O.K.? Jennifer and I seem to be pretty comfortable with the way we’re doing things now, but we like to hear from our readers, too.

Look at the posts that have gotten the most responses (over 20) since May:
5/24: Why Do Restaurants Close? 30 responses.
7/11: It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Burger. 31 responses.
7/19: Smoking. 22. (That is, smoking in restaurants and bars.)
7/23: First Bite: Circa. 29.
7/25: Ciao, Bella (for now, anyway). 23.
6/27: Our favorite ethnic restaurants. 21.
6/27: Can I get a steak right? 47.
6/11: Strip mall and stars. 27.
8/17: Once more, to the stars. 52. (More on the CA restaurant rating system.)
8/21: Chain restaurants. 48.
8/23: Food we lie about. 38.
8/24: This morning’s review of Circa. 58.
8/29: Sigh: Those Yankees. 33. (About reviews of Justin Timberlake’s restaurant in New York.)
9/4: Restaurants We Miss. 67.
9/20: I call it tasting, he calls it theft. 24. (Sampling grapes in the grocery store.)
9/25: Now this makes me mad. 46. (About being charged for condiments in restaurants.)
10/2: Harrah’s puts money on Paula. 36. (Wow, do a lot of people ever hate Paula Deen!)

You will notice immediately that most of these popular posts were about dining in restaurants, service in restaurants, nostalgia for restaurants and thinking about, talking about and criticising restaurants.

While people clearly enjoy the other topics that Jennifer and I touch on — food finds, shopping for food, southern cooking and so on — I think that this list tells us what readers look for on the W&D blog.

I’m writing my story about country stores that’s running in next week’s food section, and my mind keeps wandering back to Gafford’s store, the main country store in the tiny town where my grandparents lived. Mr. Gafford was a retired college professor who moved to Gallaway and opened a store, before I was born, I guess. The store was on the same side of the street as my grandparents’ house, plus Mr. Gafford lived across the street from them, so I was allowed to walk there by myself.

But–my memory isn’t completely clear why–I was NEVER to go to a competing store. Whether it was across the street (please, the street was hardly traveled back then) or that the store was unsuitable for a young girl (I’ve always had it in my head that the proprietor DRANK ON THE JOB, but that could just be a story I invented), it was off-limits to me. Too bad that I had such a weakness for blue freeze pops that I would defy my grandmother on occasion and go anyway. I don’t know why Mr. Gafford didn’t have the blue ones.

One day I went home and she asked me where I’d been and I said I’d gone to Mr. Gafford’s. She told me flat out that I was lying, I was busted, and to go get a switch. This scenario played out more than once, but I finally caught on: If I was going to eat a blue popsicle, I’d darn sure better stay away from her until the blue wore off my mouth! But it took me a good while, and all that time I just thought she was all-powerful and all-knowing. And had one mean switch hand.

I consider myself an honest person. I don’t lie, don’t take fake sick days, don’t cheat on my taxes–and I never shoplifted, not even when I was a kid. But it turns out that my friend and colleague James Dowd thinks that I’m stealing because I taste a grape in the store before I buy a bunch. One grape.

I disagree–but I might be wrong. I don’t taste oranges, for example. Or blueberries, strawberries or even cherries. On the other hand, I can usually tell if cherries are good by looking, and if you get the berries home and they’re sour, you can always toss them in a little sugar. Sour or bitter grapes just have to go in the trash or back to the store, and the last thing I have time to do is return items to the grocery.

Ideally, grocers would not sell produce that’s not primo, but we all know that’s not the case. Tell me where you stand on this–are you a taster, too, or am I a thief? (Or do you taste and think we’re both thieves?) Don’t even get started on sanitation–I wipe the grape off first and truly, I’m not so delicate that I’m scared of a little grape germ.

Grocers, I want to hear what you think, too.

I went to Super-Lo on Colonial this weekend to pick up the rare roast beef I like so much and ended up buying a few prepared dishes for my mother-in-law. There’s a huge assortment of individual-size servings available in grab-and-go. I asked a woman who was shopping if she’s ever tried the food and she said yes, that it was great, and that “they write about them in the paper all the time.” Well, that was good enough for me…

I bought a few things for M-I-L and she liked them, so I went back. Yesterday afternoon I bought a quart of pork pot roast for $6.99 from the deli counter and we had it for dinner last night–and it was delicious. The woman who works there told me they make everything from scratch right in the store. I’m going to get more information; meanwhile, what are some of your favorite grocery take-outs?

Fredric and I are both out this week, but I’m in town and if something blog-worthy comes up, I’ll post. Meanwhile, enjoy each other. Here’s a topic germane to my plans for the rest of the week, which includes cleaning out closets. I’m starting by getting rid (well, packing up, since I’ve got a younger cousin who just bought a new house) of every useless kitchen gadget I have.

Rice steamer? Gone. Cappuccino maker? Buh-bye. Crock pots? One of you gets to stay. Fish poacher, you’re outta here.

Even though I remodeled my kitchen two years ago, it’s splitting at the seams. If an appliance doesn’t do double-duty, it’s gone. And if I can do the same thing in a pot or pan, out it goes. Plus I can’t even tell you how many serving platters and bowls are taking up room in my pantry, some mine, some that belong to others who bring a dish to the house and forget to take it home.

But there are some things I’d never abandon: My food processor (I actually have two Cuisinarts, a 7-cup and a 14-cup, and although the small one is in a box in the attic, I can access it if I need it), my KitchenAid, and my citrus press.

Well, no boxes are packing themselves… Have a nice week.

OK, so Fredric likes Schnucks sour cream doughnuts but he calls them Seessel's, and Fred's accusing him of really longing for Seessel's ladyfingers. It just makes me long for a good all-purpose grocery. The three things I miss most about Seessel's are the turtle cookies, the petit fours, and the Canasta cake. And the really rare roast beef in the deli. Why, oh why, can't we have a Seessel's?

Throughout the day our Web site and our blogs are going to be getting a new look. Shouldn’t cause any problems, but if you try to post and find you’re not getting through, be patient. All will work out fine…

I’m back from vacation and I see you guys have been busy! I’ve got comments to add to your comments, and I’ll get to those sometime today. But first I want to let y’all know what’s going on when you get an e-mail saying your comment is awaiting moderation. If you’re a new blogger (or an existing blogger posting under a new name), your comment won’t show up on the blog until I’ve had a chance to OK it. It’s designed to stop spam.

I get an e-mail telling me there a comment awaiting moderation, and as soon as I see it, I approve it. During the day this happens quickly, but at night, over the weekend or when I’m on vacation, it’ll take a little longer. Don’t worry, though–unless you’re spamming us or trying to sell something, it’ll happen…

Well, I made the mint juleps–FINALLY–and now I’ll never have to do it again! As you can see, they were pretty, but I didn’t care for them. I also made Benedictine, the cucumber and cream cheese spread, and that we loved. I even dyed it green. Then we watched the Derby, which was pretty amazing (particularly that overhead shot that showed how Street Sense came from 19 to take the lead) and toasted the winning horse..
And we dished on the queen, in her lime green and fuschia get-up–my mother-in-law didn’t care for it–which made it fun. And, most importantly, I took some pictures and learned to download them on the new blog software, so from now on, I’ll have photos with some posts

In a recent comment, Jeff basically told me to hit the road, get lost, let somebody else work this space, somebody who is in Memphis, somebody like Fredric Koeppel… gotta say, it stung.

But on reflection, and given the hectic pace of my work/eating load in Seattle, I think I’m going to take Jeff’s advice and bow out. For now… you never know what the future holds.

Hopefully, some of you will follow me on my eating adventures in the NW on the Post-Intelligencer’s site.

It sure was fun while it lasted…