Fatemeh tells us how to eat well on a cruise.

Seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it? People always tell you that you don't cruise for the "quality" of the food, but the "quantity". And truth be told, food was our greatest concern when we booked our vacation -- would we find ourselves eating room service BLTs every night instead of abysmal beef Wellington and fake-ice-cream baked Alaska?

I have to admit that I am not a very big cupcake fan. I think it's because their flavor is often disappointing and they look much prettier than they taste. However, the Cupcakes of Love made by pastrygirl seem to have both flavor and beauty. Check them out!

These cupcakes were born of serendipity in my pastry school days, when I would go through my refrigerator and find containers full of leftover pastry cream, tart dough, and other things from class that I was sure I could find a use for. I had some hazelnut mousseline left over from a cake, some coffee buttercream from an opera cake, and decided on the spur of the moment to combine the two into a decadent cupcake. The result has become a favorite of my boyfriend, which is why they are called Cupcakes of Love, and a reminder of the unexpected happiness you can find when you appreciate the good things you've already got.

With ethical eating becoming more mainstream, there has been a plethora of books on the subject. After Derrick's excellent review of The Ethical Gourmet, I think this is one book that I won't feel compelled to read.

The book invites comparison with The Omnivore's Dilemma and Pollan's book makes Weinstein's look like the earnest essay of a college freshman. Pollan's book fills in every detail of our food chain, taking no knowledge for granted. Weinstein's book skates around large topics with hands behind his back—"This is not meant to be an exposé about the technique of veal manufacture, foie gras creation, or chicken farming. These stories are frequently reported in the news." But they're not reported. Or they're poorly reported. And he does nothing to change that.

After declaring "this is not a food blog," Molly from Spicetart brings us a fun picture of baby Ivy and an entertaining post about her 6-month old's eating habits.

I was sure a food lover like myself would pop out a foodie, I mean, how could my daughter not appreciate a beautifully roasted, then pureed, then food-milled acorn squash? I confess that I didn't really truly appreciate food until I was well into my 20s. I mean, I ate food and enjoyed a good burrito like anyone else, but I didn't start obsessing over summer tomatoes and the perfect meatball sandwich until I was in college. Even then, I truly didn't enjoy cooking until I moved to LA and discovered Whole Foods and Gelsons, yet I did expect that my baby would have a refined palate at the age of 6 months. A sure sign her palate is not yet that sophisticated: she actually eats the rice cereal and she also loves chewing on paper. Sigh. I guess we have a ways to go.