Amuse Bouche

Are you a whiz in the scullery, but without an outlet for your culinary talents? Then online cook-off ismyblogburning.com (IMBB) is for you.

Every month, food bloggers congregate in this virtual kitchen to share recipes based around a single ingredient or cooking style, and a host collates the entries, resulting in an eclectic cybercookbook. Some bloggers are professional chefs, some are hobbyists; some have 10 readers a day, some 10,000. But all are passionate.

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Santos, a Guam-based foodie who runs the Scent of Green Bananas blog (scentofgreenbananas.blogspot.com), has taken part in the cook-offs twice to "try out recipes from a few bloggers whose tastes are similar to mine." Amy, of San Francisco's Cooking with Amy (cookingwithamy.blogspot.com), does the same. "Each time, I use the event to try something I haven't done before," says the brand consultant and blogger. "And it's fun."

According to IMBB founder and Il Forno baking-blog author Alberto (ilforno.typepad.com), fun is precisely the point. "Starting IMBB was a bit like organizing a party," he says. "What makes you happy is seeing how your guests enjoy themselves." If you're hungry for more, IMBB welcomes e-mailed contributions, and you don't need to keep a blog to participate.