Not Eating Out in New York

There are thousands of cooking blogs -- we bring you highlights from the best.

In September 2006, Cathy Erway made a decision that caused fellow New Yorkers question her sanity: she stopped eating out. Entirely. No more street food, no more bar snacks, no more celebratory meals, no more New York pizza. Nothing. Like any respectable home cook, she started chronicling her home cooking on a blog -- Not Eating Out in New York. With health and sustainability in mind, Cathy rates all of her recipes with brownie points, which quantify each recipe in terms of health (1 is good... her 11 brownie chocolate cake is lethal); maple leaves which rate the recipe's green-ness; and cost. Her most recent post, Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Arugula and Hazelnuts (2 brownie points, 7 maple leaves, total cost $2.70) is a seasonal dish that walks you through adapting a classic recipe for gnocchi made with sweet potatoes. In February 2010, Gotham/Penguin will publish her memoir, titled "The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove". Check out her site, it puts the rest of us takeout-loving New Yorkers to shame. -Helen