Around the internet.

• NAO UEDA
• PERFECT PICKINGS: For pesto

I have a lot of competition out there, so I have to stay sharp. And I have a soft spot for our local blogs, too. After all, if it wasn't for Max's benevolence (and perhaps my utter persistence) chances are I'd still be writing Tie Dye Travels in relative obscurity and be begging for any sort of mention in Eat Arkansas.

Michael Roberts is stepping up over at Arkansas Foodies. He went out and covered the Guns & Hoses Chili Cookoff this past weekend. There are reviews and recipes to be found on his site. Pretty good job.

The anonymous Fort Smith Eats just came out with a Readers Choice for locally owned restaurants, based on the idea of each reader picking their three favorite restaurants to spend money at in the city. It's a pretty interesting idea — go read about the whole 3/50 idea.

More blog recommendations on the jump.

• CHET ROBERSON
• PIZZA DIP: Town Pump's creation

Another new entry in the local food blogger movement is Knife Fight Food Blog with Chet Roberson. As far as food photos go, Chet's pretty decent, and you can tell he tries just about everything he can get his hands on. It's more of a manfood sort of blog than I could righteously write, but that's not a bad thing. I'll be watching this one with interest.

I really meant to get to Nao's latest post over on GreenAR By The Day up last week, but life got in the way. She's got another great one, this time preservation methods for homemade pesto. Fabulous.

Did you know the state of Arkansas has a culinary blog? Indeed, you can find it here. See, there are other people who explore around the state in search of good food. I'm not nuts, right?

I know Rex has been busy, so I won't get onto him for not doing a whole lot of updating on his Southern Fried Blog. But I will point out this post that'll take you down memory lane. Stay tuned, Rex — I'm gonna talk about one of those places tomorrow.

An interesting new find for me has been the Real Food in Little Rock blog by the folks from the Weston A. Price Foundation. Full of good recipes and good ideas about eating locally, I'm going to head back here on a more regular basis. This bit on an all-Arkansas chicken dinner is a winner.