What's for dinner, Ann Arbor? In the past, I might have flipped through a cookbook or the latest issue of Bon Appétit to answer that question. And sure, if I have a particular idea in mind, I'll check one of my favorite cookbooks for the recipe. But these days when I'm looking for inspiration, my new default go-to is the plethora of food bloggers we have in Ann Arbor.

I can't tell you how many times I've carried my laptop into the kitchen and cooked right from the latest edition of Peggy Lampman's dinnerFeed. The recipe will catch my eye while I'm at work and I'll stop by the grocery store on my way home to pick up the ingredients. If (when) I forget to make a grocery list, I can always access the recipe on my BlackBerry right there in the store.

Cooking from blogs is fun because you don't just get ingredients and instruction; you get a story. Here's what I tried. Here's what didn't work. Here's one my kids will actually eat. Here's the recipe that made my boyfriend propose to me. 

But cooking from local blogs gives you additional information. I've gotten tips on what produce or protein is on sale at which grocery stores. Also, many local bloggers focus on in-season and local ingredients, which is extremely helpful when you're trying to be mindful of where your food comes from.

One of my favorite recent meals was inspired by the Ann Arbor food blog Gastronomical Three. They're back to posting about food after a few month hiatus and one of their most recent posts was a recipe for panade that they called, "one of the most homely dishes ever to appear in these digital pages."

Homely though it might be, this panade called for stale artisan bread, onions, chicken broth, greens and gruyere cheese — and promised to be easy. Easy and cheesy. Is there anything better? Artisan bread, onions and gruyere cheese are three things I always have in my kitchen, and I had some homemade chicken broth in the freezer. A quick trip to the store for some dino kale and I was ready to go. Just a little bit of effort, a little more time and I had a delicious winter meal.

A few days later I made my first homemade pizza dough, but not before consulting a blog post from the Ann Arbor food blog Mother's Kitchen. I like to think that she did all the research for me, and I got to learn from her trials and errors.

So next time you're looking for dinner inspiration, spend a few minutes with your local food bloggers. You might be surprised by what they are cooking up. I've shared a few of my favorite local blogs below, but feel free to share your own in the comments!

Jessica Webster coordinates Food & Drink and Books coverage for AnnArbor.com and is part of the Community Team. Contact her at jessicawebster@annarbor.com.