This blog is built on the Wordpress engine. I’ve used it for years, but when version 2.5.1 came out I was truly pleased and impressed. I also use the following Wordpress plugins:

• Akismet - this comment spam filter comes with Wordpress and has literally saved me hours of time.
• Photodropper - this plugin makes it easy to search through Flickr photos and add them to posts.
• Secure and Accessible PHP Contact Form - this runs the contact form for this site.
• Feedburner Feedsmith - redirects the Wordpress RSS feeds to the version managed through Feedburner

I handled the design myself, but the inspiration for it was the pestle and mortar photograph that I found on iStockphoto from trigga.