Where Do You Get Your Recipes?
by Ashley Ramsey on 02/27/2009 at 2:14 PM
Motte's post about eating less spurred a little food-related web-browsing for me. I learned that the majority of Americans are just as lazy as I am. Not too many of us actually cook meals and even fewer use a recipe to do it. Nanci Hellmich from USA TODAY reports that:
Only four out of 10 meal preparers use a recipe at least once a week to make some kind of dish, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm, which surveyed 3,000 adults as part of its Kitchen Audit survey. That means 60% won’t use a recipe this week, says NPD’s Harry Balzer.
I broke my lazy streak last week and made two dishes that called for a recipe: baked oatmeal and balsamic vinaigrette quinoa. Both recipes were from the internet. My Macbook was open on the kitchen table. I was haphazardly sprinkling brown sugar into my keys while Pandora played Travis Cottrell in the background. It was magical. For a moment I thought, What would my grandmother think? The only thing she ever listened to in the kitchen was bacon crackling and I'm not sure she would even trust a recipe from the internet.
Americans are beginning to consume their recipes the same way they're consuming their news, the internet. Nanci goes on to say:
Over the course of a year, 90% of people will make a dish using a recipe. The most common sources: Cookbooks owned for more than two years and family and friends. However, that’s changing as more people turn to the internet for guidance in cooking, Balzer says.
Cook books are expensive. I don't even own one. I love to look at the latest Paul Dean hardback when I go to Barnes and Noble but I couldn't justify buying a whole book of recipes when I'll probably only use two or three of them. I can print out or bookmark the recipes I like online and never pay a dime.
Another reason cook books are hard to use is because they don't have recipe variations. If I want to bake cookies but I'm short a non-essential ingredient, I just browse allrecipes.com until I find a recipe that fits what I already have. Seriously, I did this with the baked oatmeal last week. And I didn't have to run to the grocery store to finish my dish.
I've been finding my recipes online for years, but it wasn't until last week that I found entire blogs devoted to delicious, creative recipes. They're appropriately called "food blogs" and they are rocking my frozen-dinner world.
One of my favorites is actually the mom blog, Pioneer Woman. Pioneer Woman lives on a ranch in Oklahoma with her Husband, Marlboro Man where she home schools her children. She's a great cook and quite a photographer. She puts a "cowboy" flare to some pretty common recipes like chicken spaghetti (my favorite casserole).
Since I'm far away from my Maw Maw's Southern cookin', I'm turning to food blogs and I'm loving it. They don't beat a handwritten recipe passed down two generations, but they do just fine. Where do you get your recipes? Cook books? Websites? Family and friends?
1. obewan said the following at 2:24 PM on Feb 27:
I collect more recipes than I use. I probably have something like 30,000.
I was big on books before the Internet. Now, I get a lot from epicuious.com, cooks.com, and America's Test Kitchen which has an email newsletter. Pillsbury.com is pretty good too. They are piling up in my email database, and every now an then I pull one out to try.
2. DannieA said the following at 2:30 PM on Feb 27:
What about us that love to cook, came from families where cooking may have originally come from recipes but now it's cooking by creativity....
That's how I cook, I may look up a recipe online, but then not use it and create it in the way I think would taste better...anyone "not" use a recipe in that way or guesstimate on your tsp or tbls/?????? LOL
3. BDB said the following at 2:36 PM on Feb 27:
Metric or Imperial recipes?
4. Tami said the following at 2:44 PM on Feb 27:
1. Cookbooks: I have a few "standards," plus some other fancier ones given as gifts. I also peruse them at the library (which, incidentally, is a great way to determine whether or not you want to buy said cookbook). BTW, a good basic cookbook on cooking or baking -- like the standard Better Homes and Gardens one, or one from America's Test Kitchens -- is a worthwhile investment. In addition to the recipes, they discuss cooking and baking technique. It's nice to actually have them in *book form* rather than have to go online to retrieve what you want every time... and then have a bunch of loose printouts. You can usually find one of these cookbooks pretty inexpensively, even at a "warehouse store".
2. I watch a lot of Food Network. If I like a recipe, I go look on their website for it. I think the Web is really a boon for cooking shows. Before, I never would have bothered to write a recipe down or to mail in for it. Now it's easy to find the recipes you saw on TV and liked.
3. Friends.
4. General Internet searches.
5. Make 'em up.
And speaking of cowboy cooking, there are some interesting cooking shows on RFD-TV :)
5. Read said the following at 2:48 PM on Feb 27:
What is this horrible font? Font police! Font Police!? Where's Mott at when you need him to be all editorial and stuff.
I do not own a cookbook and I do not intend to. As long as I can get everything I need online and print it off, then what is the point? Much like CD's, DVD's and Newspapers I believe the internet will also eventually kill the cookbook.
6. JuliestD said the following at 2:48 PM on Feb 27:
Try Pioneer Woman's Crash-hot potatoes -- they're super-easy and AWESOME
7. JuliaH said the following at 2:51 PM on Feb 27:
I don't use recipes very often, but that isn't because I don't cook. I improve a lot in the kitchen and I love creating new dishes using whatever I happen to have on hand. When I do use a recipe it's most likely to come from one of the Company's Coming books or from a family member, but I've been checking out lots of food sites lately too.
8. Saidahwk said the following at 3:08 PM on Feb 27:
You are my hero. lol. Epicurious.com is also amazing. The internet is also an amazing place to find out HOW to cook if no one ever taught you. For example, this past holiday season I learned that you can use applesauce instead of eggs in a lot of baking recipes and I found out that condensed milk can be used as ACTUAL MILK (in retrospect I have no idea why that never occured to me, but hey, shoot me...). The internet is an exciting place for those of us who are domestically challenged... heeheehee.
9. Laura said the following at 3:19 PM on Feb 27:
cookeatfret.com
lastnightsdinner.net
smittenkitchen.com
Smitten Kitchen is, in my opinion, the best food blog on the net. Beautiful, amazing photos and delicious recipes.
10. Ashley Harris said the following at 3:27 PM on Feb 27:
Tami,
Your right about RFD-TV cooking! My step-dad watches that channel all the time. I hate having to watch it, but it is at least bearable when they are cooking.
11. Dan said the following at 4:06 PM on Feb 27:
Recipes?
For regular meals, I rarely use recipes, mostly because my dad taught me a sort of ad-hoc way of cooking: ingredient X goes well with spice Y, etc. After figuring out the basics, I have always experimented with different things. Some meals work out fantastically, some not. In the rare case that I use an actual recipe, it is mostly for inspiration, and then it usually ends up heavily modified anyway.
Baking, on the other hand, is chemistry and a recipe is absolutely necessary.
12. Dani said the following at 4:21 PM on Feb 27:
I'm so glad you use allrecipes.com: that was the first one I was going to recommend! Good thing I read the whole blog. ; )
For Christmas this year, my mom compiled recipes from my grandmothers, aunts, and her cookbooks. Now I have my very own recipe box, which I love!
Also, pretty much anything by Southern Living is wonderful. When I was growing up, my mom could try a new Southern Living recipe for a fancy party and completely trust that it would be delicious. So, either find some online, or invest in one of their cookbooks.
13. Rachel said the following at 4:28 PM on Feb 27:
Oh, I LOVE Pioneer Woman! I've used several of her recipes; she is so entertaining AND knowledgeable. Love it :)
I do like online recipes for some of the reasons you mentioned - there's more room for specificity & personal tailoring. I have a few recipes given to me by friends, but actually the best/favorite meals we have are usually from 2 of our favorite cookbooks. What I like about cookbooks is that we enjoy trying new foods, and you can count on a cookbook to have a wide variety. When I'm looking online, I have specific ideas in mind. But if I start to flip through a cookbook, I'm more prone to try something new/unusual. (btw: favorite books - Express Lane by Rachael Ray and Cooking for Two - or Just You!)
14. Lola said the following at 4:32 PM on Feb 27:
i think cookbooks are awesome especially when they have loads of pictures and great instructions. it's like reading a good book. i don't trust the internet for recipes because i've had some pretty horrible results from trying some recipes.i have never tried recipes from a food blog though.probably should try them out.
*some recipes on allrecipes.com and cooks.com are simply awful and that's not a reflection of my skills.lol
15. Leeandra said the following at 4:33 PM on Feb 27:
Go to used bookstores and buy the old church lady fundraiser cookbooks (or buy them from the church ladies themselves, if they still do that in your area!)
The recipes are everybody's grandma trying to outdo everybody else's grandma and/or easy, cheap, and filling.
I have a 1970s D of I (Daughters of Isabella, for the non-Catholics in the audience) cookbook from my hometown that has the best recipes.
16. Janelle said the following at 4:34 PM on Feb 27:
I love cookbooks and own tons of them-- but most are either inherited from my grandma or found at garage sales and the Goodwill.
That said, I mainly use cookbooks for more inspiration than anything else. It's easy to get in a rut and just make different kinds of pasta or baked chicken. But life is too short to eat the same thing every night!
Dan (#11) said it well. Experimentation is fun! But when baking (like your baked oatmeal or cookies) you've got to get the proportions right.
The old adage is true: When baking, follow a recipe. When cooking, follow your heart!
17. Janelle said the following at 4:36 PM on Feb 27:
Something else to consider when looking at cookbooks: Often the new ones will include all sorts of "can recipes": add a can of soup, a box of pasta, a packet of yeast or whatever.
If you are cooking from scratch, you might want to search out the old (pre-70s) cookbooks at a thrift store for recipes that don't require prepared ingredients.
18. Ashley Harris said the following at 4:38 PM on Feb 27:
Lola,
That happened to me too! Two weeks ago I wanted to make my fiancee baked oatmeal and the recipe I got from allrecipes.com was terrible. I was so embarrassed. He ate it anyway.
So last week when I made it again, I made sure to try a different one and it worked great.
That's the thing about websites with collected recipes like that; you never know what you're gonna get. That's why I like food blogs way better. The recipes are usually coming from one person who you sorts trust (like Pioneer Woman).
19. composer girl said the following at 4:38 PM on Feb 27:
A few years ago I decided to learn how to cook. I usually stick with tried and true favorites for the most part. The recipes that I do use are usually dishes that my mom taught me how to make that I have written down because I still can't remember them from start to finish. I have looked up recipes maybe twice on the internet; apart from that my cooking is influenced by Mom, recipes from friends, and my 75th Anniversary Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that she gave me (a newer edition of the one we've used in our family my entire life).
20. Kathryn said the following at 5:08 PM on Feb 27:
I have a Women's Weekly cookbook.
My Mum owns a stack and now I own one big fat one. It was given to me on my 21st from some friends who love to cook and know I enjoy cooking. My boyfriend and I have taken advantage of it to do a bunch of cooking together (which, btw, I would recommend as a fun date idea).
I mostly cook on the fly, but it's been really fun recently to expand my knowledge base. Once I've cooked something by following the recipe exactly, I feel more confident to replicate it on my own, making adjustments here and there depending on what's in my pantry.
21. Matthew said the following at 5:31 PM on Feb 27:
I pretty much make things up and use allrecipes.com.
22. Rachael said the following at 5:35 PM on Feb 27:
Now that I'm married I'm trying to cook regularly. I think some kind of broccolli mixture from allrecipes.com. That's a neat website. I've been using Betty Crocker heart health edition, and I looked in that one and another cookbook of the same dish to write down some ingredients to get from the store...
I have other cookbooks that I'll hopefully use or at least look through in the future, and my husband has some....
One lady just stopped by the other day and gave me a couple recipes.
For my bridal shower everyone was asked to bring a recipe...one person brought a recipe magazine...
Anyway it's interesting to try different things. A downside to it all is the time, but I have that now, and the dishes stackup effect.
My husband appreciates it, though, and it's very nice that he can often eat the leftovers at work.
23. Rachael said the following at 5:37 PM on Feb 27:
PS an upside to cooking is using fun dishes. If you have a fun platter to put cookies on to bring to a social function, it's kind-of fun. Somehow I think that is kind-of a kitchen joy for me. Finding pleasure in cool looking dishes :)
24. emsolideogloria said the following at 5:47 PM on Feb 27:
recipezaar.com ! anything I want plus helpful community modifications & reviews. My mom is a great cook but she does everything by feel & experience. I need directions until I'm very experienced with making a dish. But, I love to cook and indulge in it whenever I get a chance - which isn't very often.
25. M.L. said the following at 6:00 PM on Feb 27:
I only have a few cookbooks, including a slow cooker cook book, which I love. It has hundreds of recipes. With slow cookers there is always room for variation, so I can experiment. Another I just got has all Finnish recipes, which is great since my grandmother never taught me some of her recipes. Sometimes relatives give me old magazines (Better Homes and Gardens) and I'll try recipes on a whim from them. The best I found was a coconut-blueberry cheesecake bar, which is now my most asked-for recipe for family parties. I acquired another popular chicken salad recipe (yogurt instead of mayo, diced dried apricots, almond, celery, parsley) online after trying something similar at a grocery store sample counter.
One thing I do think any experimenting cook should have is a cook book to keep recipes that are keepers, and any notations about variations or thoughts, like "next time I make this I want to add more/less of [whatever ingredient]". Mine has been invaluable.
26. Kristen said the following at 6:09 PM on Feb 27:
I've also found some good tidbits from two other sites:
http://www.eatingwell.com/
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/
27. Kellie said the following at 6:27 PM on Feb 27:
My favorite cookbook is one my mom put together for me when I got married of lots of family recipes. I also look at the food section of the newspaper and I've also found a lot of good recipes through blogs...though not necessarily food blogs.
I have bought cookbooks, but I don't seem to use them.
28. Casey (the Student Nurse) said the following at 6:45 PM on Feb 27:
Oh man, that chicken spaghetti looks good.
29. Leah said the following at 7:45 PM on Feb 27:
I think being able to cook a good meal without a recipe is a skill. It was something I always used to be envious of- I could cook from a recipe easy, but wasn't confident if I didn't have one! Having been married for 9 months now I've had a lot more practice and can cook many meals without recipes.
Where I get my recipes from:
- Cookbooks (I received a lot when I got engaged/married)
- My mum (she has hundreds, maybe thousands. Hers originate from cookbooks, friends, and family.)
- Friends (as part of my kitchen tea party when I got married, all the guests brought their favourite homemade snack along with its recipe!)
- The internet (I've only used a few recipes from the net). I got a great gingerbread recipe from a food blog.
Epicurious.com (also recommended by Saidahawk) also looks wonderful, though I haven't used any of their recipes yet.
I have to disagree with Read (5) about the internet killing cookbooks. Anyone can put any recipe online; you know published ones in books are likely to be decent. You don't need to search and trawl through dozens of results. Printing en masse can be quite expensive and you can buy very cheap cookbooks.
30. Ivette said the following at 7:45 PM on Feb 27:
Yes, the pioneer woman is AWESOME! Love all her step by step photos and her witty writing. Also, I've been doing a better job of following up with friends for recipes that I've enjoyed. I find that practicing hospitality forces me to put more effort into making a full meal, so I've hit my mama up for family favorites that I have not fully mastered yet and served friends who have come over.
31. Chris said the following at 8:48 PM on Feb 27:
As others have pointed out, the library is a great place to get recipes. My local library has a very good cookbook section. If there's a type of ethnic cuisine you want, they probably have a book on it. My wife and I will check one out, glance through it, and copy recipes that we think look good.
One of my personal favorites: Let the Flames Begin by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. If you like to grill or smoke food, you've got to get this book. The ez grill bread recipe alone is worth a try. Goes great with a homemade red-pepper garlic mayonnaise.
Man, when is spring going to get here........
32. Tami said the following at 9:47 PM on Feb 27:
Ashley (10) -- for kicks I turned on RFD when I got home today. A show about a restaurant in Sausalito, California was on. LOL, that part of California is a far, far cry from Cee Dub and "Dutch Oven & Camp Cooking". :)
But it was actually pretty cool. The guy has an organic garden right next to his restaurant, and uses the ingredients to make unique dishes on a daily (I think) basis.
33. BDB said the following at 9:56 PM on Feb 27:
I will second Tami's recommendation on the Better Homes & Gardens standard cook book. It's the three-ring-binder one. Mine has a plaid red and white pattern. It was among my graduation gifts (I have the 1989 edition). It is a very good "starter" book, because it explains a lot of cooking terms, like the difference between "diced" and "chopped." It's a very helpful way to learn how to prepare balanced meals.
I agree with the baking-by-recipe thing. The last dessert I tried was Chocolate Mousse, which ended up more like chocolate pudding. Still trying to figure out what I did wrong. I don't think I put enough sugar in when I was whipping it.
But by now, cooking meals is more experimental. Stir-fry is fun because you can throw different stuff in each time and watch to see how it cooks. I discovered this way that I like pretty much all vegetables when steamed.
And I'd like to put a word in for grilling. It's a guy thing: making meat happen. Even if you use the same marinade, different types and cuts of meat can be grilled different ways. You might start with the Weber Grill cookbook to learn timing estimates for different cuts, how to sear, etc.
I also have a cookbook titled The Grilling Bible that I put on my bookshelf next to my Bible commentaries - it attracts attention from guests. When grilling different types of meat - from steak to fish - and trying to get it all to come out at the same time, it really takes practice. But grilling is fun.
For potlucks, I got a slow-cooker as a gift. Haven't used it yet. But slow-cooker recipes are a whole different ballgame. Kind of the opposite of grilling, which tends to go fast and needs to be watched.
For comic relief, you may also enjoy The Gallery of Regrettable Food
34. Jade said the following at 11:20 PM on Feb 27:
When my husband and I were first married my mom gave us a cookbook by Mark Bittman, I think it's called How to Cook Everything, that has been absolutely indispensible over the years. We went from college kids who had no idea how to cook to adults confident in the kitchen. In the process I gained 15 lbs ;-). I also like epicurious.com (Bon Appetite) for fancier recipes. Some of my best cookie recipies are from marthastewartliving.com. I love getting together with friends to bake up some fancy cookies and cakes, and our hubbies like it too.
35. Mad said the following at 11:20 PM on Feb 27:
Besides the recipes I have from my mom, I mainly get recipes from internet sites.
My favorite website is myrecipes.com--an aggregate of recipes from Southern Living (like Dani, #12, my mom always cooked from these), Cooking Light and several other Southern Progress magazines. It's addicting.
36. Catherine said the following at 5:52 AM on Feb 28:
thescramble.com
A healthy weekly menu mailer
Martha Stewarts everyday cooking magazine is great..
And epicurious.com
Weightwatchers.com
I try to work on a collection of recipes we liked once a week and try new things the other days. Practice, practice, practice!
37. Kellie said the following at 8:59 AM on Feb 28:
Some of my criteria for recipes include:
-fairly simple to make (this is working mom Kellie--and yes, either my husband or I cook nearly every night)
-I need to be able to find the ingredients at the local grocery store
-it should be fairly healthy
-crockpot recipes are an added bonus. I love the crockpot!!
38. Janice said the following at 10:53 AM on Feb 28:
If you find a recipe in a cookbook that you love and will make repeatedly, it is worth the cost of the book. My budget won't really allow for the purchase of as many cookbooks as I'd like but I figure the occasional purchase is like going out to a really nice dinner. As for where I get my recipes, I LOVE Pioneerwoman.com, and listening to the Splendid Table on NPR. And family/friends of course!!
39. RachelV said the following at 3:53 PM on Feb 28:
If I really want a particular cookbook, I usually ask for it as a birthday or Christmas present. Thats how I got my last one. One of my favorite sites is www.goneraw.com. I really like the feature that lets you bookmark your favorite recipies so you can look at them later.
40. Kristen said the following at 6:46 PM on Feb 28:
BDB re: chocolate mousse:
You likely either under-beat or over-beat the mixture. The same thing happens with meringues due to the egg being persnickity. :)
41. BDB said the following at 10:47 PM on Feb 28:
Kristen (#40) wrote:
>>You likely either under-beat or over-beat the mixture. <<
Under OR Over?
Goodness, that suggests not one but two possible mistakes.
It actually never was as 'firm' as I thought it should be, I assumed that happened in the freezer. So, should it have firmed up when it was whipped enough at room temperature? If so, then it wasn't whipped enough.
42. valerie said the following at 11:21 PM on Feb 28:
I love getting recipes online because the comments sections always have tips from people who have tried it already...
...and I love pioneer woman because she uses real butter, sugar, BACON GREASE, etc. :)
43. Kristen said the following at 10:34 AM on Mar 1:
BDB wrote "Under OR Over?
Goodness, that suggests not one but two possible mistakes."
Correct. Try beating an egg white for quite some time. After it becomes nice and firm (peaks form after lifting out your electric mixer), if you keep beating it, the egg will return to a liquified form. If you continue beating, it will foam into a lovely meringue once again. I learned that one the hard way. :)
44. BDB said the following at 7:58 PM on Mar 1:
Thanks Kristen - I may have to sacrifice an egg for "practice" soon...
45. Christina (in green) said the following at 8:50 AM on Mar 2:
I guess somehow I ended up being more like my grandmother...don't know how it happened =p
Before i got married, yeah...recipes came from the internet mostly. Though I have the best cheese cake recipe that came out of a cream cheese card-board box. The more I make it, the more it becomes my own to the point that I've modified some of the ratios. I collect other cheese cake recipes to (that I need to try to make)...Philadelphia cream cheese cycles the cheese cake recipes they put on the box. The most recent one was New York style cheese cake, though I've seen chocolate swirl and chocolate, too (and have them stored somewhere in my kitchen).
Someone for my wedding shower gave me recipe cards and they will be filling up with my own recipes eventually (like this variation on the cheese cake =p).
I did find one on the internet for an almond pie crust (that was absolutely amazing). i keep modifying that one, too, but I don't have it written down anywhere and its been awhile since I've made it...afraid i won't be able to duplicate it =/ And then there's the apple filling that originally came from the internet that i keep modifying to.
Typically, I don't really trust internet recipes. I'd rather try and get them from people who made the food I'm enjoying eating =p Baked macaroni and cheese, cheese balls, and italian wedding cake are some recipes i'm just dying to get my hands on from some people. Last time I made mac & cheese from an internet recipe, it called for nutmeg...and I did not like that in my mac&cheese. Or in my sugar cookies, for that matter.
Wedding shower did great things for my cooking recipe collection - i have 4 cookbooks now. Every week, my husband and I pick out a recipe to make for the week before we go shopping. Right now, we trade off on who cooks dinner.
I did invent my own lemon-pepper marinade for chicken last week and i'm making a vinagerette dressing out of a cook book this week to use as a salad dressing instead of a prime rib dressing.
Its been fun learning to cook =p
46. Elisabeth said the following at 9:24 AM on Mar 2:
I love cookbooks... my husband was a bachelor for 5 years and never used a recipe! The ten or so things that he would cook he just knew how to cook. I however like to cook and bake so I had to have cookbooks. I have some favorites like Better Homes and Gardens (the 1950's version so its almost exactly like the one my mom uses only actually a little older) and More with Less and then I have some favorite specialty cookbooks like The Clueless Vegetarian and The Itty Bitty Kitchen Cookbook both of which are just fun to read besides having some yummy recipes. I also use online stuff a lot...when my mom isn't available to tell me exactly how she made such and so I look up on Betty Crocker a general recipe idea--hardly even print it out--just get some ideas of the list of ingredients and how much of some of the key important ones. I like the Simply Recipes blog. Blogs are so cool to get new ideas of how to make old favorites and the pictures are wonderful to help you get hungry!
47. Laurel said the following at 1:28 PM on Mar 2:
I cook for my husband and myself at least 4 nights a week and, more often than not, I just make up my own recipes. However, there are some great tools out there that you can use. Several of them have already been mentioned in the comments on this post.
Some I didn't see:
www.epicurious.com
www.foodnetwork.com
And this one's pretty cool:
www.supercook.com
You can enter ingredients that you have on hand and it will provide you with a list of recipes that include those ingredients. You will sometimes need another item or two to complete a recipe, but sometimes you can find an entire recipe with the ingredients you already have, preventing a trip to the grocery store!
Happy cooking!
48. Leah said the following at 7:30 PM on Mar 2:
Laurel (47) - Epicurious has already been mentioned several times, lol. If you want to find something in a text, press Ctrl+F, type in the word (in this case "Epicurious") and hit Enter... it will tell you if Epicurious has been mentioned :)
49. Miriam said the following at 5:46 AM on Mar 3:
I love the Pioneer Woman! She's so creative and hilarious, and having step by step photos of the recipes is brilliant for those less confident in the kitchen.
My family's favourite cookbooks were mostly edited by church ladies - The Yankee Church Supper Cookbook, Taste and See (from Australia) and More with Less are some of the best. I love it when I recognise a name or hometown in the origin of a recipe! And they're generally great for large quantities of food.
I have a recipe box with cards as well, that I'm starting to fill up with recipes from friends and magazines. I like having individual cards to take out and prop on the counter (in a small kitchen there's not much room for big cookboook stands).
50. BB said the following at 7:49 AM on Mar 3:
How do you cook with out a recipe? Easy, just add one of every staple. One starch would mean a pasta, rice, or potato. That is usually where I start. If I do rice, I usually like to cut smaller pieces and put them on top. Then you can mix your meat, veggie, peppers, and even fruit. If you go for a potato, then you'll probably want to do more of a whole breast, a pork chop, or a steak. Pasta can go either way. Then you add flavor as you like it. Pork is really good cooked with onions, brown sugar, and lemon. Chicken is good with a dry powdered of your liking. Steak, I prefer just salt and pepper but there is plenty you can do with that.
Oh, almost forgot Mexican dishes. You can throw about anything in a burrito and it taste good.
51. Matt from DC said the following at 9:35 AM on Mar 3:
It sounds like we here at Boundless need to get together and have a pot luck dinner!
I am another fan of the Better Homes & Gardens standard cook book. I use many recipe sites, but am not picky about which one I use as long as I find something that I like. I have homemade cookbooks from my grandmother, my mother, and have also started my own (in text files on my computer).
52. Sarah said the following at 10:30 AM on Mar 3:
Like a stereotypical college student, my dinners usually consist of whatever is the easiest/fastest/cheapest to make, usually involving pulling something out of the freezer and heating it up. This semester, though, I've been studying abroad in France, and there are fresh food markets every day in my town! Those and the amazing meals that my host family cooks have inspired me to want to cook when I'm back in the U.S.
My friends and I will often gravitate towards the French cookbooks when we go into bookstores here, and I've started doing some searching online for recipes. One of my favorite blogs is http://chocolateandzucchini.com, though recently I hit a real treasure: 50 of the World's Best Food Blogs (http://tinyurl.com/akgq8s). I also like http://www.foodbeam.com, which is written by a French girl hoping to become a pastry chef.
53. Vanessa said the following at 8:42 AM on Mar 4:
My favorite cookbook is a family heirloom, sort of. My grandmother went to a cooking school in NY and my mom got her "textbook" and then passed it down to me. She missed it so much when I moved to Florida that I hunted one down in an antique shop and bought it for her!
I get recipes from old Goodwill cookbooks, women's magazines, email newsletters, etc. I don't know if it's still online, but I used to get stuff from TopSecretRecipes.com which is where people replicate restaurant food and post the recipes.
I'm the type of cook who ALWAYS improvises anyways. I grew up cooking with my SAHM and at least 2x per week, I cook for myself and my best friend who is also my roommate. I know what I like and don't like from LOTS of experimentation, so I can adapt just about any recipe I want to match not only what I already have in the kitchen but also what I like.
54. Kami said the following at 9:20 AM on Mar 4:
I like www.mealsmatter.org. It has some great features like shopping lists and even lets you "create" cookbooks that you can keep private or share.
But seriously, nothing beats thumbing through a real cookbook at the kitchen table. It's what my mama always does; and trust me, she's made sure I've got more than my share of cookbooks! My favorites are the two created by the two churches in my community. I grew up with those two cookbooks, and there's something quite connecting and nostalgic about mama telling me to find "Marilyn's recipe on page 42."
55. KJ said the following at 8:59 PM on Mar 4:
I have sort of a mixed bag of recipes - I have a few cookbooks, some more useful than others (my mom bought me one which turned out to be absolutely impractical because the recipes all called for bizarre ingredients I would never have on hand - but the good old Betty Crocker hasn't failed me yet!) Sometimes at work I will do a google search for a new recipe so that I can pick up the ingredients on the way home if I need anything. However, my most treasured cooking resource is a notebook that's a jumble of handwritten recipes I've collected from family and friends. These are the ones I know I can really depend on because in order to make it into the book, it had to be good and people had to like it. I'm working on compiling these onto a website so that I can easily share recipes when people ask for them.
56. Elizabeth (from Canada) said the following at 8:33 AM on Mar 5:
If you want a cookbook with TONS of substitutions/recipe variations, I like what I've always called "The Wycliffe Cookbook" (although I don't know if that's its official name). Designed by/for people living overseas where many ingredients might be difficult to find, it is a really interesting and useful cookbook. I mean, where else do you find a list of seasonings for Alligator along with a recipe for fried potatoes which says you can substitute yucca, chayotes, sweet potatoes, green cooking bananas or green papaya?
57. BDB said the following at 9:06 PM on Mar 5:
Elizabeth (#56) I have friends going to Papua New Guinea this summer - can you tell me the name of that cook book? Thanks!
58. BDB said the following at 7:22 PM on Mar 6:
So, here's an example of a Boundless article translating into a life change. A friend of mine suggested that Couscous would go well with artichoke chicken, so I found a recipe for Warm Weather Couscous using Google.
59. Elizabeth (from Canada) said the following at 3:30 PM on Mar 24:
If this still helps... been out of internet access for a while... It's real name is "The Wycliffe Cookbook" and it was made by Wycliffe Bible Translators, I believe. I'm not sure where it would be available, though. I got mine second-hand. You'd have to do some searching on-line, I would think. I hope your friends have a wonderful time in PNG!
60. BDB said the following at 4:10 PM on Mar 24:
Elizabeth (from Canada) #59:
Thanks - I will look for it!
And the couscous came out well. If I make it again, I will bring it and the stir-fry vegetables in separate containers to the potluck so people can decide if they want it with or without all the seasonings.