I have a friend who, whenever we would exchange recipes or food, would always ask, "Have you tried allrecipes.com yet?" I had tried other recipe sites, foodtv.com and cambellskitchen.com were my favorites, so I always thought to myself, "Thanks for asking (again) but I'm covered on the recipe front." Then one day I wanted to make baked potato soup, just like I love in a local restaurant. My friend's tip came to mind. I went to allrecipes.com, typed in the soup, and came up with ten different recipes, each one rated and reviewed and usually with a photo attached. I was immediately hooked. I created my online recipe box, and started searching.
I am not a super-dooper homemaker (or as we would say in my family, I'm not the "Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow". My Mom won that particular dubious distinction when she was in high school in 1968. Although not a "home ec." student, she took the "Betty Crocker" test just to get out of class--and got the highest score. So along with valedictorian and newspaper editor, she was also the "Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow." It was announced at her graduation. I think she's still embarrassed.). I don't cook in high heels and pearls, and I don't collect recipes. I cook because its cheaper than going out to eat, though I suppose I do take a certain amount of pride in putting a complete meal on dinner table every night. So I'm not really one to read through cookbooks looking for new recipes and techniques. Surfing through an almost unlimited database to find out how to cook almost anything I've ever wanted, however? That's kind of fun. What should I do with polish keilbasa tonight? Type in "keilbasa" and you get back 49 hits (I just checked) from the mundane to the ridiculous. I succumbed to creativity and once made a crock-pot dish with keilbasa, sour kraut, and noodles. Another time I made sweet potato soup. Ok, so these weren't the biggest hits on the taste-o-meter, but it was fun to try something new and quirky for once.
The internet has freed me from cookbooks and recipe cards and magazine clippings. I just depend on allrecipes.com. They have ALL recipes--what else do I need? I know this isn't the funniest story or the most helpful parenting hint or the philosophical take I racism that I sometimes put forth. But, just for now, you'll have to settle for that slightly-nagging-friend part of me. Have you tried allrecipes.com yet?
