Chapter 17
Ten Web Sites to Check Out
In This Chapter
Finding great recipes on the Web
Getting slow cooking advice from the Web
H ome computers are playing a significant role in how we cook and eat today. With cents-off coupons for downloading and printing, opportunities to order ingredients and supplies, and recipes galore, numerous sites provide ongoing cooking assistance.
One of the most popular cooking-related categories found on the Internet is slow cookers/Crock Pots. By doing a word search for both terms, we found numerous Web sites that provide information about using this appliance. As we continued our research, we came across several sites that we think are well worth mentioning. However, we want to remind you that Web sites change constantly; what may be great today could very well be passé tomorrow, with something new and exciting just coming into play.
about.com
http://southernfood.about.com/food/southernfood/library/crock/blcpidx.htm
With well over 1,200 slow cooker recipes covering everything from appetizers to main courses to desserts, and even wild game, about.com is the most complete and user-friendly slow cooker site we came across. Arranged by category, the recipes we examined at random were easy to read and looked like they would be simple to make and delicious to eat.
In addition to recipes, this site is a great resource for home cooks who have questions about slow cooking and safety. You can find a reader’s forum for questions and answers, as well as links to related sites. In addition to slow cooker recipes, you can find thousands of recipes for other types of cooking, making this site a definite winner!
Allrecipes.com
This simple-to-access Web site contains recipes of all sorts broken down by type of food, such as appetizer, main course, and dessert. It also provides a brief description of each recipe listed. After clicking on the category that interests you, type slow cooker in the Search box. Then click on Search, and all entries for that type of food appear, with brief descriptions.
cs.cmu.edu
www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/crockpot/crkpot-coll-2.html
Cs.cmu.edu is another Web site with an academic touch, this time from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. A collection of favorite slow cooker recipes from students, faculty, and staff at CMU and other centers of higher education, this site is fun for its diversity of selections, ranging from beef bourguignonne to vegan dishes like Israeli wheat berry stew.
The Easy Guide to Crockpot Cooking on iVillage.com
http://pages.ivillage.com/crockpotcooking
The Easy Guide to Crockpot Cooking on iVillage.com is maintained by Debbie Murphy of Nova Scotia. With close to 200,000 hits, this very popular site provides delicious recipes, including lowfat and quick-and-easy dishes, as well as message boards and links to related sites.
exnet.iastate
www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/families/fs/slowcook.html
Last year, Tom was invited to travel to ten different state fairs to give bread machine baking classes. What really caught his attention was the number of slow cookers being used by the farmers’ families in the various animal barns where their prized livestock were being shown — there seemed to be one going in every stall. Because many farms require two incomes, many wives work off the farm in addition to assisting with the day-to-day chores. After long hours, a slow cooker meal is a welcome sight in many farmhouse kitchens!
Because Iowa is such an important agricultural state, we were not at all surprised to find an excellent slow cooker Web site from the Iowa State University Cooperative Extension Bureau, at www.exnet.iastate.edu . The ISU site deals with safe cooking practices and the slow cooker. It provides a simple test that you can perform at home to make sure that your slow cooker is getting hot enough. This is extremely important if you have an older slow cooker; you want to make sure that it’s still working well. The site provides guidelines for safe slow cooking as well as a direct link to the USDA’s site on slow cooker safety (www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/slocookr.htm ).
Mega-Zine
www.Mega-Zine.com/kitchen/crock-pot
Featuring everything from appetizers to vegetarian dishes, Mega-Zine contains over 100 slow cooker recipes arranged alphabetically. This well-designed site also provides a list of related Web sites as well as active links. There’s even a free subscription service to the Mega-Zine recipe club that sends a new recipe daily.
Slow Food
Although it’s not the same as slow cooking, the International Slow Food Movement, started in Italy a little more than ten years ago, champions the causes of small regional food producers. The Slow Food Web site provides interesting information about the ISF Movement’s manifesto, as well as programs worldwide, local activities and programs, and Slow Food–related publications. This site provides some interesting information on getting back in touch with the origins of food, and we have therefore decided to share it with you.
SOAR
http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/crockpot
SOAR (Searchable Online Archive of Recipes) is an excellent cooking resource with thousands of recipes. The slow cooker site contains 1,001 recipes arranged alphabetically; if you can’t find it here, it probably doesn’t exist.
Spira Solaris
www.spirasolaris.com/hshp/crockpot.html
Covering a broad range of topics from home/time management to candle and soap making, Spira Solaris contains a Kitchen page that provides a variety of information about slow cookers. Some of the topics covered include recipes sorted by ingredients, descriptions of different styles, and safety tips on use and care.
topica
http://topica.com/lists/crockpot
The e-mail list directory on topica provides a slew of information about various topics, one of which is slow cookers/Crock Pots.
CROCKPOT, a privately owned mailing list, is basically a network of slow cooker uses. The members get in touch with one another to exchange recipes or to provide assistance in answering questions anyone may have in using the slow cooker. With more than 900 members, participants are encouraged to post recipes and questions. To become a member, go to the Web site, scroll down to Subscribe, and click on crockpot-subscribe@ topica.com . You’ll be asked to provide your e-mail address and other details, such as your name. Once you join, you will begin receiving information quite frequently.