The RIGHT way to get recipes on the internet

The ONE easy shortcut for cutting past the many ads, distracting links, and ensuring the recipes you make are accurate

Have you looked for a recipe on the internet, and when you put in a term like “rice and cheese casserole,” or “ways to cook spinach,” you immediately go to a food blog. Then you wonder: why am I reading all this, when I just want the recipe?

Case in point:

Do we really need to know “what is” beef and rice casserole? Obviously it is those two ingredients and some other things baked in a dish until it’s done. But see the little ad to the right? THAT’S the point. This is an edited photo: if you’d seen all the ads plastered on that food blog, you’d be dizzy.

So many of the food blogs that top the search results on recipes have been pounded into prevalence by endless keywording, strategizing, over-advertising and other techniques. Then, because they’re near the top, when you search for something as simple as “beef and rice casserole,” they are at the top, and get clicked, and the cycle continues.

It’s a disservice to us all. Sometimes the bloggers don’t even have enough to say about the food so they just blather. Following up on the first image in this article, where the blogger is talking about her hair and then the Florida water affecting it, we have this:

There’s a link to her cookie recipe! Sure, you were looking for something else entirely but that was slipped in, in case you might click on THAT too, and get more hits for the website! Still don’t have your recipe?

Well, sorry, but you need to scroll down through a bit more copy because there are ads flying past you on both the left and right, and you might click on one of those — profit for the blogger! Besides, before you get to recipe you’re searching for, don’t you need a little more background?

Keep trying, you’re getting close:

Actually, life will be OVER before you even get to the recipe! Jeez!

HERE’S HOW

Type a few more characters when you search, and you’ll hit the spot — saving a lot of time. The wordy food bloggers are counting on you to put in terms like “easy dinner recipes” or “good casseroles.”

Some examples of what to type in the search bar:

DO THIS: “Chicken and Rice Casserole”+“Food Network”

and not this: Chicken and rice casserole

DO THIS: “Apple pie”+“Martha Stewart”

and not this: apple pie recipes

DO THIS: “stew recipe”+“vegetarian times”

and not this: vegetarian stew

The quote marks mean you want this exact phrase. Typing in Apple pie gets you something, but without the quotes you are searching for apple and pie in any context. Sometimes it’s what you’re looking for, often it’s not.

The plus sign means the second phrase must also be included in the search process. Thus Google can’t throw you to the winds of whatever is out there. This keeps you safe from blogs like LookAtMeICanCookNow.com and ListenToMeBlatherWhileIMakeAFewPenniesOnTheseManyAdsNextToMyWordyCopy.com

Match your recipe with a cook you like, or a kitchen-tested food source, like Food Network, celebrity chefs, food magazines. Even food-industry websites like Campbells.com have recipes that have been tested thoroughly so you don’t waste your ingredients on a faulty recipe.

Happy cooking.