Since
copyright law does not protect recipes, I don't know why people are reluctant to share them. When I try something new that I love, I can't wait to make it and share it with family and friends. I am happy to share all of my favorite recipes here, and enjoy collecting favorite recipes from other people.
That said, I do have my own version of "recipe protocol" that I try to follow:
- I credit the person who first gave me the recipe, even if I know the person they got the recipe from
- When giving the recipe to someone else, I put my name on it if they don't know the person who gave it to me. If they do know that person, then I keep the name of that person on the card. It means more to me to have the name of someone I know on a recipe, because I think of that person every time I make it. On this site, I frequently cite my source as being a recipe from Cook's Country or FOOD magazine or Martha Stewart's website . . . even though my name is one it. Although this is a shared, public website, I am still mostly putting up favorite recipes for my friends.
- When I get recipes from a magazine or cookbook, I put my name on the recipe card--not because I am trying to take credit, but because I will probably share the recipe with someone else, and if I am the first person who introduced them to the recipe, then to them, it is "my" recipe. When a friend raves about a recipe and tells me she got it from Rachel Ray, I still put my friend's name on it, because I got it from her (or, occasionally, him).
- When I alter a recipe that I've gotten from someone or somewhere else, I may or may not put my name on it, depending on how, er, severe the altering is.
- I don't mind if you claim any recipe on this site as your own . . . but I hope you'll credit me for making the recipe cards :)
