Tuesday, Jul. 07, 2009

Food Briefs

Cook's version of Facebook

A free social networking Web site launched this month offers a place to share recipes and cooking tips with friends and family, and to stay connected over food. Sharecipe.com asks users to create a profile and then build a network of friends in the same manner as Facebook. The profile includes basic facts and "fun facts," such as favorite book, favorite quote, favorite restaurant, favorite food and favorite vacation destination.

Here's an added bonus: If you forget your grocery list, once you arrive at the store, you can look up the recipe at sharecipe.com using your BlackBerry.

You could even show the neighbor you run into at the store a photo of what you're making for dinner.

-- Milwaukee Journal SentinelSaving at the supermarket

Many supermarkets plan their in-house baking for the busiest hours of the day to entice shoppers by the scents of fresh bread and pies. Not shopping during peak times will help you avoid the temptation of buying treats that are not on your weekly shopping list, says wellness guru Eric Plasker, author of "The 100-Year-Lifestyle" (Adams Media, $19.95).

Get it all togetherAre you a beginning cook? Here's a trick to help you get organized as you prepare a recipe: Get out a sheet pan, also called a jellyroll pan. Get out all the ingredients and set them on the pan. As you use each one, put it away.

This simple trick will help you contain the clutter that can confuse you, and at the end, if there's something still on the pan, you'll know you left it out.

-- Kathleen Purvis, food editor, Charlotte Observer