Pat’s Essential Gadget #4 – The Internet
We three sisters get together almost every Saturday for a Zoom call to catch up and visit. Even without the pandemic, it is not easy to get together in person with us spread out so far geographically across the US.
In our most recent call, the subject of purging came up (as it often does given our advancing ages). I shared some of the recipe cards (memba those?) from my mom’s old recipe file box I had recently come across. It was cool to see some of the recipes we all knew and loved in her handwriting. We all loved her potato soup, an ultimate comfort food complete with “rivels” – little noodle/dumpling/gnocchi-like things, and I have no idea regarding the origin of the name. But they are chewy nuggets of goodness in a simple but tasty soup.
One thing all agreed on was on the way out of our homes were cookbooks. Over the years, we all had assembled quite impressive collections, but really, who uses cookbooks anymore? Want a recipe? Google it. Do a Pinterest search. IM your sister to send you a link. Watch a video of Gordon Ramsey making a Frito Pie at the racetrack (LINK).
The internet and social media are teeming with cooking blogs and recipes. I’m not sure The Tinker and I would have been as successful transitioning to our Keto-ish eating without access to great sites like AllDayLongIDreamAboutFood and
Pinterest is the new recipe file. I’ve pinned more recipes than I’ll likely ever make in my lifetime. The file cabinet? A dedicated all-in-one computer that resides on a kitchen counter. The touch screen gets a little sticky from time to time, but so very handy! Need to remember how many ounces are in a quart? Just ask Alexa! Our main Echo sits with the computer as a handy reference (and also is great to play Jeopardy on while we’re cooking!)
Jan
Oh my gosh! The internet is so much more than a gadget! Sometimes I am very concerned about how much we rely upon it and where it has led us…BUT…
There is so much I get from the internet! I am well into learning a foreign language online. I attend art class online during the pandemic and connect with my art friends. Tv shows and movies are streamed whenever it strikes my fancy. I am working to lose my pandemic fifteen pounds by attending YouTube fitness classes to get in my 10,000 steps a day. I see my sisters weekly online and have chats across the many miles between us.
AND, I have my computer in my kitchen because I use it almost every day to access recipes! What a blessing!
My husband and I downsized from a three bedroom house to a one bedroom in-law apartment five years ago. We sorted through mountains of accumulated stuff at the time. I honestly cannot say I miss any of it. Among the stuff was my large collection of cookbooks…literally hundreds of them. Now I have five cookbooks. I rarely look at them. While I do use the family cookbook we put together a number of years ago, mostly I Google recipes, I check Pinterest or this blog for my sister’s recipes, I become inspired by Facebook food posts or am messaged links to recipes.
Because there is a diabetic in the family and we are trying to keep carbs down in the household, some of my favorite sites are : All Day I Dream About Food, Joy Filled Eats, Gimme Some Oven, Peace Love and Low Carb, among many others. Rachael Ray also has a plethora of easily adapted recipes that are tasty and doable.
Carol’s Essential Gadget…Internet Access
When I think about kitchen gadgets, the internet certainly does not come to mind. When I think about what I can’t live without when I am in the kitchen, my MAC definitely comes to mind.
Let me begin by explaining that my MAC sits on the bar/counter separating the kitchen and family room. Its’ planned location was on the desk that faces the courtyard with a lovely view. You might wonder why the counter?Convenience. I use my MAC in the kitchen and/or looking into the kitchen more than anywhere else in the house. The location on the counter makes it available for creating my menu plan and blog while perched on a bar stool.
With a slight twist the MAC faces the kitchen just above the sink and prep area allowing for a perfect view of the recipes pulled from the internet.
I rarely use my cookbooks. The relic of a recipe box is stashed and seldom needed. My MAC has become the mainstay in my kitchen offering the ability to find and view the recipes planned for the day easily.
I do say planned…because I no longer fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to making daily meals. Menus are planned weekly according to grocery specials, food on hand, or simply just what sounds good. I rarely veer from the menu unless there is an unforeseen change in plans. Not only does the menu plan assure that I will have all ingredients on hand for the week, but it also insures that I utilize foods while fresh. Seldom do I experience waste. If I have veggies that are passing their prime, I simply do a search and voila! I have a plan. I can draw from saved recipes and take advantage of grocery specials.
Weekly I sit at the computer facing the kitchen and identity recipes that are familiar or that I am eager to try. I utilize pinterest as my recipe keeper. When I find a recipe that looks intriguing on facebook, a blog, in an email or a random search, I move it to an appropriate board. My untried recipes are gathered on several boards…Looks Good Enough to Try, Menu Plan, Next Week, Desserts to Try, etc. If a recipe is successful it moves to a specific board, ie. Breakfast, Family Favs, Crockpots Rock, Keto, and countless more.
Originally I pinned all untried interesting recipes to Looks Good Enough to Try which believe it or not I have purged. (957 pins) When that board became overwhelming I pinned the recipes most likely to be included on a future menu plan to Menu Plan. (1197 pins) Soon that board zoomed out of control. My newest untried recipe board is Next Week. If I am fairly certain that a recipe should be considered in the next few weeks of menu planning, I move it to Next Week. (1456 pins) Obviously things are out of control!
The internet knows us…not such a good thing, right? Funny how often a worthy recipe crosses my path and I need to get it filed so as not to miss out. A blessing or a curse?
I will say that when I really contemplate the changes in eating habits and availability of so many different foods, most of my cookbooks are actually quite “dated”. Did we really eat mandarin orange sherbert jello mold and creamed dried beef? Try to find a kale salad on those pages. I have purged most of my cookbooks.
I will admit to a frequently asked question as I prepare a meal. The ‘Ole Buckeye often laments…”Another new recipe? We have so many great meals, why try something new?” More often than not after eating, yet another recipe is added to a board…worth repeating.
When I retired I certainly did not envision sitting at the computer and searching the internet would become an all consuming diversion. We leave one role and move to another.
