*This contest is now closed!*
I don’t know about you but I’m in desperate need of a good midweek pick-me-up! It’s rainy and cold here. That detail combined with the fact that my oldest kidlet is on Spring break means we are all going a bit stir crazy, since my four boys have about four hundred volts of energy right about now. My toilets need cleaned, I have about a month’s worth of saltine cracker crumbs underneath the kitchen counter where the kids had snack today, and we are going on four nights of grilled cheese for dinner thanks to my husband being out of town.
I can’t decide – is it a pick-me-up that I need or just some straight up motivation? Hmmm…I won’t pause to analyze that minor point. And neither should you.
In honor of my midweek doldrums and the fact that I finally have all the posts on this here blog updated with the right picture (since they were all missing when I switched over from my blogspot address to this dot com) and because I updated my About page with lots of useless info and because I have the best readers this side of the cooking blog world (yes, I’m talking about you!)…
I’m giving away FOUR yearly subscriptions to my most favorite, best loved, much used cooking magazine: Cook’s Country.
Oh, how I love this little mag. The recipes are down-to-earth, simple, delicious and pretty much no-fail. There isn’t another cooking magazine that aligns as closely to my cooking style as this one. I’m a fan! And I want you to be, also.
To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me what or where your favorite go-to place is to snag great recipes (I could use a few new ideas myself)!
Winners will be announced Monday, April 12th.
Just a note: Cook’s Country does not know I exist nor are they sponsoring this giveaway. It’s because I love YOU and I love their MAGAZINE. Case closed.
I love your site, but I also check others – love lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com
I luv smittenkitchen.com
Your site is by far my most favorite of all! I tell all my family and friends about it. I sometimes visit http://simplyrecipes.com/ but always come back to your site
).
Other than your site (OBVIOUSLY!), I also like epicurious. Their ratings system has never failed me! Another that I like is Choosy Beggars (www.choosy-beggars.com). Tina and Mike are both hilarious, and the food is awesome too!
Thanks for all YOUR hard work keeping up this blog for us!
I love food blogs and I come from a large family who love to cook so I have some good resources.
I’m afraid it’s you or my kids starve.
Our favorite place for recipes is the new “The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook.” We love it. It feels like we brought a five star restaurant into our home.
A few of my favorite places to get inspired and find favorite recipes are in my Grandmother’s HUGE recipe box, http://www.thepioneerwoman.com, a few of my weight watcher cook books, and your blog of course!!! ;o) Thanks for all the wonderful family friendly dishes you share and provide!
Anything from my mom/grandma!
My go to place for recipes is YOUR BLOG, and I’m not just sucking up. Seriously everything I make anymore is from your blog. I love how easy, delicious, and fool proof your recipes are. I happen to love to watch Americas Test Kitchen and Cooks Country on pbs but that Chris Kimball guy drives my crazy. They always make the BEST stuff!
Hi Mel,
I feel like I know you since I snag your recipes weekly! I find the best resources for recipes are online blogs (like yours) & websites like allrecipes.com & epicurious.com. I always look at the reviews to see if a recipe is really worth my time & money. But I must say the most tried & true way to discover new great eats is to have what some people call “pot lucks”. We just call it a foodie night. Everyone is responsible for bringing just one of the courses…appetizer, entree, side dishes, or dessert. You must also bring the recipe, that’s the key. So if you love the dish, you already have a tested recipe to add to your collection. Having these foodie nights once a month really keeps the family menu fresh & not at all boring.
One of my favorite cooking magazines is Light & Tasty from Taste of Home. Each issue is full of tasty recipes that I enjoy making for my family. My Mom gave me a gift subscription a few years back and I’ve continued to get it. I save each issue.
Your site of course! I also go to Allrecipes (love reading the reviews…they are so helpful) a lot and have been recently finding some yummy dishes over at Tasty Kitchen. Thanks for being my favorite go-to place!
I love your blog of course, but I also like the food network, and Ourbestbites.com. I recently pick up the Food Nanny’s cook book and I like the recipes I have tried so far. She also talks about how important having a sit down dinner every night with your family is, and having a two week menu plan, which she does around themes for each day of the week.
Some of my favorite places to go for recipes are AllRecipes, RecipeZaar, The Pioneer Woman, Tasty Kitchen, and your blog, of course! I can’t believe that I have never heard of Cook’s Country. I’m off to check it out!
I get most of my recipes from your site and/or all recipes. Basically, though, I tend to stick to my old reliables.
It never fails, one visit to tastespotting.com inspires me and makes me hungry!
I LOVE Cook’s Country and the show on our local PBS station! My place to go for recipes is Taste of Home.com. They have wonderful, practical and delicious recipes.
My mother in law gives us a subscription to Taste of Home magazine which we use a lot, along with the recipes you gives us and Foodnetwork.com. I would love another cooking resource!
I love the food network–but mostly Giada’s recipes. So I get alot of ideas from her shows and save the recipes posted online.
I really do love your blog Mel! And seriously, one of the highlights of my year last year was when you posted one of my recipes. Just ask my husband!
I usually get my newest must-try-recipes from family and friends–and I love perusing chocolate cook books specifically. Thanks so much for the blog and the fun giveaway!
I actually love melskitchencafe.com. My whole neighborhood loves you actually. Everything I’ve tried is excellent. In 2nd place would have to be epicurious.com or tastykitchen.com.
Your blog is absolutely fantastic!! Since I am still honing my skills in the kitchen, anything with pictures/videos is a big help, thus I also visit sites such as YouTube!
I get lots of recipes from the website allrecipes.com and the pioneer woman. I also like the smittenkitchen and orangette.blogspot
Thanks for the chance to win the subscription to the magazine. It is fantastic!
i just roam the blogs looking for recipes all the time.
mostly blogs & especially yours – i also look at allrecipes pretty frequently. i’m sure this isn’t anything new though so sorry if it’s not that helpful:) would love to get a script to this awesome magazine though. thanks for all you do!
Yay for midweek pickmeup! I’m needing it too!
Hmmm, where to pick up recipes… I usually come to your site!
Or http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com/
I recently found this dessert blog:
http://www.foodaphilia.com/ …made the twix bars last night and LOVED them!
I make almost everything posted here, and I’m getting a reputation at work for your delicious recipes! I also enjoy Pioneer Woman, Allrecipes and all the cooking magazines I read, including Food Network, Sunset and Southern Living. I have a huge file of “must makes” and try something new at least once a week. I made the Taco Tortilla Bowls and my 5 year old said that I was awesome…high praise in the kindergarten set!
Here, of course…. but also Pioneer Woman and Allrecipes.com. The best three sites for recipes on the web, in my opinion!!
I go to your blog, QUITE often as well as multiply delicious, Sizzle and Spice, as well as Crepes of Wrath!
When I am searching for nostalgic comfort-food recipes that remind me of my carefree childhood and my Mom’s wonderful cooking I head over to hungrybrowser.com which is the home of Uncle Phaedrus, Consulting Detective and Finder of Lost Recipes. I have found many great but forgotten recipes there and have also submitted personal requests. I love the convenience of searching online for recipes and appreciate everyone who takes the time and effort to gather this information for me. I always look forward to your emails! Thanks!!!
I’m enjoying http://www.beautyandbedlam on Tuesday when she has links to everyone’s great recipe ideas with photos; I’ll bookmark a few then and come back to them when I’m meal planning. I love the baked tortilla shells you posted!
Cooking Light is a great magazine for some ideas on how to keep things a little more healthy. I really have enjoyed your site and have made the Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars about 10 times this month. This is by far been our favorite. Thanks for all.
I love your blog! I just stumbled across it yesterday (from JamieCooksItUp) and I can not wait to try some of your recipes! I find a lot of great recipes at http://www.skinnytaste.com/, since we are trying to eat more healthfully. I also use recipezaar and lots of different cooking blogs.
I go to your blog first, of course! Then I turn to a family cookbook that I got when I got married.
My hubby does all the cooking (I do all the cleaning) and his favorite place for recipes is Cooks Illustrated. I’m always suggesting new recipes from your website and we’ve been very pleased with the results….yummy
Well, I’ve stopped by before to let you know that when I need a new recipe that I KNOW will be good. I come here. And you know where else I go? The Sisters’ Cafe. So your whole family keeps me in go-to recipes. And for a lot of desserts, I look in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Thanks for a wonderful site!
I LOVE to go to allrecipes.com There are so many different recipes on there that I just love it. I also love to try foodnetwork magazines recipes frequently.
My favorite is allrecipe.com
I like to put in the ingredients I have on hand and see what it comes up with. I have found creative ways to use my veggies that I might not have gotten around to eating with out the help of their website. It is very easy to navigate. I also use your site when I am in need of a new recipe. So many ideas to choose from and I love the new site. Your desserts are my favorite…also the bread and pizza dough…the new version. THANK YOU!
I frequent your blog, Annie’s Eats, (I tried to make the butterflies for her Butterfly cupcake recipe, and have realized that I may not be as skilled as I thought! How sad. But I shall prevail!!) Pioneer Woman and eatingwell.com for recipes.
BTW, my boyfriend and I could eat your Bourbon chicken and Lemon Cream Pasta everyday if we could! He’s the pickiest eater ever, and your Bourbon chicken recipe is my definite go to when he starts whining that he’s hungry! LoL.
Thanks for making my life easier!
Besides your website for recipes I go to The Sister’s Cafe and the Pioneer Woman Cooks.
I have a great Taste of Home cookbook that I postively LOVE! Every recipe comes with a picture- a must for me. I have yet to try a recipe I did not like. All the girls in my family have one and use it regularly. YAY to Taste of Home!
I love your website as well as the sisters cafe, Pioneer Woman, and food network.com.
I love allrecipes.com and just googling a recipe works too. Love your site as well, that’s why I’m here!
I like the good old Better Homes & Garden cookbook. If the recipe needs tweaking I take the liberty, but that book has great, basic recipes.
I love your site as well as sisterscafe.blogspot.com, and realmomkitchen.com
I really enjoy The Pioneer Woman Cooks! Your site is awesome too!!
I check your site everyday since I found it (about a month ago) as well as, realmomkitchen.com, plainchicken.blogspot.com, christines-cuisine.blogspot.com, thepioneerwoman.com, tastykitchen.com, and allrecipes.com. And when I need a little more inspiration I go to foodblogs.com. I love recipe sites!
I love Chow.com, epicurious.com and Cooking Light. I love Cook’s Country but what I do instead of getting a subscription is wait until the end of the year and get the compilation book with all of the years magazines bound into a book. It is hard to wait all year for the book but it is easier for me to have it all in one place (I have a small kitchen and no where to keep all of the magazines). Anyway, love your website. Thanks for all of the good recipes.
Yeah… my go to sites are the same as everyone else’s… allrecipes, Pioneer Woman, and yours!
I subscribe to 130+ food blogs! I’ve got hundreds – maybe even thousands! – of starred recipes that I’m dying to try. I also get a bunch of cooking magazines for ideas.
My other favorite thing to do is to look on restaurant menus for meal ideas
I’m always searching for new things to try!
As of late, my default site for cooking inspiration is foodgawker. Seeing all the pretty food makes me want to get into the kitchen and start cooking.
I love to check Pioneer Woman, Sisters Cafe and yours. I check all three almost daily.
Of course I love, love, LOVE yours… mostly because it’s a no brainer, I don’t have to “GO LOOKING” for something good that I’m not really sure if it’s good or not….you take the guess work out of that, EVERYTHING is always amazingly good. But, if I’m actually looking for a recipe for something in particular , my go to web site would be the Food Network. There are so many people and different recipes for things that you can have it as easy or difficult as you wish. Thanks for the great Carrot Cake recipe, it was the best….and my rear end shows it with the additional 3 lbs!
I love your blog and have tried tons of your recipes…thank you so much AND my family thanks you too! I also enjoy Pioneer Woman and YourHomeBasedMom. Love the new blogspot!
I love Allrecipes.com, foodnetwork.com and your blog! my husband could not get over how good your carrot cake was. it is a new favorite!
When I need a creative outlet, I have tried overlapping or combining some of your recipes, like putting the lemon grilled chicken in the chicken braid with pesto sauce (or without works too) instead of the BBQ. It was a hit! I recently stumbled onto the Cooking Light magazine and I found some very fun, nutritious, easy recipes in there, too. Happy hunting!
Of course you are getting thousands of comments….how will you choose??? What a great problem to have!!! I am new to your blog & have to say it is now my FAVE!!!!! Thank you for updating regularly as I get a little childish pout if I don’t have a post to perk up my day
I go to: Melskitchencafe!!!! taste of home, recipezaar, cooks.com, allrecipes, foodnetwork especially giada & barefoot contessa. Thanks so much for your posts!
I have so many recipes emailed to me through Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Home Made Simple, yours and a couple others. I print out the recipes I want to try and I usually have a stack to go to. I also have a lot of magazines from Taste of Home’s Quick Cooking–they have changed their name and I no longer subscribe. I love you site and I can’t print out all the recipes on here that I want to try because that is most of them! I also go to favfamilyrecipes.com. Thanks for such a great site!!
I tend to roam around the internet to many different cooking blogs. I love http://www.thegirlwhoateeverything.com. I love that on the side of her blog it lists her blog list and that is actually how I found your site and many others also!
I tend to roam around the internet to many different cooking blogs in search of new ideas. I love http://www.thegirlwhoateeverything.com. I love that on the side of her blog it lists her blog list and that is actually how I found your site and many others also!
Hi, I really enjoy your blog and have a link to it on my blog. For quick meal ideas, I like to go to Kraftfoods.com. I love Foodnetwork.com and Barefoot Contessa. I also enjoy Cooking Light and Food Network Magazine.
I come to your site a lot! I also love the taste of home.. their simple and delicious magazine is awesome!
My favorite places to look up recipes are your site of course, Cook’s Illustrated, Cooking Light, King Arthur Flour blog, Pioneer Woman, and Smitten Kitchen. Yummy!
HI,
I go to your website, The Sister’s Cafe, Allrecipes.com, read cooking magazines – and even magazines like Real Simple.
Your mini-raspberry cheesecakes were at hit with our Easter crowd!
I love your site, Annie’s Eats, Cooking Light and Allrecipes.
YOU of course! Second would be Pioneer Woman. And the internet is a VAST cookbook and recipe library overall. I have my fingers crossed to win your very generous giveaway!
Hope you are SOON our of your doldrums! Maybe you need to bake something!
When your blog doesn’t have exactly what I am looking for, I call my mom! Friends and I have also formed a group on Facebook called What’s for Dinner? We post recipes that were hits with our families.
I love looking through church cookbooks! There are so many tried and true recipes in those that they are my favorite place to peruse for something new to try and then perfect.
I actually use your website quite often, also foodnetwork.com, kraftrecipes.com, and allrecipes.com. Ialso have a few cookbooks that are awesome! I always love myself a new cookbook!
I actually usually come to your site first! If you don’t have something that I am looking for specifically, then I google and read several and give it a try. So far everything that I have tried from your site has been either delicious or absolutely out of this world – I don’t have that kind of luck from other sites!
PaulaDeen.com has some good go to recipes. I also like ourbestbites.com.
I really admire all the food bloggers out there because this would be over my head to do! I love to cook though!
If I’m looking for something specific, I usually go to allrecipes.com, because of their recipe reviews. Not only can I sort by the popularity of recipes, but longer reviews are easy to see – they pop up when rolled over. I’ve found tons of great hints for more complicated recipes.
I’m also learning to love the KAF recipes page and blog. I’ve definitely gotten inspiration to try new things through their blog pages.
And finally, I used to use epicurious quite a bit, but since I live in rural Alaska now, I don’t as often because their recipes frequently call for items that I can’t acquire.
Melanie, this is definitely my go-to blog! I also use Sisters Cafe, Annie’s Eats, and The Pioneer Woman. I can’t believe how much recipe blogs have changed my life!!! Love you all for your hard work!
I visit your blog and sisters cafe at least once a week. I have tried and loved many or your recipes. I also love The Food Nanny cookbook! I have some neighborhood cookbooks that are great as well!
I love going to yours, Thibeault’s Table, and Recipezaar. These are my weekly go to’s.
Ooooooo, I would love that magazine. I need down-to-earth recipes for my finicky children. Well, I love checking out your site (great recipes!). But I also like Tasty Kitchen, $5 Dinners, and Mandy’s Recipe Box.
- eatingwell.com
- vegetarian times (magazine)
- thepioneerwoman.com
- closetcooking.blogspot.com
and, of course, your blog
My go to is a Herbergers cookbook out of North Dakota – good comfort food recipes and of course yours – but Dave is the big fan of any cooking recipe on Foodnetwork and he thinks he can cook better than me so I say go ahead does not hurt my feelings but he still wants your garlic cake recipe – you know what I mean.
I love your blog to help me come up with ideas for dinner. I also use all recipes.com and cooks.com. As far as cookbooks, my go to cookbooks are the Southern Living annual cookbooks. I have a collection from the last 10 years and have always loved the recipes I make from them.
I usually head to Taste of Home.
Your website is the first thing I look at, also foodnetwork.com, kraftrecipes.com, and allrecipes.com.
All of your recipes I have tried have been wonderful. I am so thankful you have your website and that I found it!!
I love epicurious.com- great recipies there. We love ethnic food at my house too, and my go-to web addresses for more exotic fare are http://www.maangchi.com, (video step by step instructions, be sure to look up “potato side dishes” there), and recipeatlas.com. Love your blog too- you’ve helped my answer “what should I cook for dinner?” on more than a few occasions! Thanks!
Hi there
I have just found your blog
Love it – plan on making the pasta dish and corn/bean salad tonight.
I use PW, allrecipes and even google.
Happy week
Cheers
Catie
I go to my google reader, type in my main dish and see what comes up! I love all the food blogs I follow, I rarely use my cookbooks anymore!
allrecipes.com or pioneerwoman! Both have really great recipes that you can’t go wrong with.
You of course and Pioneer Woman!
I go to Allrecipes.com a lot – love the reviews by everyday cooks and their revisions or additions to make recipes even better, but I love your blog and am eager to read your posts!
The New Best Recipes cookbook. I’m also a big fan of ATK on TV and their other magazines. KAF is another one.
I find the best recipes come from friends and family and just playing with an old recipe to make it mine, also like to try to duplicate things I try out at resturants. I enjoy experimenting and so does my family. so far!!!
For years I was an ardent “Taste of Home” fan, and a lot of my favorite recipes are from their early magazines. More recently I’ve gotten new favorites from cooking blogs including Baking Bites, A Year of Crockpotting, Big Red Kitchen, and Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures. We subscribe to America’s Test Kitchen’s other magazine, “Cooks Illustrated”, which I like and my husband loves. Thank you for this give-away!
Your blog/website!! That’s what I was doing here just this minute, looking for something for dinner tonight! Love your recipes and ideas. We’ve tried so many and have loved them all, thanks!
Jaime
If I can’t find anything for dinner on your website, I just go out!!! I haven’t been going out to eat as often since I found your website! Thanks…I think!
You could really hype your kids up and teach them how to make cake pops from bakerella.com! Thanks for all of your hard work to make my life easier.
Well, I come here for recipes…or I sometimes do an Internet search and see what pops up!
I just recently started reading food blogs and am loving it. I will go to the few I have bookmarked for new recipes. If I have time at home to plan something, I love to look through the cookbooks I have that different churches or organizations in our area make up. They always have “tried and true” recipes that may be generations old.
I usually go to cooking blogs or to my mom’s old recipes to find new recipes. I love your blog. I have tried a lot of stuff from it, and it fits well into my family’s needs.
I have to tell you how much I love your blog! It’s one of the first places I look for good recipes!!! I also like to check Annie’s Eats, Pioneer Woman, Fake Ginger and Allrecipes.com – just to name a few. I am so thankful for all of you wonderful ladies that share your recipes. My family is really reaping the benefits. (BTW, we LOVE your homemade pizza! Thanks so much!!) Amy
Seriously, you are my go to for recipes. I linked you so I could find you easy and so others know who I am bragging about. You have certainly given me inspiration to try things I wouldn’t have before, and I know Cook’s is an awesome publication. I sure hope that I can be one of the lucky four! Keep cookin’! You rule!!!!!
eydie
Honestly, I go to your site first. I have been feeding my family for months with your recipes. Everytime there is a new meal on the table, they ask me, “Is this from that website you are always on?” And we have yet to try one that we haven’t LOVED! Thanks so much! If you don’t have what I am looking for (which is rare), I go to allrecipes.com. I like their rating system – it helps me predict if the recipe will turn out well.
You are my go to girl! your pizza braids and pretzels are the best and the list could go on! my second is our best bites.