• by thiana , October 9, 2008

This week I return to my favorite websites. I am a self-proclaimed closet 50s housewife. I love cooking and hostessing for my friends, and I have worn an apron with heels before. Consequently, I spend quite a bit of time on Foodnetwork.com, my favorite site for recipes. With Thanksgiving only a month and a half away, I've already started planning, this year developing dishes around a main ingredient. Foodnetwork.com is perfect for these kinds of vague menu ideas because they've started using the same kind of smart technology that Google now uses that tries to guess what you mean before you can finish typing it. So if I start typing "pumpkin…" a drop down box will automatically appear giving me suggestions. Did you mean pumpkin pie? Or maybe pumpkin cake? Pumpkin soup, even?

Ordinarily I think this is kinda creepy. When Google does it, or my Gmail account has advertisements based on key words in my e-mails, I feel like my privacy is a little bit invaded. But for food browsing, it multiplies my creativity. How else would I have found pumpkin cheesecake with bourbon spiked whipped cream? This year, it's easier than ever to help Mom with the actual cooking for turkey day instead of just bringing a bottle of wine. Recipes are rated up to five stars and labeled "easy," "intermediate," or "hard." So get cooking!