A cookie and a friend…

To start off I would like to thank all of you for your wonderful and constructive comments regarding the question of re-printing recipes on Blogs. This is obviously one of those topics that hasn't really been addressed in the blog world.

I agree to an extent with some of the comments made. I agree that proving you pioneered "1/2 tsp Sugar" would be a difficult thing indeed. Now for me all of this is really a pointless thing to argue. I am a book junkie. I just have to own the book itself. The question here pertains to what our behavior should be when we share our finished products. There is still a couple of more days left to vote so if you haven’t gotten your opinion in yet do so quickly before the poll closes!

Ok, now back to baking.

I was “blog browsing” the other day and came across this posting from Pietown . As soon as I saw the pictures of these wonderful cookies (which to me looked like a chocolate version of a Little Debbie’s Oatmeal cookie) I knew I had to try my hand at them. This recipe is actually from SmittenKitchen.

If you take the time to read the recipe comments you will find everyone commenting on how sweet these are. Let me correct their description somewhat. These are AMAZINGLY, CRAZY, DON’T EAT ONE BEFORE BED SWEET!!!!!!!!!!! I even left out a ½ cup of sugar as one of the other bakers suggested. Of course that doesn’t make them bad snacks with a cup of coffee!

As you can see I made them kind of big. I didn’t realize that the cookie part would actually come out the consistency of a cookie. (silly me) From the pictures I figured they would be a little softer so I made them big. I also didn’t realize how sweet they were. Did I mention the cavity I got from these? Despite the sweetness these cookies are AMAZING and I will definitely make these again. The recipe states that the batter will produce 25 - 30 cookies. I got about 10. Obviously if I would have made them smaller I could have probably made about 20.

…but I digress…

I have the pleasure of inviting one of my dearest friends to join us for our topic on reprinting recipes. Alex of 2Ciaos is a Fabulous IP lawyer who will educate us on the actual legal aspects of this question. This will perhaps give a more concise guideline on how we should be crediting the originators of our crafts and ultimately decide on how we here at TableBread post our efforts.

I hope you will all give a warm welcome to Alex as she joins us at the table for our discussion.

Grab a cookie, a cup of coffee, and your listening ears and give a warm welcome to Alex of 2Ciaos as she educates us on this sticky question.

Recipe Sharing or Recipe Theft? A question for the masses.

So my dear constant readers as you may have noticed my blog is somewhat free of recipes. I do however add many links and opportunities for any and all to purchase the source of my creations.

My question to you dear readers is this:

When you post a recipe (even if you credit the author) is this the same as photocopying a recipe at a book store instead of buying the book? Are we robbing the author (unless it's Paula, a certain TV "personality" - this site does NOT recognize her as a cook - *OOPS* was that sassy?) of much needed funds to write more delicious recipes?

I don't know how I feel on this. I guess I border line think that if a website puts a recipe on their site than it's free for the public. In this case the gracious will link back to it. But what of the cookbook author?

I would like to know what you think - vote on the poll board and leave a comment with your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.