Recipe Website Frustrations

Recently, I went searching online for some new recipes. The old standbys were getting tired an it was time to switch things up. The experience reminded me why I still buy so many cookbooks rather than find free recipes.

My first peeve is the long, drawn out tale of how this recipe came to be. I keep running across epic-length stories along the lines of: I was walking in the woods with my husband and three beautiful children when we stumbled across a verdant meadow. The grass was knee high and butterflies flitted gaily about the wildflowers. The purple and pink hued blooms reminded me of my grandmother's kitchen and how she'd always add a pinch of sage to her meatloaf. This nostalgic turn made me think about how I could make my own signature meatloaf. And on and on and on.

Seriously, I don't care what inspired you to make your meatloaf recipe. All I want is the recipe. Period. Some sites graciously include a button that allows me to escape the BS and cut to the chase, but most don't. I laud the sites that realize no one cares. (Or at least very few care.)

My second irritation is so many of these sites don't include any nutritional information whatsoever even though there are websites that will create the card for you. I know because I've had to plug these recipes into the thing to find out what's what. If you can spend 100 paragraphs telling me about your inspiration, you can take 2 minutes to get the nutritional information with the recipe. This is especially aggravating when, after I plug in the ingredients, the results come back with a ridiculous calorie total that would have to be the lone meal of the day to be feasible.

And while we're on calories, my third annoyance is how these sites give portion sizes. Serving size is 1/6th of the recipe. Really? This is a saucy recipe, one spoonful out of the pan and everything will seep into the opening. How the hell am I supposed to figure out 1/6th of the pan? Why can't they say serving size is one cup? Or whatever it is. This is so much more feasible than trying to figure out what 1/6th of a recipe looks like on a plate. Gah!

Despite my frustration, I did find a meatloaf recipe. Thankfully, one of the comments from a visitor had the nutritional information so I didn't have to look it up. That was awesome because I'd already plugged in enough ingredients for the day.

But yeah, it makes the old-fashioned cookbook look heavenly.