Recipe Rant

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "G" as in "grumpy", so I do apologize if it comes off a bit bah-humbug. Being in the kitchen is usually very zen for me, a natural mood booster, if you will. But there's one thing that really puts a damper on my cooking experience: Inaccurate Recipe Ratings.

You know what I'm talking about - those little stars, thumbs up, spoons, etc. that show you how other home cooks have rated the recipe. A lot of times, when I'm browsing my favorite websites for recipe ideas, I like to sort them by rating so that I don't waste time and ingredients on a recipe that most agree is not a winner.

How exactly can a rating be inaccurate, you might be wondering? After all, ratings are subjective, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. This is true in most cases. But then you have those recipe raters that DO NOT follow rating rules. {That's a bit of a tongue twister, isn't it??}

Before I continue, let me just preface by saying that I am a huge supporter of what I'll call recipe customization, which basically means adding or omitting things based on your taste, creativity, or what you  have available in your cupboards. This is what makes recipes unique and I'm sure you'll notice a lot of it in the recipes I post. That's part of the fun of cooking!

BUT... when rating a recipe online, I believe that cooks should abide by a certain "cook's code" and rate the actual recipe posted. This is NOT the time to add a little bit of this, and a tiny pinch of that, and then finish it off by completely going off the path of what the recipe was originally intended to be. In my opinion, this would no  longer be an accurate rating of the recipe. You'd be rating your own recipe and calling it fabulous {and that's just a bit snooty!}.  Here's an example of the kind of review that irks me:

"I give the recipe for 'Low Fat Blueberry Muffins' five stars!!!! I replaced the skim milk with heavy cream, omitted the flax seed, and swapped out the blueberries for chunks of Valrhona chocolate. Instead of using a confectioner's sugar glaze, I whipped up a chocolate ganache and drizzled over top of the muffins. My family adored this recipe. Will make again for sure! Such a keeper!!!"  - Posted by user: Switcharoo99

Ok, that may have been a bit exaggerated.... but I see very similar postings all the time and it drives me nuts!! You might as well call 'Baked Chicken Breast', 'Rack of Lamb' if you're going to change the recipe entirely!

Now that I have that out of my system... I feel a lot better. ;)  I promise I will do my best to give honest reviews of the recipes I try, or give it a new name entirely! Here's to success in the kitchen, no matter what recipe you try!