Today is Allrecipe's fourteenth birthday, and it is greeted with the introduction of the latest innovation of sharing recipes and techniques: Allrecipes.tv and the "What's Cooking" series.
Allrecipes is a Reader's Digest Association brand and is the self proclaimed #1 food site and largest food community based in Seattle, WA. The first "What's Cooking" webisode premiers on July 29th at 11:00 a.m. PT, and it features home cooks demonstrating recipes from their own kitchens. In addition to the short webisodes, Allrecipes is planning a live chat session with the show's host, Michael Ketchum, and with Jonae Steinman, the first home cook in the show.
Not stopping with featuring home cooks, Allrecipes has also partnered with Rouxbe Cooking School, an online cooking video series that teaches consumers how to cook by teaching techniques. Rouxbe's CEO, Paul Bloom, emphasizes that Rouxbe is not a recipe site but a video site featuring how-tos usually taught in culinary school. The founding chefs of Rouxbe believe that cooking should not be restricted to following recipes, but it should be a growing experience of mastering specific skills in the kitchen that can be used repeatedly.
The premier of "What's Cooking" was nothing short of a fun event with great food and good conversation. Mingling in the crowd were local bloggers, chefs, marketers, and designers. David Quinn, one of the founders of Allrecipes, described "What's Cooking" as another Allrecipes solution to bringing the experience of cooking and food to the users.
"It's about listening to the users and giving them what they need," he said.
Also in attendance was Ronald Holden, a fellow Examiner, and he shared that these premiers are the fun reason he is a food writer. Blogger Jenny Ingram said she was invited because she had met some of the team members of the marketing group that promoted the event. Peabody added that food is her passion, and she also happened to mention that she owned three Kitchenaid standmixers. Ah, the passion for food knows no bounds.
The food was provided by Chef Karen Binkhorst, a personal chef and caterer with Home Meals with Karen. Recipes were chosen from Allrecipes' database. We enjoyed peach cobbler with snickerdoodle crust, lamb sliders, an assortment of cheese, crispy breaded salmon, fresh seasonal fruit, and creamy shrimp sandwiches. Delicious. A mini popcorn bar provided by KuKuRuZa Gourmet Popcorn rounded out the tasty treats.
The staff at Allrecipes is friendly and loves the work. Senior Editor Carl Hanson says that Allrecipes incorporates his passion for food and interest in the human experience. He says that Allrecipes is as much for busy people seeking dinner solutions as it is for gourmet foodies seeking an extra large database of recipes. Julie Filips, a culinary professional trained at the Seattle Culinary Academy and marketing expert, says that Allrecipes is a way to access recipes from all over the world in a way that has never been done before. Richard Kozel, whose team maintains the databases for Allrecipes and helps ensure that it is useable for consumers, admits to having an Allrecipes membership where he shares vegetarian recipes and tips when he's not working.
Located in the 5th and Pine/1505 building, Allrecipes' new home office is stunning. There is ample room for events, meetings, creativity, and cooking. A test kitchen overlooks the busy shopping district, and a balcony opens over the street offering a panoramic view of Seattle. Bright and brightly-colored, the new headquarters office creates an environment for creativity and cutting edge development. In addition to its freely accessed database, Allrecipes offers a subscription program that features exclusive member benefits and heftier features. Allrecipes is also hosted in 21 countries, providing local recipes for international members.
Allrecipes is my go-to website for researching recipes, and I usually look on it daily for ideas, behind-the-scene ideas, and now, videos and how-tos. I sat down with some of the Allrecipes staff for one-on-one interviews, and you can find those on my blog.
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