A lot of people ask me what my favorite cookbooks are, and after some time thinking about it, I came to the conclusion it is my notebook computer.  This little piece of technological mastery has helped me more finding and developing recipes than any other reference I have ever come across.

While I still keep my cookbooks handy, for just about all of my needs, all I have to do is open up my notebook, connect to the Internet, and do a quick search via Google on any topic or recipe I need to research.  Once I find information that I am looking for, I can bookmark it for a later date.  In fact, my largest recipe compilation is one of my favorites folders called Recipes.

I use my notebook to put many of my recipes right here on this site.  When I cook a dish for someone and they ask for the recipe, I can just turn the laptop on, and shoot them the link.  I remember the days it involved finding the recipe in a dog eared stack, re-writing it and then trying to explain each step that may not be in the documentation.

Not only are there good recipes online, there are many videos online that will show you tips and tricks.  Visitors to these sites can also add comments furthering your knowledge on the topic.  This just cannot be done in a static book.  Occasionally you may get a second edition of a current cookbook that might have addressed any errors in the first edition, but those recipes online can be updated instantly.

You also get a larger variety of culinary opinions online.  Cookbooks require publishers, printers, etc., that the average person probably doesn’t have access to.  Today, almost anyone can publish their recipes online with little to no cost.

Using the notebook instead of the desktop has many benefits as you are often cooking in a room where the desktop isn’t located.  Having my laptop sitting on the table while I prepare new recipes saves so much time (and printer paper 🙂 ).

You can also take your notebook with you when you cook in someone else’s kitchen.  Good luck dragging the desktop to do the same thing.

It is clear, the 21st century cook can only improve having free and easy access to the Internet.  The cookbook is no longer an unchanging collection of well worn paper.  The information is here, and along with it, a cooking revolution.