This was sparked by a humorous post I read about the types of people using Pinterest. It highlighted the people who don't pin anything, the ones who pin everything, the people who spend all their time pinning projects instead of doing projects, and the food pinners.
Truthfully, I probably fall into the last category. But unlike the humorous post, I actually make the recipes I pin. Well, some of them.
I've been doing a lot of cooking this year. Because of this I need more recipes than I have before to keep me from getting bored. In the past I've used Food Network recipes after watching a chef make it. I haven't had much time to do that recently. So I've been on the lookout for simple recipes I can make at home without fancy equipment or complicated techniques. Enter Pinterest.
If you haven't used Pinterest before, it's just a social media site where you can pin images. But it's not just images. It's pinning an image that links back to the website you got it from. You can organize your pins on boards you create and name. And you can follow other people or just certain of their boards. There are also comments, likes, and repins. I don't really use the first two much, but that last one is a must. You can repin something that another person has pinned (or posted) onto your own boards.
You know what types of internet stuff has a lot of pics?? Food blogs and craft blogs. I love the recipes I've found on Pinterest. Most of them are from at home food bloggers. Recipes that have findable ingredients that don't require owning obscure kitchen instruments. Some of them have pictures of each step so you know what things are supposed to (or could) look like. I just really love that I can put all my recipes in one place. And that I can get to them from anywhere with internet access. It has really made making grocery lists from work simple. (If I can remember what I have in my fridge that is..) Plus when I'm not sure what I want to make for the week, I can always look at a collection of recipes I want to try all in one place. And once I make them, I swap them over to a different board of things I have made.
Could I have done this with a bookmarking website? Yes. But then I'd be missing the social aspect of it. I like that I can follow my friends. I have similar cooking/foods tastes to Lora, Amy, and Kelly. I love that I can use them to help me curate a "Becky cookbook." They follow different people and read different food blogs than I do. It's like setting people up as an information sieve. If the recipes get past their discerning eyes, they're probably worth looking at.
I don't just use it for recipes. I, too, pin projects I will almost positively never complete. And some dream kitchen things and cute products show up there too. But for the most part, I think that I use the site quite efficiently and practically for me.
Want to see more of what I'm pinning and making? Check out my boards here: http://pinterest.com/beckiejean/
Truthfully, I probably fall into the last category. But unlike the humorous post, I actually make the recipes I pin. Well, some of them.
I've been doing a lot of cooking this year. Because of this I need more recipes than I have before to keep me from getting bored. In the past I've used Food Network recipes after watching a chef make it. I haven't had much time to do that recently. So I've been on the lookout for simple recipes I can make at home without fancy equipment or complicated techniques. Enter Pinterest.
If you haven't used Pinterest before, it's just a social media site where you can pin images. But it's not just images. It's pinning an image that links back to the website you got it from. You can organize your pins on boards you create and name. And you can follow other people or just certain of their boards. There are also comments, likes, and repins. I don't really use the first two much, but that last one is a must. You can repin something that another person has pinned (or posted) onto your own boards.
You know what types of internet stuff has a lot of pics?? Food blogs and craft blogs. I love the recipes I've found on Pinterest. Most of them are from at home food bloggers. Recipes that have findable ingredients that don't require owning obscure kitchen instruments. Some of them have pictures of each step so you know what things are supposed to (or could) look like. I just really love that I can put all my recipes in one place. And that I can get to them from anywhere with internet access. It has really made making grocery lists from work simple. (If I can remember what I have in my fridge that is..) Plus when I'm not sure what I want to make for the week, I can always look at a collection of recipes I want to try all in one place. And once I make them, I swap them over to a different board of things I have made.
Could I have done this with a bookmarking website? Yes. But then I'd be missing the social aspect of it. I like that I can follow my friends. I have similar cooking/foods tastes to Lora, Amy, and Kelly. I love that I can use them to help me curate a "Becky cookbook." They follow different people and read different food blogs than I do. It's like setting people up as an information sieve. If the recipes get past their discerning eyes, they're probably worth looking at.
I don't just use it for recipes. I, too, pin projects I will almost positively never complete. And some dream kitchen things and cute products show up there too. But for the most part, I think that I use the site quite efficiently and practically for me.
Want to see more of what I'm pinning and making? Check out my boards here: http://pinterest.com/beckiejean/
I think I'm one of the "rarely use Pinterest" group. When I remember about it, I'll go on and see what others have pinned, and I'll occasionally repin something.
ReplyDeleteI basically use Pinterest as a way to record all of my tv shows. I get in a withdraw stage and like to sit at my computer to watch an endless amount of episodes from an old series I never finished.
Since I have Goodreads/Librarything for my books and Sidereel for current tv shows, Pinterest works well for "What I've obsessed over".
I fully admit to pinning things I think I will never make but know you probably will. :)
ReplyDeleteI've yet to find a reason to use Pinterest but the recipes thing sounds like a good idea!
ReplyDelete@Amy---and I love you for it!
ReplyDelete@Nicola---I figured it was worth a try. Then I fell in love with it. You have been warned. :)