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Over the years I have developed one hobby I am unlikely to ever give up: I love cooking. Cooking is my zen. Every meal in my household? If we aren’t eating a quick from-frozen meal, I’m making it. Figuring out my own recipes for meatloaf, meatballs, vegetables, smoked ribs, anything! And I am all about it. Pressure cookers, slow cookers, BBQ grills, smokers, attachment mixers to make my own pasta, if I have a hobby, my hobby is most definitely food. After spending part of last year going keto—and losing 20 COVID pounds, which I was happy to do—at a certain point, I just said, “Look, I’m fine, my doctor says so, and I want to make some darn pie or cobbler from scratch, dang it!” Give me some beef stew or something I have never tried before! I’m all about it! While there are recipe websites all over the internet, here at Daily Kos, there are a lot of community members who swap recipes with a story attached to them, and some of those recipes have turned into household favorites here, and I’m sure elsewhere.
Do you know how often recipes appear here on Daily Kos? Outside of groups like What’s for Dinner—which is worth a follow—we have several groups that drop recipes into the comments that reflect the overall tone of the group. Street Prophets? Oh yeah. Recipes appear. This week is a great chance to look at a tool here on Daily Kos you may be missing out on: how to use the tags to find exactly the story you are seeking.
When I find a diary that matches what I am after, I see to the left-hand side a list of the “tags” that are included within that diary.
All of these tags tell you something about the diary you are currently reading, but they also provide you a gateway into other stories here at Daily Kos that reflect your end goal. You might be looking at stories about community — which could be very broad. Maybe you see this as just a recipe that connects mostly to the topic of teaching, and that is the subject you want to learn more about.
Food may open doors to you not only about food, but about food insecurity and issues facing people all over the country when it comes to being able to take care of their families.
Cooking and Recipes, which I’m looking for here, help provide me a way to find every diary on the site quickly and easily which contains information about how to cook, recipes that Daily Kos members use, and why they might enjoy them.
I’ve found diaries with low-carb keto/diabetic-friendly recipes, vegetarian recipes, the humor and complexity of boiling an egg right, how to stretch your dollar and get hearty meals at the same time.
I have laughed and learned more about cooking here than in most places, and I say this as someone who has been glued to Top Chef forever and can tell you all about the Great British Baking Show and why Uncle Roger’s criticism of the way they handled Asian food was dead-on correct (sorry Paul!). No, I’m not likely to be a star baker anytime soon, but thanks to the Daily Kos community, I know I get a bit better every single year. And, most of all, I continue to enjoy every moment of cooking for my loved ones.
I might spend my weekend clicking on the “recipes” tag, but I know members can use our tags to look at critical issues of the day here at Daily Kos, too. If you’ve found one article on a subject, you might try a tag to see if anyone else has written about it, or if there are other issues connected that help you learn more and walk away more informed.
Ok, I’m off to try a strange three-way slow cooker and see if I can figure out some sort of mixed cheese dip.
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