Introducing Farm Bell Recipes

May
3


It’s here, it’s here! (And it includes giveaways!)

What is it? Well, let me go back…. Many moons ago–or, actually, a little less than two years ago–I launched the Chickens in the Road forum. One of the first topics opened on the forum was a “Recipes” topic. The topic quickly filled up with wonderful, mouthwatering recipes. In other words, the topic quickly got out of hand. So I opened a section on the forum just for recipes. I called it Just Recipes. (What a brainstorm!) The idea was that within that section, people could add as many recipe topics as they wanted and we could easily find them.

Only then the Just Recipes section got out of hand. There were so many recipes! And nobody could find what they wanted when they wanted. So I created the Community Cookbook to index the recipes.

Only then the Community Cookbook got out of hand. There were so many recipes! It had to be cross-referenced and indexed manually and, worse, it wasn’t searchable. This drove users crazy. And drove me crazy! Keeping up with indexing the recipes from Just Recipes into the Community Cookbook was like another job–and it wasn’t even a functional system. Meanwhile, people kept adding more recipes. Because we love recipes around here!

There had to be a better way! Something searchable and functional. Something that would auto-index and cross-reference. Something user-friendly. And fun!

I’ve spent the better part of the past year turning over in my head what to do about this lovely, wonderful, mouthwatering “problem” of our love for recipes around here. I talked to members about it and I talked to my website designer.

And Farm Bell Recipes was born.

At Farm Bell Recipes, you can browse, rate, review, print, and submit recipes. Connect with friends and share your favorites. Looking for a recipe? You can request it! Save recipes in your very own personalized recipe box. Search by category, recipe name, ingredient, or tag. It is soooooo searchable. (The Recipe Box is awesome!!!! I think that is my favorite thing. You can save recipes in your box that you want to try later–so you don’t have to search for them again. How cool is that?)

The Member bar is at the very top of the header on Farm Bell Recipes, and from there you can register then log in to access your profile and settings. Click on Activity to check for comments on recipes or requests you’ve posted, see what new recipes your friends have posted, and send messages. When you make a recipe that’s been posted by someone else, you can even add your photo to the gallery on that recipe. How much fun is that?! It is soooooo interactive.

For those of you who love to can (and preserve in other ways), the indexing for Preserving on Farm Bell Recipes is the best and most extensive you’ll find anywhere. When you browse canning, you won’t find green beans mixed in a big lump with jams and salsas or dehydrated potatoes. Experts in the arts of preserving guided the in-depth indexing on Farm Bell and it is the most useable system you’ll ever see.

But it’s not all about preserving! We have in-depth browsing on Breads and Desserts and Main Dishes and everything else you’d expect and want from a recipe site. You can even browse by special categories like Crowd-Size or Budget or Kid-Friendly. There is also an extensive indexing for Special Diets such as vegan, lactose-free, low-sodium, and more. There’s an Entertaining section, too, which I think will be so much fun. (After you register, check out the Submit Recipes page to see the incredibly detailed auto-indexing and organization that is available for recipes there. Some sub-categories will not appear in the browsing bars yet because recipes haven’t been submitted yet in all sub-categories.)

I want this to be your cooking community, and the Farm Bell blog is your community blog. I hope you’ll enjoy it! (If you’re interested in participating in the Farm Bell blog by becoming a contributor, see information for Farm Bell blog contributors here.)

If you need help getting started, check out the Help page for support.

Sign up (it’s free!) and join us. Browse, submit your recipes, rate and review posted recipes, and just have fun! You’re invited! (Note: If you’re already registered on the Chickens in the Road blog and/or forum, you can register at Farm Bell Recipes with the same name and password.) You can also subscribe to the Farm Bell blog feed and not miss a thing!

It’s everything I never dreamed of and more back when I launched the Chickens in the Road forum and we had that one little exploding “Recipes” topic. We’ve come a long way, baby! I hope you’ll join us for a cooking community of likeminded friends. It’s a highly searchable, interactive, and user-friendly place to be!

I didn’t create this site by myself, of course. I could never do such a thing! Everything that is beautiful and functional about this website, both here and on Farm Bell Recipes, is due to the artistic talent and technical expertise of my longtime website designer, Emily from Swank Web Style.

Farm Bell Recipes also would not exist today if not for the unbelievable and generous volunteer help and support of the moderators and admins from the Chickens in the Road forum–CindyP, Dede, BuckeyeGirl, Pete, Kate S, and Astrid. (What an amazing group of ladies! I can’t thank them enough!) I also appreciate all the early testers who went in for me and signed up to help ferret out bugs in the system.

Thank you to all the Chickens in the Road forum members, whose enthusiasm for cooking brought about Farm Bell Recipes. I also want to thank every single one of you reading this today because without you, this entire site wouldn’t exist at all. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate your comments and your support. Thank you just for being here!

Please join us over on Farm Bell Recipes! We’re going to have a lot of fun there. Today, and every day all through launch week, I’m giving away cute and handy kitchen gadgets on the Farm Bell blog. Join in, enter for a chance to win, submit recipes, share photos, have a blast. Can’t wait to see you there!

Note: Entry on today’s Launch Week Giveaway #1 is not here on this post. To enter the giveaway, go to Farm Bell Recipes now and click on the Farm Bell blog button on the menu!





Comments

  1. Nancy in Iowa says:

    Congratulations on another new treat! This is going to be fun…

  2. Julie says:

    I really like this! The recipe box is a great idea!

  3. KateS says:

    This is going to be so great – so looking forward to playing with it! Thanks, Suzanne!! :heart:

  4. Leah says:

    A new recipe forum,recipe box and a giveaway? I’m going there now! Thank you Suzanne and all who worked to make this happen!

  5. Glenie says:

    Sound like something i will really love.G

  6. Lisa says:

    SO excited about this! :woof:

    I dont know if you saw my post about blog vs book bread but I used a bread recipe from your website!

  7. CindyP says:

    Thank you Suzanne for bringing this to us! You’re welcome for all of the help, but I feel honored to work with you to make Farm Bell Recipes more than an idea in your mind! You’re an inspiration to many! :heart:

  8. Mary says:

    This is going to be fun and oh, so handy. Thanks Suzanne..and all.

  9. Farm Dreamer says:

    Congrats! I am looking forward to using this new feature! It will be great!

    :chef:

  10. jean says:

    Congratulations!

  11. stephanie says:

    How stinkin exciting!! I’m headed over now…

  12. mamawolf says:

    Congratulations on this new section of CITR. Sounds like this will be one of the greatest things since chocolate! Going right now to browse.

  13. queenymom says:

    What can I say to discribe how exited I am for being a member of this fantastic Recipe group? Wow! Thank You! I will be here a lot. I just got a new rice maker with a steamer basket. When I find a recipe that matches my favorite rice dish I will make it and show you. It is called Heavenly Rice. We had it when I was in Elementry school.

  14. KentuckyFarmGirl says:

    :woof: Going to check it out! I’ll quit nagging you about that cookbook now!

  15. Grace Reynolds says:

    Wonderful new site. I will definitely be using it!

  16. Jo says:

    Fun! :snoopy: Cool! :sun:

    On my way now to check it out! :shimmy:

  17. Barbee' says:

    Suzanne, the new cooking section of your blog is absolutely astounding in its completeness and breath of coverage. So many different categories, and different functions! (Special diets will get a long look from me.) Isn’t this just wonderful! “Thank you so much!” to you and all your helpers in getting this new section up and running. I have already enjoyed perusing over there and it amazes me that people know how to put something like this together and put it in the reach of so many people. Hugs to Emily, CindyP, Dede, BuckeyeGirl, Pete, Kate S, Astrid, and of course Suzanne!

  18. Shelly says:

    Ok I was excited till I couldnt register. It said “only lower case for user name” so I did that and I still cant register for the Bell Farm Recipes. Oh well…

  19. Jessica says:

    I’m all pepped up just from reading this post. lol :woof: What a great new venture, it does sound wonderful! I’m signed up!

  20. mojen says:

    SWEET! Congratulations 🙂

    :happyflower: :happyflower: :happyflower:

  21. Miss Becky says:

    Wow, I can’t for the life of me figure out how anyone is leaving comments on the food blog for the giveaway. I’ve registered, but no comment box shows up, like here for instance. I accept it ~ it isn’t meant to be!!!
    I wish you all the best on this new venture Suzanne, I will admire from afar as it must be something with my computer. congratulations, and I love the name ~ Farm Bell Recipes!

  22. Terri Draeger says:

    Two thumbs up on another awesome site!

  23. lavenderblue says:

    Suzanne, this is great. Of course, I’ll have to look around a bit first before I get my feet wet but that’s just because I’m still pretty sure that the interwebs do explode if used improperly.To all experiencing technical difficulties, the moderators and administrators will keep at it until they fix it or know the reason why. I know from personal experience. A Big Thanks this time to Cindy P. and to everyone who keeps CITR and now Farm Bell running smoothly.

  24. Sarah at Candiquik says:

    Very nice! Great way to organize everything – who knew all of this blog/website stuff could get so complicated to make things so simple! Congrats. :shimmy:

  25. lavenderblue says:

    Oh and to Emily from Swank Web Style, this is one of the best designed blogs there is. I used to read a lot of blogs before I got this job and had to cut back. (That darn making a living thing gets in the way of all the fun.) I chose this blog because of it content, the fact that it is easy to use (relatively speaking for me) and because it is constantly getting better and better. I think it works because there are so many creative people involved.

  26. Sandra in SC says:

    Fabulous news!!! I can’t wait to spend a few days perusing the recipes!!!

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