Citing my sources

Today I received an email inquiring about the actual ingredient list/recipe used for one of my canning batches and it forced me to devote some time and thought to the idea of listing an entire recipe on my blog, and what proper method of citing sources should be used. The internet is a treasure trove of information and I'm always quick to cite the books I use with an amazon link, but fearing copyright infringement has limited the way I write details about what's happening in my kitchen. The use of books, leaflets, and more traditional forms of printed recipes is not altogether lost on my generation, and while I celebrate the wealth of recipes online and the camaraderie of our virtual kitchens, I want to be sure and honor the authors and publishers that put hard work into the books I rely on.

So, with the help of David Lebovitz and the Food Blog Alliance I think I've found a way about it. The article Recipe Attribution confirms what I was feeling but worried wasn't within reason, that posting a list of ingredients isn't infringing on copyright it's the blatant lifting of exact text (and the second half a of a recipe, the directions for cooking, processing, etc) that is a violation. So three cheers to a new year and clearer posts about what's inside my jars.

PS. I'm giving serious consideration to the new Washington Cottage Food Operations law that allows home producers to sell home-baked and home-canned (high acid) foods directly to consumers at markets, etc. More on that later...