About

By Kathy March 20, 2009

Your hostess, KathyIt’s the recipe collection I didn’t even realize I had – the one derived from the side of a bag of fresh vegetables, a box of sugar, a jar of mayonnaise.

As someone who regularly scours food blogs, magazines and cookbooks for new recipes to try I was stunned to discover one day that there were nearly 40 recipes printed on the packaging of food items I had in my refrigerator and pantry.  I’d overlooked most of them all of these years. Of course, I’ve made everyone’s favorite Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe countless times and who doesn’t love Rice Krispy Treats? But what about all of these other on-the-package recipes? It occurred to me there could be some hidden gems in here.

Cooking On the Side – as in on the side of food packaging – is all about “revealing” these on-the-package recipes, with photos of how they actually turn out, cooking notes and more descriptive directions than package space usually allows for.

In addition to Cooking on the Side, I write Panini Happy – a food blog dedicated to panini and other original recipes for the panini grill. Before taking time off to focus on raising our toddler, I worked in online marketing and advertising for several large, well-known brands. These days, I’m enjoying the delicious life of a foodblogger in sunny San Diego.

CONTACT:

Got feedback? Questions? You can reach me by e-mail at cookingontheside AT yahoo DOT com

 

19 Comments

  • By Elle, March 31, 2009 @ 7:36 AM

    Kathy, what a great idea! Those are some of my favorite recipes!

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  • By Jamie, April 1, 2009 @ 8:00 AM

    Hi! I jumped over from Facebook to your other blog to here! Love both blogs and I would love to eat lunch at your house one day! I think the idea behind this blog is brilliant! Good for you!

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  • By sweetie, June 25, 2009 @ 5:47 AM

    what a cute concept!

    i’ve heard this recipe from the back of the domino confectioner’s sugar box is great:
    http://www.dominosugar.com/Recipe.aspx?id=505

    others:
    -blondies on the back of the mini’s chocolate chip bag -ghiradelli cocoa box brownies
    -baker’s chocolate one bowl brownies
    -hershey’s perfectly chocolate cake (from the cocoa box)

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    Kathy Reply:
    June 25th, 2009 at 7:50 AM

    I’ve been eager to bake again so I’ll definitely look into these – thanks!

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  • By HoneyB, July 23, 2009 @ 11:24 AM

    Awesome idea!

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  • By Caitlin, October 25, 2009 @ 10:43 AM

    Love your blog!

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  • By Charlotte, October 27, 2009 @ 5:20 AM

    Love your blog and I cant wait to try the pumpkin spice cake. And you are exactly right, some of the best recipes are on the box. The companies spend mega bucks developing recipes that showcase their products to the best use of them. Good luck with this great blog.

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  • By Tina, November 15, 2009 @ 8:15 PM

    I enjoy the recipes I’ve tried so far & look forward to more. I really like your voice. Whoever is doing your photos (you?) is fantastic too!

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    Kathy Reply:
    November 15th, 2009 at 9:29 PM

    Thanks so much, Tina! Yes, I do my own photos – they’re a struggle sometimes but I have fun with it :-)

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  • By Jessica, Jill and Tamara, November 16, 2009 @ 5:03 PM

    We just made the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and they are fantastic! FYI…we didn’t have enough regular sugar so we used all brown sugar and they still turned out great! Thanks Kathy!

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    Kathy Reply:
    November 16th, 2009 at 6:19 PM

    I’m sure the brown sugar made them even better! :-)

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  • By Gudrun, December 11, 2009 @ 9:43 AM

    I had a recipe I saved from the back of a generic brand container of oatmeal for the best oatmeal cookies, thanks for the reminder to dig it out! And some of those side-of-the-box recipes are actually created by pretty well know chefs :-)

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  • By Lynne, December 19, 2009 @ 4:06 PM

    A fabulous idea.There are many very good recipes on the backs of boxes and other packaging.

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  • By Gretchen T, January 8, 2010 @ 10:18 PM

    I just ran across your blog and I’m SO excited to start reading!!! So often when I find food blogs, I realize that the recipes they post are way too complicated or are for something that I would not want to cook. The recipes on your blog should be easy to follow, since they’re written for the masses, and will most likely be something I will want to cook since I already use a lot of the products on whose packages you’re finding the recipes!

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  • By Leslie Limon, February 1, 2010 @ 2:10 PM

    I found your blog through the BYOB roundup and I just have to say that I love your blog. What a great idea! I have a drawer full of recipes that I’ve saved from boxes, cans and bags of food. I can’t wait to look through your recipes!

    Greetings from Mexico! :D

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    Kathy Reply:
    February 1st, 2010 at 2:20 PM

    A designated drawer – now there’s a good idea! I’ve been storing them in a ziploc bag. So glad you found me, Leslie!

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  • By Amy, February 2, 2010 @ 7:38 PM

    This is such a clever idea. Love both your blogs, Kathy. I consider you a great find of 2010 – perfect way to start off my new year.

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    Kathy Reply:
    February 2nd, 2010 at 7:46 PM

    That is incredibly kind of you, Amy – thank you so much! :-)

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  • By Christie, February 9, 2010 @ 8:52 PM

    Kathy,
    I just stumbled on your site searching for fun Valentine’s Day cookie recipes. The timing is amazing as I announced yesterday my plans to embark on a blogging journey of cooking my way through “Commander’s Palace New Orleans Cookbook”. The movie Julie & Julia truly inspired me. I’m not a blogger and someone who thinks she is ready to stretch her cooking abilities.
    I look forward to following you from now on.
    Take care.

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