No doubt… (since you’re here reading this), you’ve already made friends with the “.com ” world.  BUT, (as in life)…you can never have enough “friends”.

Particularily when it comes to food & cooking, it seems that this new found medium has exploited the weakness of everyone willing to share their food passions and recipes. And with the overwhelming number of food websites to choose from it’s nearly impossible to sort through the www.’s to find what’s worthwhile. Who knows, maybe you’re just looking for a cookie recipe or maybe you just want to know what a Turducken is? Regardless, if you think of these sites like an old fashioned cookbook, I think it’s fair to say that you wouldn’t invest in a cookbook you thought was garbage and you shouldn’t invest your time (or your food dollar) on a web site that doesn’t deliver “the goods” either.

Having said that, there’s something out there for just about everyone’s tastes. Literally! So I’m going to focus on a variety of sites that suit my own personal tastes but ones that I also think you’d find both immensely useful and enjoyable too.

In no particular order, here we go!

www.foodnetwork.com Common now, is there anyone left on the planet who has not heard of Emeril? This site pretty much has it all. Very useful for recipes, keeping track of your favorite food personalities and like it’s T.V. Food Network partner, it’s pretty darn entertaining at times.

www.chef2chef.com This “Culinary Portal” is especially useful for the aspiring chef or a serious cook. It’s as much a “virtual” Culinary School as it is a recipe site. You might even get the urge to come to one of Nino’s cooking shows!

www.epicurious.com Has some of the better recipes from its web partners (Gourmet  and Bon Appetit Magazines). It’s well layed out, easily navigated and always stays ahead of food trends and upcoming holiday ideas.

www.zagat.com The Detroit entries are rather sparse but if you love to travel and especially if you love the dining scene, Zagat is a “readers survey” of all that’s worth reviewing.  As its reader/members vote on what’s noteworthy and not the professional food writers you can count on a rather accurate, coast to coast, non biased review of restaurants, bars, hotels and what’s new in the culinary firmament. You can also buy it’s guides over the internet or at your local book seller.

www.foodbuzz.com The name pretty much sums it up. From kitchen gadgets to ingredients to recipes, it’s a plethora of what’s new, what’s trendy and what’s in food fashion.

www.food411.com Food411 is a unique editorial food resource directory for everything on the Web related to gourmet food finds, online food shopping; ingredients, recipes, regional specialties, food blogs, unique food gifts, and meals delivered.

www.foodreference.com Food history, food quotes, food quizzes, weekly food articles and a whole lot more about food stuff you ever thought possible to know….did I mention it was about food??

www.recipesource.com & www.allrecipes.com Want to cut the chase and just find a recipe? These are 2 of the most visited recipe sites on the web.

www.gourmetsleuth.com Newly re-designed, Gourmet Sleuth is a nice hybrid of recipes, information and reference that’s fresh and interesting.

I hope you enjoy checking these sites out. Let me know what your favorite site is. And if you have one of your own to suggest, let’s hear about it!