Thank you so much for your interest in in contributing a recipe to Edible Finger Lakes. Our readers love them and it is a great way for people to learn how to use local, seasonal ingredients in their home kitchens. We ask that all recipes be thoroughly tested by the recipe writer prior to submitting them to us for sharing.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE RECIPE
Title: Give the recipe a name. Doesn’t have to be fancy (“Rhubarb Pie” will do) but creativity doesn’t hurt (“Grandma Mildred’s Backyard Rhubarb Pie” is better). Keep it simple so readers will understand what the dish is.
Photo: Please submit a high-quality photo of the finished dish and the dish while being prepared or assembled ingredients. All photos should include a credit line for the photographer.
Byline: Include your name and the name of any photographer you worked with.
Headnote: Not required, but sometimes a sentence or two of context can be helpful. Maybe the story of how this recipe came to be, or a favorite source for the key ingredient, or a suggestion of when or with what to serve it. Finger Lakes wine recommendations are always welcome when appropriate to the dish.
Yield: Could be “Serves 6”or “Makes 3 dozen” but put it next under the headnote. Please keep in mind the home cook when writing a recipe. Most readers want a recipe that yields enough for one family meal with some leftovers, so recipes should be written for yields of 4-6 servings.
Ingredients: Please list the ingredients in the ORDER they are called for in the instructions. Place each ingredient on its own line. SPELL OUT measures: teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, pound and avoid unnecessary extra words; “a cup of oil” would be better as “1 cup oil”. Please do NOT use metric units.
Where possible, please include the Finger Lakes brand names of the ingredients. If you really prefer Farmer Ground Flour for a certain baked dish, it is ok to include that in the ingredient list.
Prep instructions: Use numerals for all numbers, even though our style for non-recipe text often dictates spelling them out. Recipes are different. DO NOT number the steps. Start a new paragraph at logical breaks in the action, but not necessarily after every step. Again, avoid unnecessary extra words; “Preheat the oven”would be better as “Preheat oven.” Instructions for plating, garnishing and serving should go at the end. Degrees: When using degrees, use the symbol for degrees and F, i.e. 350°F (can find through “insert”and “symbol”or on a Mac °is Opt+Shift+8).
Triple-check your facts. Nothing is more irritating than ruining a dish because the recipe said “cup” when it meant “3–4 cups” or when the cook’s handwritten “2 Tbs” gets translated “2 teaspoons” rather than “2 tablespoons.” Also, ensure ALL ingredients in the ingredient list are in the recipe description.
Be sure to include a two to three sentence bio and the end of the article. See other Edible Finger Lakes issues for examples.
Some examples of well-written recipes we have run.
