The TOP 10 Googled Foods of the Year!

According to Restaurants & Institutions, the top 10 most-Googled recipes of last year were:

1. Chili
2. Meatloaf
3. Cheesecake
4. Banana bread
5. Pancake
6. Salsa
7. Hummus
8. Lasagna
9. Apple pie
10. Meatball

This isn’t all that surprising, is it? Seems there are just standard foods we just gravitate to, and this list reflects that. Does it gibe with your own cooking-search behavior in 2009? Myself, searched for 4 out of the ten recipes—cheesecake, banana bread, salsa, and lasagna.

Salsa because I am planting 20 tomato plants this gardening season, with hopes and dreams of having enough tomatoes to put up my own salsa. Here you’ll see the recipe I plan to use. And since I have a LOT of apples (it’s the end of the fruit storage season and the beginning of a new one), I thought I’d make up a few pies. So here you’ll also see one of the apple pie recipes I plan to use.

If you have a recipe you could share in any of these categories, please do. I’d love to see what your best recipes are. We’re all in this together, remember, so let’s help each other out. No need reinventing the wheel, after all. And until next time, happy cook’n!

HOMEMADE TOMATO SALSA

4 large ripe tomatoes on the vine

1/2 white onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped

1 red jalapeno chile, seeded and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chop, dice, etc. Mix altogether and enjoy!

CARAMEL APPLE PIE TO DIE FOR

10 individually wrapped caramels

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

2/3 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Unwrap and cut caramel candy in half. In a large bowl, mix candy with flour. Stir in apples, ice cream topping, and lemon juice. Pour filling into pie crust and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Place in oven on a sheet of foil to catch the drips. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.