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Your grandmother’s “original” spaghetti sauce is likely a combination of a recipe she’d inherited, little changes she made through casual experimentation (or necessity), and variations borrowed from recipes she’d found in cookbooks or from friends. Likewise, the most popular blogs – whether they cover cooking, crafts, or outfits of the day – benefit from cross-pollination and external inspiration.

While we all prize originality and creativity – out of the box thinking and innovation – the truth is nothing comes from nothing. There’s no shame in admitting that your coveted brownie recipe is a mashup of several recipes you found online and on the backs of flour sacks. It is shameful to pass off recipes or ideas as your own rather than pass proper credit along to those talented cooks who influence and inspire you.

It’s simple enough to credit the cooks and commenters who pass along brilliant ideas. There’s no need for fancy MLA-style citations online. A quick acknowledgement with a link to your muse’s blog and/or social media account is sufficient.

Check out this recipe for Mediterranean Eggplant Dip from our friend Dana’s blog Dig in with Dana. Dana first provides insight on this dish by citing another author:

One of my favorite cookbook authors, Claudia Roden, calls it “poor man’s caviar”.

In her book, Simple Mediterranean Cooking, Claudia describes this dip as the most popular way to eat eggplant all across the Mediterranean.

Even when offering tips on the most effective preparation of the dish, Dana takes time to quote another blogger and to link back to her site:

Don’t put the eggplant in the blender or food processor or you’ll end up with what my favorite food blogger Deb Perlman calls “ba-ba-baby food.”

Your readers won’t love you any less when they learn that you also read food blogs and cookbooks and that you learn from other pros. That, in fact, is the mark of a pro.

In the world of blogging, crediting your culinary heroes can even help to bring traffic to your blog. After all, most people enjoy knowing that their handiwork is appreciated by other experts, so providing a link back to the writers, bloggers, and culinary mavens whom you treasure will likely capture their attention and respect. You may even discover that they’ve begun to share your posts or even cite your recipes in return!