The wealth of online recipes, free of charge to anyone who wants them, is truly staggering.
From home cooking and regional favorites to gourmet dishes and true ethnic cuisine, there's not much you can't find.
Whatever your palate craves, you'll find it in the wilds of the Internet.
If the dotcom bust of the '90s taught us anything, though, it's that free content will only get you so far.
Billions of dollars were lost when the investing world suddenly came to the realization that these pretty sites were not generating a cent of income.
The Internet shook, sites disappeared and previously "hot" domain names suddenly went dark and silent.
Of course, the world of free content is a lot more stable now.
Advertisers have grown accustomed to the way ads work online, and revenue streams have begun to flow in a more rational way that would be recognized by most business school graduates.
It's a shame that the dismal science of economics has to impinge upon the tasty science of cooking, but that's the way of the brave new world.
One way you can help keep these sites operating and providing their abundant free recipes is to do something many of us try to avoid: click on ads.
All these clicks are tracked, and the site you visit sets its ad rates partly based on them.
It won't take you but a few seconds each time you visit, and your clicks could make the difference between a vibrant, content-rich site and one that disappears and takes all its toys with it.
Finally, look around the front page of your favorite "small" recipe site.
A lot of them have PayPal links that allow you to contribute directly to the site operation.
Many of these sites are not run for profit, being paid for out of pocket by the domain owners either as a labor of love or as a vanity project.
Your few extra dollars can help keep the site afloat when the owners' funding runs a bit shy.
There will likely always be a wealth of online recipes available free, but you can do your part to help make sure!