Just about every website has jumped on the social network bandwagon, ala MySpace and Facebook, and now cooking and recipe sites are fully on board as well. Equally, there's no shortage of sites trying to be the Facebook of food, and these are just a few I've recently run across. I have not actually registered and tried to use any of these, so they are not full reviews, just first impressions based on having explored many of these types of sites.

First up is Group Recipes, in the mandatory beta status, sporting the very clichéd web 2.0ish diagonal stripped background, tags, and user profiles. From their about page they aim to be

world's neatest food site. From meeting other food lovers to nifty recipe predictions and taste compatibility, Group Recipes has your grub needs covered. The project's goal is to harness the tastebuds of the masses to create a really useful resource for food lovers.

One interesting feature is "Roger" the robot, that is supposed to analyze your recipes and tastes and make recommendations based on your profile. Also included is a recipe stumbler, for those with no clue what to make for dinner, which could come in handy on those nights nobody can make a suggestion for dinner.

Next up is , Family Oven also in the ubiquitous beta status, and honestly, my exploration was cut quite short by the overwhelming amount of adds on the home page. The goal appears to be to allow cooks of all skill levels to create a profile page (think food blog ala wordpress.com) to share their love of food and recipes, including having videos. They've also incorporated a digg like feature "chomp it" (lame, huh?) to rate recipes, as well the ability to save for later, and create shopping lists based on recipes you've collected. The overall UI leaves me with something to be desired, so perhaps a second run might sway my opinion.

Following up that is Open Source Food, from the same developer who brought us the now deceased 8apps. Also a way for users to share their recipes, Open Source Food seems to have a larger emphasis on photos with recipes. One very interesting element with the recipes is that you can license your recipes (Creative Commons seems the most popular, and there's a link to "blog this" for a recipe, which you can embed in your own blog.

Example

Definitely a neat feature, and one I may explore.

Another site I recently came across is Super Cook allows you to "finds recipes you can make with the ingredients you have at home." I haven't tested this site, but will keep it bookmarked for those I just don't want to head out to the market.

Finally, not so much a social food and cooking site is Culinary Seductions which aims to show "food is the key that unlocks hearts, minds and a whole lot more. Our mission is to entertain and educate all those who are interested in winning their dates over with food." Obviously aimed at the bachelor/husband looking to impress the woman in the life, this site's goal is to share seductive recipes and techniques to achieve these dishes.

If you've come across other similar sites, or have one of your own which you'd like featured here on Cooking With, leave a comment and I'll be sure to take a look and share my thoughts.