Thursday, April 18, 2013

Snickerdoodle Poppers from Oh, Bite It and a Rant About Stealing From Food Blogs

Snickerdoodle Poppers at Baking and Boys!

So, a couple weeks ago I saw these fun, delicious looking Snickerdoodle Poppers on Facebook.  Kevin saw me looking at them and said they looked like something he would like.  But there was a problem—they were on Facebook and not being posted correctly.  You see, people keep tagging and sharing photos and recipes they like from sources that are NOT the ones who created the recipes.  As a food blogger, this is very annoying.  I know that all food bloggers feel this way.  It is just like stealing!  It is wrong.  There are MANY Facebook pages out there that just go around putting photos and recipes on THEIR page and getting people to “like” them and share them.  You see, what that does is gives them the credit and leaves it so the persons who actually created the recipe and took the photos don’t get any credit for them.  Neither do they get people coming to blogs, which more often than not are the sources for the recipes and photos.  People either don’t care or just don’t have a clue that that is stopping bloggers from making money.  MANY food bloggers do this for a living.  It is their income.

PLEASE, please stop liking and sharing recipes that don’t have links to where the recipes come from!  When I saw the Snickerdoodle Poppers and the horrible Facebook page that was stealing it and getting people to like it on their page, I did a quick Google search of the photo and right away found the real source for the recipe and photo.  I actually commented to a few of my friends who I saw “liking” this recipe that they were doing it wrong and not giving credit to the correct source.  Really, photos should not have the actual recipe ON Facebook.  They should just have the link to where you can go find the photo, which are often food blogs.  Help out food bloggers and stop “liking” and sharing anything with whole recipes posted on Facebook.  I don’t know of ANY food bloggers who actually put recipes on their Facebook pages.  So if you see recipes, they are pretty much being stolen and used improperly.

If you do see a recipe on Facebook that you like and want to save, do a quick, easy search for it and you’ll find it—most likely every time!  Please stop giving the wrong people credit and income that don’t deserve it.  It has become quite the epidemic on Facebook lately.  And if you couldn’t tell, I think it’s really annoying.  I haven’t even found something from my own blog stolen yet, but I consider every food blogger out there, whether I know them or not, my friends and colleagues.  We look out for each other.  I know you’d do the same for your family, friends and colleagues.

Snickerdoodle Poppers filled with Vanilla Cream at Baking and Boys!

With my little rant over, I want to share these Snickerdoodle Poppers with you.  The true and real source for these is from Amy at the blog, Oh, Bite It.  Talk about a delicious blog!

You see how I’ve left the link for you for her recipe?  Yeah, that’s how it should be done.  Now, if I would have changed some things in the recipe, I would reprint it with my changes, but still let you know where I got the inspiration for the recipe, giving her proper credit and making sure my readers know that.  Oh, whoops, got back on my little rant there.  Sorry.  All this stealing that has been going on—really irks me.  It doesn’t just happen on Facebook.  It has been running rampant on Pinterest and Instagram AND on blogs.  Too many don’t give credit to their sources.  And many actually steal photos and just copy and paste entire recipes word for word and even worse—entire posts.  Little ol’ me has even had all my posts stolen and copied and pasted right on to another blog.  (Got that all taken care of.)  Just give a little credit where credit is due!

I didn’t change her recipe.  And it is awesome.  She uses Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Biscuits for her poppers.  They make terrific donut holes!  After turning the biscuits in to rounds like donut holes, they are fried.

The making of Snickerdoodle Poppers at Baking and Boys!

Fried food doesn’t happen very often at our house, but the boys love donuts and the like.

Frying Snickerdoodle Poppers at Baking and Boys!

The only thing I did do different with the recipe is the cream filling.  Amy just uses some vanilla pudding.  I kicked it up a bit, because when Kevin saw these, he mentioned that he would like them better if that was just whipped cream or something.  (He doesn’t care for pudding, especially vanilla.) 

I remembered a vanilla cream pudding mixture I made for some Boston Cream Whoopie Pies a while back and decided to make that for these poppers.  It’s a little like making a custard and a little like a vanilla flavored whipped cream.  And it’s SO good.  I actually only injected about 8 of the poppers with the cream and left the majority of them as-is.  I knew the boys would like them better that way.  Though I will admit, I loved the one I ate with the cream inside!  I got the recipe and idea for this vanilla cream from Kristan at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.  The recipe is on the link to her blog.

You just mix a package of vanilla pudding mix in with one cup of milk and a cup of whipped cream.  It whips into a nice, thick custardy-cream.  Since I didn’t use very much in the poppers, I have most of it left and will be putting it to use soon!

Snickerdoodle Poppers at Baking and Boys!

These were gone in a flash at our house.  Scott, my 14 year old, definitely ate MORE than his fair share of them and said he would have eaten them all if he didn’t have to share.

Thanks, Amy and Kristan!  I hope the Facebook (and other sources of online media) stealing is a passing fad and goes away quickly!  If everyone did their part…….

20 comments:

RecipeGirl said...

Bravo- I feel the SAME WAY. People who don't create content of their own just DON'T GET IT! Love snickerdoodle everything!

Katrina said...

Thanks for stopping by, Lori! Means a lot to one of the "little bloggers". ;)

Jennifer J-W said...

Katrina,
I agree, totally! It really is a form of theft, claiming someone else's work as one's own. It's easy enough to link to the original in order to give the original author credit.
Those look delicious, but I am often too lazy to fry anything.
Jennifer

Baking Ribbons said...

I had no idea recipe piracy was rampant. Fortunately (or unfortunately) my recipes are not popular! These poppers are creative and look delish!

Unknown said...

Well said Katrina! Glad you're sticking up for all us bloggers (big and little).
Oh, these poppers look scrumptious and love that you gave credit where credit was due. Kudos!

Cindy deRosier said...

AMEN! This is a HUGE problem, not just for food bloggers for for those of us who do craft tutorials. And it's not just Facebook - I see whole recipes (or craft tutorials) all over the place on Pinterest. It is so frustrating that people who would never dream of stealing something tangible from a store or someone's house think nothing of stealing someone's original recipe, photography, or craft idea.

Mark said...

I know I'm going to be lambasted for this, but it's not theft or stealing or piracy.
Fraud, or plagarism - probably. Copyright infringment - probably (unless they rewrite the instructions, but definately for copying pictures).
Definately impolite.. people should absolutely credit and link their sources, but it's not theft.

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Amen! Love these. I'm headed over to check out the recipe.

Katrina said...

Mark, as blogger's do this for an income, it IS taking away from money we would be making. That is a form of stealing. We feel the same as if someone stole our purse on the streets. IMHO

Thanks for your thoughts though.

Kristin @ Dizzy Busy and Hungry! said...

Well said, Katrina! I am fairly new to the blogging world and I can tell you that in the beginning I did not know all of this...just didn't think about it, really... so it is a good idea to get this information out there to people. I think most people want to give credit where credit is due so education is key!

Natalie said...

ugh, right there with you Katrina! I've had it happy to me many times!

i'm always very intentional about giving credit and nothing irks me more than seeing a blogger who clearly didn't do that and passed it off as their own!

Cindy said...

Thanks for a timely post! I've had a couple of incidences lately where my photos and recipes have shown up on someones Facebook page.
I did have some dialog with the guilty party. She saw nothing wrong with what she was doing. I tried to explain the 'right' way to share a fun post. She was rude and just didn't want to listen. She did take my photo down but in a huffy way said there are more important things in life than FB posts!
She is a PC consultant with thousands of FB followers. I am also a PC consultant and I had to laugh because a few days before we received a memo from HQ telling us the importance of not using others photos and recipes etc. etc. She just didn't get it and didn't want to get it!
I tried to explain the time, energy and resources that go into a great blog post. I finally had to drop it--I was spending too much time and negative energy on the problem. I make no money on my blog it's a 'fun activity' but I really want everyone in the sandbox to play fair!
Yummy looking treat!!

Bunny said...

It's blogging etiquette to link back to the original recipe. It's respecting other bloggers and it's a shame that it's being forgotten or not done for someones gain. I tried to explain this to my husbands son who wanted to start a food blog. When i told him you have to link back to the source of the recipe he felt that it was enough to just mention their name. I insisted it had to be linked. He just didn't get it. Katrina those poppers look terrific!!

TeaLady said...

Hear Hear!! I actually did copy one until I discovered what was going on. Have asked friends, etc not to.

These look tasty. Thanks for sharing...
And ranting!!

GlutenFreeHappyTummy said...

those look AMAZING!!! and i totally feel you!

Nutmeg Nanny said...

Snicker doodle poppers, these look easily addicting! I'd love to have some of these :)

Amanda said...

I agree Katrina. Unfortunately I've been a "victim" of this already a couple of times. I've had two recipes of mine posted directly to a Facebook page, luckily my watermarks are on the photos so it wouldn't be hard to prove they are mine if I had to. Anyway, these poppers look really fabulous. Thanks for sharing them!

Jerry | Simply Good Eating said...

Katrina, These poppers looks delicious and fairly simple to make. Thanks for sharing this :)

April said...

I couldn't have said it better myself Katrina! I don't have very fancy photos on my blog, so fortunately I haven't had anyone steal one of them. I have had blogs visit one of my recipes though, and then make the recipe just a day or two later, claiming it as their own creation, with nary a mention of finding it on my blog. (This is very easy to find with Google Analytics and Traffic Feed)While they didn't "technically" steal it because they used their own words and pictures, it can be pretty discouraging, especially when it is a popular blog and them mentioning my blog would help drive a little traffic my way! Anyways, I didn't mean to come on here and start my own rant, just wanted to tell you these Snickerdoodle Poppers look yummy and I pinned them. :)

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