by Laura Emery, Field Editor

Inside the cold confines of your refrigerator sit some week-old rice, onions, lemons, and pork; the pantry holds flour, canned peas and baked beans. This is dinner? You bet. Head over to Cooking By Numbers at www.cookingbynumbers.com, check off what you have from the site�s list of 50 staples, and voila � relevant recipes appear, rated 100 percent (if you have all the ingredients) or a lesser percentage (if you lack a few). While gourmet cooks may find the pickings slim, the site is perfect for the desperate parent or the forgets-to-shop bachelor.

A great companion site to any recipe source is the Cook�s Thesaurus, online at www.foodsubs.com, which has the scoop on any ingredient � how it�s eaten and prepared, how to tell when it�s no longer fresh, alternative names, and acceptable substitutes.

Frugal Can Be Fun

Frugal Recipes (www.frugalrecipes.com) offers recipes such as kung pao chicken and butternut squash gratin to whet the appetite and leave cash in your pocket.

Breakfast gets a wake-up call with sugar-crusted French toast and vanilla-spice apples or an oven-coddled egg baked with creamy mashed potatoes and herbs. This is an example of what you�ll find at Epicurious (www.epicurious.com). It has a seemingly endless array of culinary information that includes interviews with celebrity and professional chefs, slide shows of favorite dishes, book excerpts and reviews, culinary travel guides, comprehensive coverage of beers and liquors, buyers� guides, newsletters, glossaries, discussion forums, an enormous shopping area, TV and magazine tie-ins, and over 13,000 recipes. Whether you�re looking for video instruction in omelet-rolling techniques or an authoritative discussion of which wine will win out at a wedding, Epicurious has what you need.

You can�t make a casserole, muffins, a souffl�, or a Bundt cake without the proper cookware. That�s where www.cooking.com comes into the picture. From bakeware and barware to cutlery and cookware, this site has everything you need to whip up your finest masterpiece of culinary art.

AllRecipes.com is an entire network devoted to recipes of every kind (www.allrecipes.com).

RecipeCenter (www.recipecenter.com) has more than 100,000 recipes to tempt even the most discriminating palate. You can even add your favorite recipes, search and download recipes of famous food companies for free. You can also save recipes, post your reviews, ratings and comments. There�s also recipe-management software that you can download for free.

Meals.Com (www.meals.com) is a favorite website because you can compile your own recipe box, and the website will generate a grocery list for you as you choose your favorite recipes. This site, with colorful pictures and visitor-friendly searches, also spotlights a Recipe of the Day and even features sections titled �30 Minutes or Less,� �Just For Kids,� and �Healthier Living.� The recipes also include cooking time and preparation times.

In case you accidentally threw away the box or carton, FavoriteBrandRecipes.Com (www.favoritebrandrecipes.com) is a great source for brand name, back-of-the-box recipes, such as Hershey�s chocolate thumbprint cookies and Hidden Valley�s chopstick chicken salad.

RecipeSource (www.recipesource.com) offers nearly 70,000 recipes in dozens of categories, from baked goods and burgers to relishes and rubs. The recipes are organized into two major groups � recipes primarily identified with an ethnic cuisine are broken down by region and ethnic group, while other recipes are categorized by the type of dish.

At Cooks.Com (www.cooks.com), you can find articles and information on everything from how to make simple garnishes to 101 ways to cook chicken. Plus, enjoy sections on how to make use of leftover items, such as cheese, sour milk and cream, beef, ham, poultry, and others. Along with hundreds of recipes, the website also features such information as how to make yeast breads and what kind of foods to eat for health and strength.

The Betty Crocker website contains a wealth of information (www.bettycrocker.com). Currently featured is information on brilliant brownies, great grilling gadgets, four tasty ways to grill, and cool icebox cake. Reduce your time in the kitchen and make it easy to make a meal. Discover cooking shortcuts, prep-work tips, slow-cooking techniques, tips for keeping food safe, and techniques for great grilling.

The Gourmet Spot (www.gourmetspot.com) is a great source for information (a compilation of links and descriptions) on the best recipe, food, cooking, restaurant, cookbook, and wine websites out there.

Southern Style

For unique variations of all-time favorite Southern foods, check out Soul Food Cookbook (www.soulfoodcookbook.com), where you�ll find recipes for Finger Lickin� Good Fried Chicken with Dumplings, Killer Green Beans, Mississippi Red Beans, Slap Yo Momma Meatloaf, Fat Boy�s Corn Pudding, Momma�s Super Bad Fried Corn, and Granny�s Sweet Potato Pie. .