Ballston Spa home cook Beth Ferrell recently won a blue ribbon from Just a Pinch Recipes for her chocolate-covered peanut butter cheesecake squares. She served up a full-flavored dish that was both tasty and easy to prepare, according to Just a Pinch Food Editor Janet Tharpe.

Founded in 2010, Just a Pinch Recipes is a recipe and coupon social network for home cooks at www.justapinch.com. The network offers free memberships and premium perks.

"This recipe just happened while I was standing in the grocery store,” Ferrell said. “My husband was craving a snack and couldn't quite pick something. I asked him to describe what he wanted, and he said chocolate graham-cracker-type bottom, creamy peanut-butter middle and chocolate on the top, so I came up with the recipe."

Ferrell is one of 48 Ballston Spa residents sharing recipes with the social network, which in just two years has become the largest database of user-posted recipes anywhere, Tharpe said. On the site, users can post their own family-tested and –approved recipes, and try recipes submitted by others. Cooks can also use a menu planner and grocery list, create custom cookbooks, print hundreds of grocery coupons, enter recipe contests and join discussion groups.

They may also use Pinch It, a robust site feature that lets users capture and share recipes from virtually anywhere online with a simple click, and seamlessly integrate them into their digital recipe boxes. These features let home cooks build relationships virtually, as if they are sitting around one big kitchen table.

"We continually add new features to the club based on the feedback of our members," Tharpe said. "It's because of people like Beth Ferrell, who is proud to share her family's favorite recipes with other home cooks, that the club has become so popular and is growing so fast."

--Jennie