Remember this comment from Patti?
You stole the French Toast and Spam recipe from me. I have had it published on Allrecipes.com, my own recipe, so I would appreciate it if you would give me credit. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Toast-and-Spam-Sandwiches/Detail.aspx.
This was my email to Patti, telling her of my response posted at this site:
Patti,
Please see my response to your comment, posted at my site:
http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/?p=1278
TFP
That post was Utterly ridiculous part 1, where we (that’s you guys, and I) had quite a bit to say on the matter.
And Patti’s latest email to me:
I have further added a comment to your web site. I would appreciate it if you would post that to your site for all your fans to read. I also hope that you allow all submissions to be posted, not just the ones you choose to post.
Patti
Well, I know you guys will be interested, so here’s that comment, unedited, from Patti:
Jeeze!! I actually kinda sent the e-mail out as a joke but didn’t expect the food Nazi’s to come out of their closets!! So no I haven’t read the whole document that was written in response to my first comment. I don’t have time to do such things. I just want you all to know that I had, and have, no intentions of “suing” anyone or anything like that. Also, I would appreciate it if you would not go on my recipe and purposely post bad reviews. Does that make you better than me? Or does that make you more like me? You can say what you want about me and my recipes, but for you to turn around and make false posts regarding a recipe I have had published through Allrecipes for years in which you have not tried, makes you in my book worse than me.
Like I said, I am really the type of person who jokes around and did not know that my comment to this site would not have been taken so seriously. Unfortunately, someone has very thin skin to not only put my comment on their site, but write a whole book on defending themselves and their “pretty food”. Jeeze, get a life yourselves and quit reading about food all day!!
Feel free to discuss, but please, no name-calling.
And if any of you did post any bad reviews at allrecipes, please know I wouldn’t want anyone to do that unless they had genuinely tried the recipe (well, this would apply to any recipe) and were posting fair and truthful feedback about it based on their experience. For the record, I’ve used my own site to have my say, and that’s it.
As for this latest comment from Patti? “…kinda sent the e-mail as a joke”?! I don’t think so! After you’ve sent an accusatory and unfriendly email to someone and had your unfounded accusations openly ridiculed on that someone’s website (I guess you thought I might cower with my tail between my legs and do as you demanded – well, you were so very wrong!), claiming you were only joking is really a pathetic defence. But I guess that’s all you can do when you don’t want to admit you may have been wrong. Oh yes, and not once was I remotely concerned about you suing me for theft of your “recipe”, Patti – as my original response demonstrated.
We could subtitle these posts with: “The woman who bit off more than she could chew”.
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
goodness.. this woman is a joke.
it’s a compliment my dear Patti, you really make me laugh! :)
Hi! I’ve been reading your blog for long time now, and I think that it’s great. I have to agree with you about Patti; she got caught doing something very childish and, like a child, she comes back with “I was only kidding.” In an adult world, unfortunately, that doesn’t cut it. You’ve handled it well, though. Cheers!
Oh c’mon, Patti! Lame.
That said, I’m willing to give her some benefit of the doubt because I’ve also left what I thought were jokey comments on others’ sites that turned out not to sound so jokey to them.
*BUT* I always apologized when called on it–or when I realized later that I might’ve sounded like a jerk. I never tried to write some lame-o excuse and say that the other person couldn’t take a joke.
Frankly, my grandmother who was born in 1915 made up her own type of ‘Spam’, and used to use her cookie cutters to cut it up in clever shapes; served with her home-made french toast.
I’m guessing there are MILLIONS OF MOMS who (just like me) followed the ideas of their grandmothers. I used both Spam and Prem to cut shapes from because it was easy. Served over biscuits and gravy; served with french toast or pancakes.
This is not a recipe that is complicated nor profound. Ideas spring up simultaneously in the minds of creative people; we all have a ‘recipe’ we think is ‘our own’.
I made my cream puff filling a certain way back in the early 1960’s – no one ever figured it out (locally), and I won a few blue ribbons at the fair for them as well as other cooking/baking contests.
Then, in 2007, ‘lo and behold I saw an almost identical recipe for the filling on the FOOD NETWORK. Nearly 50 years had gone by before someone else put the idea together. I didn’t get nuts over it; again, it wasn’t all that complicated.
I’ve seen so many recipes on Allrecipes.com that are almost identical to those on FOOD NETWORK – a little change here and there, but to try and claim any kind of copyright is insane.
I’ve got the old Fanny Farmer cook-book – FIRST EDITION – so many of the current recipes have evolved from that book.
It’s too bad this person is so sensitive and so obviously ’sheltered’ from reality.
I enjoy your blog; have an rss link to it, and encourage you to keep on exactly as you’ve been doing!
It’s so silly when people make a ridiculously fallacious comment on the internet against you or something you’ve done, and then when they receive a proper, considered response (one which they cannot reasonably refute), they make cheap shots comparing what you’ve written to an essay/book/other long document and tell you to “get a life”. It’s really quite transparent that this person has no means of responding in a meaningful, articulate way to what you’ve said, so has resorted to making cheap shots about the number of words you’ve written and the way you choose to spend your time.
Alongside this, I particularly enjoyed her comment about not “having the time to do such things” as reading a few paragraphs of text. She must be an extremely slow reader if she doesn’t “have the time” to skim a couple of paragraphs of text, but yet somehow finds time to seek out food blogs and post recipes to the internet, presumably for her own enjoyment. It’s also laughable that she clearly expects you to read and take note of what she writes, but when you respond, she openly admits she won’t afford you the same courtesy.
Sorry for the long comment, I just find it hard to resist dissecting arguments that are this flimsy,
P.S. I love the idea for the post subtitle!
Perhaps the best part about this entire ordeal, is that in most countries, recipes are not protected by copyright. Let me just go ahead and clarify that a bit, any form of description, or very detailed instruction may be protected by copyright, but a a list of ingredients, the amounts and the general method of how to prepare the recipe is not.
This of course doesn’t mean that it’s not common courtesy to leave credit where credit is due, but it does mean that suing anyone in this case would be completely preposterous.
Just ignore her.
Your blog are excellent, I always take your idea to prepare for lunch, or breakfast, healthy, delicious and colorful. wait, do i need to credit you when i eat? haha
Just do what you do best, and forget about her.
Spam protection? how appropriate…..
I love how when someone has been outwitted in an argument on the internet they always fall back on lines like these: “Jeeze, get a life yourselves and quit reading about food all day!!”
Yes, get a life and stop reading about the same things you were obviously reading indeed.
‘We could subtitle these posts with: “The woman who bit off more than she could chew”’
Hahaha, nail on the head!
Ignorance is bliss TFP! And YOU, go find some one else to bully, this is not your place. This is where the intellects gather for some thoughtful, friendly and intelligent conversations. No name blaming, finger pointing, jealousy or bad mouthing. You aren’t welcome here. Shoo away! :D
http://wescribble.blogspot.com
Don’t worry about small fish like Patti.. before this ordeal, none of us had heard about her, yet you have a successful blog with a loyal following. You definitely have the last laugh!
I think Patti, WASN’T joking. There was no sort of humor at all in her first e-mail to you. I believe her feelings were hurt, or she was annoyed and decided to make you look like the “ass”. I like the fact that you love food, that you made a blog about food and that you try new foods!!! Patti needs to get her own life and stop fighting with people about her stinkin spam recipe.
Oh my…Every recipe is always going to be a copy of some sort from one person to another, it’s utterly ridiculous that this woman raised such a fit about it in the first place.
Cheers, FP! I
Hey, that really IS ridiculous =_=. Oh come on, what kind of joke is that? Just crazy, pay her no attention. Your blog has always been awesome, this doesn’t change anything.
She obviously read the comments because it inspired her to respond! Give me a break Patti, anything involving SPAM does not a recipe make. Unclench a little.
“And if any of you did post any bad reviews at allrecipes, please know I wouldn’t want anyone to do that unless they had genuinely tried the recipe”
That would have been me…
“Reviewed: Sep. 30, 2008
The spam made the toast all soggy and greasy, not to mention super salty. You would do good to use real french bread to be able to pick up the sandwich. Spend the extra dollar and use real ham, works far better than spam in every aspect. ”
Apologies to you T, after reading your posty post I got off my ass and went into the kitchen, dusted off a can of spam, sliced it, cooked and sandwiched it between two slices of french bread. ALL ACCORDING TO P’s RECIPE! (given i had to use soymilk ,being lactose intolerant) So, I made the effort to create a login and posty post on her recipe and gave her a few suggestions on the presentation. It may or may not have had anything to do with any kind of outrage or spite I may have felt given the circumstances. ^_^
I totally plan on posting up a few good dairy-free recipes of my own once I get them written down, and by all means I invite everyone to complain about how greasy Crisco makes my cookies, or how soymilk gives things a tangy flavor.
Really, you both need to get over it. TFP, you made a much bigger deal out of this Patti did and now its completely devolved into name-calling bullshit.
It’s sort of ruining the fun in coming here.
i’ve been a lurker for a long time and never post, but this incident is just too ridiculous AND hilarious to not comment. the best thing to do is just reply back and say you were joking… kinda. oh, and also say that you didn’t read her reply.
your blog and pics are very colorful. thanks for the posts!
hey tfp,
i went to check out the reviews on patti’s spam and french toast recipe and i don’t see any particularly bad reviews? Was she referring to her other recipes?
Patti would do good if she had a few lessons in email etiquette. Her recipes might be good but her sense of humour sure needs reworking!
Ah, in her reply, Patti utilised two of my favourite methods of debating: the ‘I don’t have time to engage in this… get a life’ attack and the ‘oh, people didn’t respond well to my original line of argument; I was just joking, jeez!’ protestation.
Nice work, Patti!
Oh, and TFP – this is my first comment, but I’ve been reading your site for over a year now (yes, apparently that means I should get a life. I’ll get right on that!). Please keep up the fantastic work!
Sorry Patti, you can’t win this one.
that was my first reaction when i read her email.
“I actually kinda sent the e-mail out as a joke but didn’t expect the food Nazi’s to come out of their closets!!”
what load of bullshit. she’s just trying to not look like the a**hole here but she just makes herself look even sillier and petty.
love your food blog. i’ve even gone on ebay and bought a bento lunch box :0)
Why dirty your daily life with trash? Silly silly. Vermin are not worth your time.
this whole situation as you aptly titled the post, is utterly ridiculous. i shan’t bother to elaborate further.
Patti, really, to first accuse someone of stealing a recipe without even a hint of irony (which just might be interpreted as humour) or nary an emoticon (refuge of teenagers after saying something mean, e.g. You look fat :P)… then saying “I was just kidding”. Nope, not buying that.
Then to insult 1. the writer of the blog who took the time to respond to your accusation openly, 2. the readers of the blog who have been a fan of this blog (and many other blogs on food, and whatnot) for reading and response to the entry — then to say you haven’t got time for this?
Sounds like you… what was that phrase again? Oh yes, bit off more than you could chew. (Har har har TFP I get the joke!)
Now that’s funny.
By the way Patti, a book needs to be longer than a page. I’m writing one now, and I have been told that is absolutely true. No joke!
you know. you can go rob the bank and then return back and tell them it was all a joke too.
come on patti. if you can’t find a route to get out of this shit, then just mellow down and dont say anything anymore. this shit will somehow get flush down the toilet on its own when people forget about it. but anyway. i personally dont find all the recipes @ allrecipe.com reliable. the only one i like is their lemon curd =)
This whole thing is just childish. I mean if you really think about it…it’s something teenagers at high school would do.
Perhaps if she had used an emoticon, such as this one ;-) at the end of her message, we might have got the impression it was a joke. Some types of humour just don’t come across in writing. It’s easy to be misunderstood and so important to make your meaning VERY clear. (I hate it when people imply that spending time reading blogs means you have no life. I have learnt a huge amount from the internet and I have a very busy life. Busy people get more done!!!)
It looks like someone is trying to use you to get their 15mins of fame. I would just ignore such drama queens like that. They’ll do anything to try and get more exposure! Good on you for fighting back!
When I first read Patti’s comment, the first thing I thought was that some smiley faces would have changed the tone completely!
Imagine if it had gone like this…
You stole the French Toast and Spam recipe from me! :) I have had it published on Allrecipes.com, my own recipe, so I would appreciate it if you would give me credit. :P http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Toast-and-Spam-Sandwiches/Detail.aspx.
Entirely different now… although still a little accusatory.
Do you reckon she has ‘french toast and spam’ on google alert?
I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Most of the same recipes have probably been made by hundreds or thousands of people the world over.
Hi TFP. been reading your blog for four years now and this is my first comment. all I’ve got to say is………
Patti, do act your age.
Keep it up TFP!
Haha Patti’s ’supposed comeback’ comment is just too comical & stupid..you didn’t make it up did U TFP? (hehe)
“So no I haven’t read the whole document that was written in response to my first comment. I don’t have time to do such things.”
Come on, please give that person a break. I think you are being too harsh on them. Don’t take those things too seriously, these recipes are not copyrighted and it is obvious nobody could claim it!
Just keep writing and enjoy ;)
the email does not sound like a joke at all!
for the people telling TFP childish or whatever, no way. She shares her life with us, and this happens to be part of it that includes the blog. She hasn’t done anything wrong. For people to say it’s “bullshit” well perhaps you are perfect? you’ve never been upset by something anyones said? She isn’t calling names, cussing or going nuts. I think she’s entitled to a little blow off session. Jeez.
WOW …. so it continues. Sorry to hear this & shame on those who went as far as posting BAD reviews on the poor woman recipe site. As far as it being a joke ….. PLEASE! Like this gal say … “claiming you were only joking is really a pathetic defence. But I guess that’s all you can do when you don’t want to admit you may have been wrong.” And & by the way …. YES, us people LOVE reading about FOOD all day long, lol. That’s goes to show, people need to STOP being a HATER …. I like reading this blog, I’m NEW, it’s creative & different my dear, keep up the good work.
I have a blog about food myself ….. Yeah.
http://deliciousfoodandrecipes.blogspot.com/
Have a nice day everyone & Happy eating!
*Sigh* Of course Patti wasn’t joking. But it’s hard for people to admit when they’re wrong. There was an article written about my post in the Pittsburgh, PA newspaper and apparently that publicity woman said she didn’t even know who I was or what the lady was talking about. Pfft. Whatever.
And thank you – I never knew you read my posts about my experience with CC. I’m honored that you did.
On with the food!
Patti is irritating me so much it’s making my skin itchy.
TFP – we all come here because we love the photos, the food, the gorgeous bento boxes and your sweet self. Don’t stop blogging because of a twit.
This is ridiculous.
TFP – you are fabulous. Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t let things let this get you down.
Despite claiming it was a joke (which is BS) it’s a bit sad that this woman is trying to get recognition for a recipe that isn’t exactly rocket science. I mean, seriously Patti?