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Cindy McCain Posts Copyrighted Recipes As Her Own

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 06:54:00 AM EST
Tags: John McCain (all tags)
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In the grand scheme of things, I find this funnier than I do problematic, but hey, it's election season. Cindy McCain has been outed for using Food Network recipes on John McCain's website and passing them off as "McCain Family Recipes."

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    Cindy McCain Posts Copyrighted Recipes As Her Own | 35 comments (35 topical)

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    Ha ha. I don't blame her.... (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by Maria Garcia on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 06:56:44 AM EST
    ...my family recipes wouldn't make very good reading either...take some of this and take some of that. Or as an old friend of mine's mother used to say when you asked her for her chicken soap recipe..."Well, first you get a chicken...."

    Ha! That's exactly how I cook many of the (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Anne on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 07:10:48 AM EST
    dishes I grew up eating - with no recipe and never the same way twice.  Throwing in something new, leaving out something I don't have handy.

    I'm just hoping it is chicken soup your mother makes and not chicken soap - although I bet it would be great for the skin!

    Parent

    Ooops.... (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by Maria Garcia on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 07:19:59 AM EST
    ...I don't know if I'd like chicken soap, but it might be a good way to get cats to sit still for a bath. Maybe I should look into that....

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    Chicken Soap? (none / 0) (#26)
    by QuakerInABasement on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:24:53 AM EST
    Where do you get chicken soap? My chickens could use a good scrubbing.

    Parent
    Chicken Soap sounded fascinating! (none / 0) (#15)
    by Ellie on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 09:30:17 AM EST
    ... until I realized it was a tpyo, I thought we might be getting into Bill O'Reilly loofah / felafel territory here. (I still ROTFL over that. I mean, could you imagine some doofus calling to sexually harass you by phone and saying he wanted to rub your body with felafel? I'd be doubly offended ... and yet oddly intrigued by where he got the notion.)

    Parent
    To be fair. . . (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by LarryInNYC on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 07:22:39 AM EST
    a lot of our "family recipes" originated elsewhere -- in some cookbook, cooking newsletter, or, increasingly, on-line.

    to be fair... (none / 0) (#24)
    by coigue on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:22:51 AM EST
    that's different.

    Parent
    kind of sad and pathetic in a way. (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by cpinva on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:31:23 AM EST
    i'm sure she wanted to help her husband, and probably thought this would sound "homey" instead of, well, goofy.

    my guess, she doesn't know from a spatula or a slotted spoon.

    When... (1.00 / 1) (#31)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 01:34:56 PM EST
    ...is J. Sidney McSame, the Third going to denounce and reject his recipe stealing "c" word of a wife?  

    The recipes she knows involve Kettle One and painkillers.

    You just have to wonder why, don't you? (none / 0) (#2)
    by Anne on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 07:07:11 AM EST
    Why people think they have to do this sort of thing - and not just give the attribution: "Oh, we just love these recipes from The Food Network!"

    As someone who loves to cook, and who is always looking for and trying new recipes, I am happy to tell where I got a recipe so others can try it - there is no one who would think less of Cindy McCain for having Food Network recipes in her repertoire, so why she thought she needed to take credit for them is just beyond me.

    It's just a needlessly stupid thing to do.

    you got this all wrong! (none / 0) (#4)
    by TruthMatters on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 07:14:03 AM EST
    the Food nextwork stole the McCains family recipe!!!

    where is the outrage! this must be stopped! I told people that was my recipe for BBQ chicken on their but no one believed me!

    I hope now the truth comes to light!

    Copyright infringement? Well..... (none / 0) (#5)
    by Key on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 07:19:24 AM EST
    ... you can't really copyright recipes.  You can copyright photos and other creative aspects of the way a recipe is presented.  [Copyright.gov]

    You might be able to patent a recipe however, providing of course there is no prior art.

    But if you've got a really special recipe, you might just want to try and protect it like a trade secret.

    BTW, it took me a little trial and error to figure out how to post a link.  Your little "Allowed HTML" info that appears just below the Post/Preview buttons is pretty much wrong on this note.

    Ahi tuna? Passion fruit? Turkey sausage? (none / 0) (#8)
    by Fabian on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 07:52:49 AM EST
    I smell effete elitism there.  

    Then again, there's Huckabee's Popcorn Fried Squirrel...LOL.

    I've read at least two REAL cookbooks.  One was about Appalachian cooking - starting with hearth cooking(very tricky) and moving up to "fancy" woodfired stoves.  It featured cured meats and chicken - the most common meats you have on hand when you have no refrigeration.  The other one was was called the White Trash Cooking and had an interesting selection of recipes, including various "game" animals.  Both books take an affectionate and respectful look at the people and their culture.  I enjoyed them.  Never made a recipe though.  Not much of a cook.

    Barb (Sr) Bush's cocktail bologna (none / 0) (#14)
    by Ellie on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 09:23:14 AM EST
    I still dry heave at the thought of her recipe, which basically involved coating a slab of baloney with mustard and baking the mess.

    I'm trying to recall whether I became a vegetarian a nanosecond after reading that rec ...

    Parent

    Never could stand fried bologna. (none / 0) (#16)
    by Fabian on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 09:40:53 AM EST
    Or Barbara Bush.
    ;-)

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    You Sure That She (none / 0) (#29)
    by squeaky on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 01:27:05 PM EST
    Wasn't referring to her son's cocktail baloney, which is equally disgusting?

    Parent
    8 comments only? (none / 0) (#9)
    by Chino Blanco on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 08:20:55 AM EST
    Sheesh, I'm glad it wasn't Michelle who tried to pull this stunt.

    What is there to say? (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Fabian on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 08:35:38 AM EST
    Wife, not the candidate.
    Recipes, not policies.

    Now on the great orange, they'd probably flame Cindy like they did in previous diaries.  It's one of the reasons that I left.

    Parent

    And if Hillary did this........ (none / 0) (#13)
    by BarnBabe on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 09:23:10 AM EST
    Ha, it would be a day's worth. Lack of comments? I think we are just not ready to attack her yet. Besides, after seeing how stunning she looked at Easter in all white, it is hard to imagine her in the kitchen at all. She actually looked regal in the CNN picture and I thought, ut oh, this doesn't look good at all.

    Parent
    Arrogant is . . . (none / 0) (#11)
    by Doc Rock on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 09:11:01 AM EST
    . . . as arrogant does!  What do you expect from the wealthy?  Real work?

    John McCain is related to Luisa Tetrazzini?!? (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ellie on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 09:16:58 AM EST
    Farfelle Pasta with Turkey Sausage, Peas and Mushrooms

    Heyyyyy ... that's Chicken or Turkey Tetrazzini, a dish designed for the opera singer. (Quick, light and yummy version: toss some cooked linguine into a skillet sauce of sliced chicken / turkey, shrooms, peas, light cream, and parmesan. For an even lighter version, sub whole milk and a bit of chicken broth for the light cream.)

    To get your stomach really rumbling here, follow that up with some Peach Melba for dessert. (Vanilla ice cream with fresh peaches or peach compote or preserves, drizzled with raspberry coulis or jam of some sort.)

    Tetrazzini and Melba frackin HATED each other. Meh, what do you expect from total Divas?

    That's pretty funny (none / 0) (#17)
    by stillife on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 09:59:03 AM EST
    Didn't Jessica Seinfeld get into similar trouble with her recent cookbook for kids?

    Considering Cindy McCain's past history with drug abuse and forging prescriptions, I would think a fake cookbook would be the least of her worries!

    Passion Fruit Mousse? (none / 0) (#18)
    by dianem on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 10:11:10 AM EST
    Ahi tuna and Napa cabbage? Just like Grandma used to make? I suspect that there was some confusion here about what kinds of recipes were requesed. I can't believe that Ms. McCain actually tried to pass off these as "family recipes". It certainly doesn't reflect anything about the campaign, except minor disorganization, imo.

    I can't believe it either ... (none / 0) (#20)
    by Chino Blanco on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 10:36:07 AM EST
    definitely "minor" ... definitely not "plagiarism" (which I thought used to be a bad thing, but now, apparently, not so much).

    Parent
    Plagiarizing recipes on a web site? (none / 0) (#21)
    by dianem on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:14:53 AM EST
    It's a stretch. I suppose that this is technically plagiarism, because she didn't attribute the source. But with recipes it's often hard to know the source. You go to dinner at a friends house and they serve something you like, you ask for the recipe, they copy it off the web, it becomes a "family favorite" ... and you never even know where the person got the recipe. Certainly, if somebody wrote a cookbook and lifted the recipes, it would be plagiarism, but using recipes from the Food Network on your own not-for-profit web site is borderline, at best.

    Parent
    no it's not a stretch. (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by coigue on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:21:27 AM EST
    it's the very definition of plagarism.

    Parent
    And Lying (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by squeaky on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 01:29:10 PM EST


    Parent
    Let me tell you my traditional (none / 0) (#19)
    by MarkL on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 10:24:31 AM EST
    family recipe for chicken Divan...

    Honestly (none / 0) (#22)
    by coigue on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:19:58 AM EST
    Unless you're from Hawaii, Passion Fruit Mousse is pretty damn unlikely to be a family recipe.

    What a posseur.

    We don't have many "family" recipes (none / 0) (#25)
    by FlaDemFem on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 11:22:56 AM EST
    the only two I can think of are stuffing and spaghetti sauce, and both of them were traditional recipes in countries we lived in and adopted for our own use. Our "family recipes" mostly reside in "The Joy of Cooking" which is a staple in all of our kitchens. Great cookbook, I give it to all the brides I know. Even if they can't boil water, the Joy of Cooking will enable them to turn out a good meal, since it gives step by step instructions on each procedure needed to make the meal. And it has wonderful recipes. If I were running for office, and someone asked me what my family recipes are, I would say, "See the Joy of Cooking, it is my kitchen bible." Everyone should have a copy, they would eat much better, in my opinion.

    Well, At Least Her Percocet Cassarole Recipe (none / 0) (#28)
    by msaroff on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:16:07 PM EST
    Is acutally from Cindy McCain.

    Can you copyright an actual recipe? (none / 0) (#32)
    by Joelarama on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 02:12:52 PM EST
    I don't think so.  I'd be curious if anyone thinks differently.

    (I'm not saying what Ms. McCain did was excusable.  I am asking a legal question.)

    No you can't (none / 0) (#33)
    by facta non verba on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 03:04:20 PM EST
    I have one cookbook to my name, Everybody's San Francisco Cookbook (shameless plug), and cooking is part of the universal heritage domain. Still one should give credit for inspiration in the preface to any recipe.

    Still this is non-story.

    Parent

    I don't think it's a non-story. (none / 0) (#34)
    by Joelarama on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 03:33:58 PM EST
    It's an attempt to pass of Food Network (yuck) recipes as one's own family recipes.

    Congrats on your cookbook.  I foolishly tried to put one together myself and get it published.  No dice.

    Parent

    I see... (none / 0) (#35)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 04:29:14 PM EST
    ...in classic Rethuglican form, they are blaming this on an intern.  Nice.  You can always count on the wingnuts to step up and take responsbility for things.

    Cindy McCain Posts Copyrighted Recipes As Her Own | 35 comments (35 topical)

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