The first recipe books date from around the first century, and for centuries after this they remained very similar, just taking the form of lists of recipes for haute cuisine, completely ignoring the food of the lower classes. Over time this changed and recipes aimed at people with more moderate budgets grew in popularity. Tips on ingredient substitutions and saving money started to be included along with the basic instructions for preparing a dish.
Now, thanks to the internet, its possible to search recipes of different prices or by different foods. Online recipe circles have begun to sprung up in recent years. They are made up of groups of individuals who may never have met, swapping recipes and sharing cooking advice.
The other day I discovered Pinterest for the first time and I think it might be brilliant. It's a forum used to share fascinations that people discover in their online journeys. It has hairstyle tips, inspirational quotes and best of all, recipes. People 'pin' the things they like the look of so they can find them again or send them to someone they know that they think would be interested. So strawberry mojitos and salt caramel chocolate squares, four cheese macaroni bake and honey flavored ice-cream can be collected together into your own personal recipe book, safely stored on the internet and accessible from anywhere.