Cookingskewl.com is available for all to read, but more importantly, for all to contribute to. This is YOUR site – and we want to hear your opinions – but we ask you to become a member first. Becoming a member is free, easy, and safe. Click the button in the top of the right hand column that says “Signup”. A new page will appear with the following: We will ask you for the name you want to sign your contributions with - your own "cookingskewl alias”. Then, like any other site, how you want to log on, and what password you want to use. Then we ask you for your email address. Ah, and I bet that’s where you get nervous. Don’t. I could write a long, lengthy privacy policy in extensive “legalese” – but I’ll make it simple. We ask for your email address because we want to be certain that it is YOU signing yourself up – not your sister, not your neighbor, not somebody who you wrote to 5 years ago – YOU. Then we send you an email, you click a link to acknowledge, and that's it. We will never sell, lend, or divulge your email address to anyone. EVER. We will never send you SPAM. Hey, unless something catastrophic happens (like our server explodes and we’ll be off-line for a couple months – quick someone throw some salt over their left shoulder!?!) even WE are unlikely to write you. On the flip side, there is another reason we ask for an email address, and that is for all of our protection. This is a family oriented site, and we intend to keep it that way. If anyone from anywhere could contribute at any time, it would require a 24/7 vigilance to monitor all activity. None of us want a virus, or porn link, or even foul language when we simply want a cooking tip. By asking you to take that extra step of becoming a member, a little of that risk is negated. Oh, and I guess I need to amend my initial statement: If you feel the need to violate the principles of decency, let alone the law, we definitely WILL share your email address… We want Cookingskewl.com to be an enjoyable and educational experience – with some laughter thrown in. Your positive contributions will help all of us grow. Linda