My Secret to Unlimited NYT Recipes (and Brownies!)

New York Times Cooking

Did you know that your San Jose Public Library card gives you free, full access to New York Times Cooking? You can bypass that paywall and start cooking tonight! If you’ve always longed to access New York Times paywall-free, San Jose Public Library is your answer. Borrowers now get full online access to the New York Times, which includes the cooking digital edition (you’ll need to renew every 3 days).

As a library patron myself, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying San Jose Public Library’s upgrade to New York Times Cooking. In fact, I've been enjoying the subscription so much, I gave my sister a year’s subscription for Christmas.

Once you have redeemed the New York Times online code through San Jose Public Library's website and logged into your account, there are a multitude of ways to enjoy the online service:

19,000+ Recipes: Includes an extensive collection of tried and true recipes, tested by pros. Browse anything from holiday collections, special diets, or appliance cooking recipes. My favorite is the easy weeknight dinners.
Create Grocery Lists: You can generate a shopping list from any of the recipes. (It also allows you the option to email the list to yourself or someone else.)
Mobile App Access: Once you activate New York Times cooking you can also download the app on iOS and Android devices.
Your Own digital "Recipe Box": Save and categorize recipes into personal folders. I have a special folder labeled “Tried and True” for recipes that I’ve made and enjoyed and will make again. I also have one labeled for “Vegan” recipes, since some members of my household are vegan.
Instructional Video Guides: Eye catching video tutorials.
Add Personal Cooking Notes: Keep private notes on recipes to track modifications or tips for future use. For instance, for a brownie recipe I recently tried, I made a note to fold in an additional cup of chocolate chips after mixing (because you can never have too much chocolate, am I right?)
Ingredients: Have a surplus of lentils or another ingredient you’d like to cook? You can search recipes by ingredients. Pro-tip, give a few squeezes of balsamic vinegar glaze on the Curry Lentil soup before eating.

You'll need to resubscribe every three days, but don't fret. All your preferences will be saved.

Some of my favorite recipes include the Mushroom Bourguignon. It's delicious over mashed potatoes or polenta. (We also used it as a vegan gravy for our Thanksgiving dinner). I also recently tried their brownie recipe, which was surprisingly easy and quick.

Tips

Newsletter: You can subscribe to their newsletter to receive recipes of the day, or be informed about other special curated recipe collections, such as this 10 Days of Healthy Dinners.
Comments: Also, don’t forget to read the comments of the recipes. I’ve gleaned useful information on there, such as ingredients substitutions, or modifying based on dietary restrictions.
3 Day Renewal. Don't forget, every 3 days you'll need to click the link again. A small price to pay to save paying $40 a year!

How to Access:

Visit the SJPL website
Login with your library card number and PIN
Redeem the 72-hour access code
Open the NYT cooking either in the app or in your browser and enjoy!

Not a member? Sign up for a library card here and visit any of our locations to pick up your full access library card!

Prefer a Physical Cookbook?

If having a real book on the counter is more convenient (constantly waking up your phone with floury hands can be annoying), your San Jose Public Library has you covered there, too. You can check out physical cookbooks by some of my favorite NYT Cooking writers directly from the library. Click each photo below to see if your branch has a copy, or, place it on hold.

What NYT recipe have you been wanting to try? Let me know in the comments below!