Uncle Steve took this terrific picture for me. You can see, or will see by clicking on the picture, that the name of the product is Favorite Brand Name: Vegetarian Cooking. It is a cookbook.

I'm not sure whether it's related or not, but I came across this website while searching for what, exactly, the Favorite Brand Name brand name is all about. The site is pretty interesting, with a lot of great recipes, and if you like brand names in your recipes, then it is definitely the site for you.

The cooking/co-branding connection seems to have infinite possibilities. This is really what co-branding is all about: getting people excited about the food they are about to eat, which maybe they will never eat, but at least the picture looks good. And you get excited because, well, there's Egg-Beaters brand egg replacement and Veg-All brand vegetable seasoning suggested in a recipe....together!!! At last. God knows I've put them together on my own, but now someone else has done even that for me.

So I wish I could see these recipes. What sorts of combinations are promoted? Some brand combinations obviously make sense, but what about weird brands? What if my favorite brand is Equal® Sweetener?

Well, never fear: I selected Equal® as my favorite brand on the Favorite Brand Name website, and now have recipes for Blueberry Pie, Equal® Cinnamon Cream Cheese, and Fresh Greens with Hot Bacon Dressing. Unfortunately none of these recipes suggest additional brands, though I can think of some. For instance, the Southern Style Mustard BBQ Chicken Kabobs recipe surely could suggest French's brand mustard in lieu of the "1 cup prepared mustard" direction given. Likewise, Equal® Cinnamon Cream Cheese could call for 8 ounces of whipped Philadelphia cream cheese. That is a no-brainer.

I'm glad these books are being made, to help consumers navigate the increasingly tortuous channels of the modern branded/co-branded landscape.