Last updated: 14 October 2026
Cookies in a nutshell
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to keep, so it can recognise a setting or a returning visitor later. "Local storage" does a similar job: it lets a site save a little information inside your browser. It isn't sent to the website automatically each time you visit a page.
The law in the UK and EU treats both in the same way. A site may use them without asking when they are strictly necessary for something you've requested, and must ask first for anything else. This policy uses the word "cookies" for both. It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.
Our approach
We keep things deliberately lean. Easy Ladle has no advertising cookies, no social-media tracking pixels and no cookies that follow you around other websites. What remains falls into three groups: a couple of essential items that make the site behave, an optional analytics tool that only runs if you agree, and the third-party services that deliver our fonts and photographs.
Essential storage
These items are needed for features you use, so they don't require your consent. They are stored only in your browser and are never sent to us.
Your cookie choice: el_consent
When you press "Allow all" or "Essentials only" on our cookie notice, the site stores that answer, plus the date you gave it, in your browser's local storage under the name el_consent. Without it, the notice would pop up on every page. It stays until you clear your browser's site data or change your choice.
Ingredient checklists: el_ing_*
Each recipe page lets you tick off ingredients as you gather them. So that your ticks are still there if you wander off to find the paprika, the site saves them in local storage under a name beginning el_ing_ followed by the recipe's short name. The information lives only on your device, isn't linked to you in any way, and can be wiped with the "clear" button on the recipe or by clearing your browser's site data.
Optional analytics
To understand which recipes are popular and which pages people struggle with, we may use an analytics service that counts visits, pages viewed, approximate country, device type and how visitors arrived. We look only at totals and trends, never at individuals.
Analytics runs only if you choose "Allow all". If you choose "Essentials only", or simply ignore the notice, no analytics cookies are set and no analytics script is loaded. Any analytics cookies we use expire within 13 months, and we configure the service to shorten IP addresses and to stop the provider using the data for its own advertising.
Third-party services
Two outside services supply parts of each page directly to your browser. They don't set cookies through our site, but your browser does have to contact them, which means they receive your IP address and basic browser details:
- Google Fonts supplies the Fraunces and Nunito Sans typefaces that make our pages easy to read.
- Unsplash delivers the photographs on our pages through its image network.
These requests are needed to display the site as designed. How each company handles the technical information it receives is explained in its own privacy policy. If you'd rather avoid these requests entirely, browser extensions that block web fonts or third-party images will do it. The site still works, just in plainer clothes.
How long things last
el_consent: until you clear site data or make a new choice. We may ask again after 12 months, or sooner if what we use changes.el_ing_*: until you reset the checklist or clear site data.- Analytics cookies (only with consent): no longer than 13 months, and removed when you withdraw consent and clear site data.
Your choices
You're in charge, and you can change your mind as often as you like:
- On this site: you can change your cookie preferences at any time. The same link appears as "Cookie preferences" at the very bottom of every page.
- In your browser: every major browser lets you view, block and delete cookies and site data, usually under Settings, then Privacy or Site settings. Clearing data for easyladle.com removes all of the items above at once.
- Privacy signals: if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as a "no" to optional analytics.
Blocking essential storage won't break the recipes, but the cookie notice will reappear on each visit and your ingredient ticks won't be remembered.
Shared and borrowed devices
Many readers browse on a tablet that belongs to the whole household, a library computer or a phone set up by a son or daughter. Because everything we store sits in the browser rather than in an account, whoever uses that browser next will see the same cookie choice and the same ingredient ticks. Nothing stored by Easy Ladle reveals your name, email address or anything you've written to us.
If you'd prefer to leave no trace on a shared machine, use your browser's private or incognito window. Anything saved there disappears when the window is closed. On a public computer it's also good practice to clear the browsing data before you leave, which removes our items along with those of every other site you visited.
Changes to this policy
If we add, remove or change any cookie or third-party service, we'll update this page and the date at the top. Where a change needs your consent, the cookie notice will appear again so you can decide afresh.
Questions
For anything about cookies or the data they involve, email [email protected]. For general questions, use our contact page.