Egullet cookbook

[Lior]

Not only would I buy an egullet cookbook, I would contribute to it being made!! Did anyone ever think of having our own egullet cookbook? Maybe a ring folder type that can be added to on a yearly basis...I wish there was such a one.

[judiu]

Not only would I buy an egullet cookbook, I would contribute to it being made!! Did anyone ever think of having our own egullet cookbook? Maybe a ring folder type that can be added to on a yearly basis...I wish there was such a one.

If I might borrow an 'Irish-ism': dead rapid f'in' brilliant! Great idea! I'm in, anyone else?

[chappie]

I'm a writer and editor (with a keen eye for style, detail, punctuation, etc.) and would be glad to help if this ever becomes a serious discussion. Also, I'm sure I have a recipe or two to contribute!

Green tomato hornworms, anyone? Toaster Pig?

[paulraphael]

With print-to-order companies like Lulu and Blurb, this could be done with no investment besides volunteer labor. I've already designed a couple of books that were printed by these services. They don't do ring binding as far as I know. But the book could be designed so that people have the option to cut the spine off and punch their own holes.

[baroness]

I designed and coordinated a 600-plus recipe cookbook for my church. This company Morris Press was a pleasure to work with; contributors could enter their recipes online and we opted for the padded 3-ring binder. The cookbooks look great and everyone loves them. However, the minimum order is 100 books and someone would have to receive and then ship/mail out the books.

[Lior]

I think it could be done. I can't receive them and ship them out-would not make any sense!! But I would be happy to help. Padded 3 ring binder sounds good. Or paulraphael's suggestion about punching holes as egulletis alive and growing and so we would need to be able to reflect that in the cookbook. We have an editor and writer, and someone who designed one and a big one at that! So how do we go about this? We need to think how to organize it and make sure it reflects egullet. Maybe according to the forum topics. I will now go look at morris press.

[Dave Hatfield]

Be modern guys. Go electronic.

Kindle?

The soon to be released Apple tablet.

All proceeds to the Society.

Opportunity knocks! Get on it boss.(AKA Fat Guy)

[Lisa Shock]

I wish that it would contain recipes using weight rather than volume measure for dry items, unlike most of the recipes currently posted.

[Darienne]

I wish that it would contain recipes using weight rather than volume measure for dry items, unlike most of the recipes currently posted.

Weight for all items. Also like the three-ringer binder concept.

[Anna N]

I really hate being negative but having worked as a recipe tester/editor and having helped transcribe many of these recipes so they could appear in eG, I have to say that few of them have been tested/reviewed. Many of the people who submitted recipes are no longer active members and could not help with any questions. I know this is not the first time someone has suggested a recipe book and I know I am not the first to point out the issue of non-tested recipes. Bad recipes would not do a lot for a Society like ours that promotes the things we do! I think a better idea would be to find a way to review and rate these recipes so that we can have some trust that they will indeed produce something edible. I don't mean to offend those members who are meticulous about testing recipes before posting them but I tend to think that they are in the minority.

[Lior]

I agree about proceeds going to the society-totally.

I agree about weights as well.

I think that we can have conditions like using demo-ed recipes perhaps . Each person who contributes a recipe can make a demo-there already are demos - maybe? We do not have to use only existing recipes either.Or/and if there are recipe testers/editors all the better! A team of testers...

Kindle? I like real books... although I have never tried kindle so I am open to the idea!!

Edited March 8, 2010 by Lior (log)

[emmalish]

I'm inclined to agree with Anna about publishing tested vs untested recipes. However, I would be willing to volunteer my time to the project. I'm a graphic designer/typesetter by trade.

[ElsieD]

I would be willing to test recipes as my contribution to this project.

Elsie

[lesliec]

Here's a thought which (he says modestly) answers a number of the points above.

I don't know the capabilities of the software eG runs on, but it may be possible to create recipe templates. A user viewing a particular recipe could click to wrap the recipe into a printer-friendly (or downloadable HTML) page.

Very much a one-at-a-time thing and doesn't address Anna's concerns about untested recipes, but may be doable with only modest effort.

[Shalmanese]

Ugh, I would not buy one. I don't want a cookbook that's a bag of recipes, the reason why I buy cookbooks vs looking for recipes online is that I'm looking for a solid, consistent voice that will guide me in the right direction.

Unless there's an editor out there who both has excellent taste and is willing to make hard choices and say no to people, all that's going to come out of it is a watered down, mediocre product.

Unfortunately, I'm skeptical that you could find someone willing to play the politics necessary to offend people, especially for free.

[emmalish]

Ugh, I would not buy one. I don't want a cookbook that's a bag of recipes, the reason why I buy cookbooks vs looking for recipes online is that I'm looking for a solid, consistent voice that will guide me in the right direction.

Unless there's an editor out there who both has excellent taste and is willing to make hard choices and say no to people, all that's going to come out of it is a watered down, mediocre product.

Unfortunately, I'm skeptical that you could find someone willing to play the politics necessary to offend people, especially for free.

That there is what I would have said if my brain were working today...

[ScoopKW]

Ugh, I would not buy one. I don't want a cookbook that's a bag of recipes, the reason why I buy cookbooks vs looking for recipes online is that I'm looking for a solid, consistent voice that will guide me in the right direction.

Agreed.

I'm only interested in technique cookbooks that are short on recipes and long on philosophy. I can pull a good recipe off Google for any dish under the sun any time I need one. My favorite "cookbook" is McGee's. Not one recipe. Just how I like it.

[Moopheus]

Unfortunately, I'm skeptical that you could find someone willing to play the politics necessary to offend people, especially for free.

I could do it. I have a lot of experience rejecting people. I ran a literary magazine and read all the slush for one publisher. I mean, many thousands of manuscripts.

My favorite rejection, though, was not slush, but a two-page letter shredding the thesis of a manuscript by a guy who'd been one of my professors in school, which fact was unbeknown to the agent who sent it to me! The agent even sent me a thank-you note.

But I have to agree--it would have to be edited and organized in a way to be not just a random bunch of stuff. In fact, I'd almost go so far to suggest that maybe a cookbook by itself is not really the way to go. There's a lot of other stuff here that would make a better book--some of the essays and the eGCI material, for instance. And of course you will need to secure the blessings of the site owners, secure permissions for reprinted material, and so on.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't think I'd be too interested in eGullet the cookbook as a book but I would probably be tempted to buy it anyway if the point was to benefit the society. Then again, there are eGullet members of all ages and experiences from all over the world so it could have the potential to be an interesting book if done well. I don't require that all of my books be instructional or even inspirational... there's room on the shelf for fun.

[Darienne]

I don't think I'd be too interested in eGullet the cookbook as a book but I would probably be tempted to buy it anyway if the point was to benefit the society. Then again, there are eGullet members of all ages and experiences from all over the world so it could have the potential to be an interesting book if done well. I don't require that all of my books be instructional or even inspirational... there's room on the shelf for fun.

Well put.

[jgm]

If we do a cookbook, I think it should be in electronic form. We have members all over the world. If the cookbook were printed, it would probably happen in the US or Canada, which would mean increased shipping fees for our members elsewhere. If it were electronic and could be printed by each member, then the shipping fees issue would be a moot point.

Also, I'm adamant that measurements should not only include weight, but also the metric system for volume as well as the system used in America.

However, I have an alternate suggestion, or maybe an additional suggestion. There is an absolute WEALTH of recipe and technique information in the threads, which for me is far more valuable than any cookbook. If you've ever tried to print out an entire thread, or have it converted to MS Word for printing, then you're aware that the process is limited; often neither the print format nor the converted format will produce the entire thread. I'm sure there are people who understand what that limitation is all about; all I know is that it's a known "issue". If we could solve that problem and make entire threads printable, I would find that much more valuable than a cookbook. It may be the case that the company that produces our software can't make that happen, for whatever reason, but the information could still be cut and pasted -- which for some threads would be a mammoth job. It might not be so bad, though, if a common format could be agreed upon, and individual members would assume the responsibility for the task.

Personally, I'd be happy if we simply had the ability to convert an entire thread to Word format, so I could download and edit it in a manner that works for me.

Edited March 9, 2010 by jgm (log)

[PopsicleToze]

I'd buy one and be willing to spend up to coffee-table book prices on it. Contributors could upload their own recipes. Template could include a spot for a picture of the recipe and, also, maybe a small space at foot of each page with small picture of contributor along with short blurb about where they live. For instance, if I want to cook paella, I'm much more likely to read a recipe from someone who lives in Spain than someone who lives on Mars.

It could even be accessible online (with paid access -- purchase of cookbook could give you password for access to online cookbook). That way, viewers could rate the recipe and comment on it like Epicurious or RecipeZaar.

Rhonda

[Prawncrackers]

Isn't this what the Recipe Gullet is for?

[Fat Guy]

It's incredibly gratifying to see so much spontaneous enthusiasm (and concern) for a project like this. The management team and I have been grappling with similar issues for years. We've long wanted to do a book, either a cookbook or a narrative book, but after all the discussions play out it generally doesn't turn out to be a workable idea. We haven't given up on the idea, and certainly the availability of a group of volunteers willing to take on the burden would make it more possible to do something. If you are such a volunteer, please do contact me or any other manager. We have so much we need to accomplish, I'm sure we'd welcome your participation if not in this project then in something else.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . .

If you are such a volunteer, please do contact me or any other manager. We have so much we need to accomplish, I'm sure we'd welcome your participation if not in this project then in something else.

Specifically, please contact me.