EatYourBooks.com: search your own cookbooks for recipes online

[BadRabbit]

Too late to edit the last post but:

Jane addressed the ingredients issues very quickly and is fixing the problem. Her constumer service has been top notch.

[BadRabbit]

One thing I think would really improve the experience over on EYB is if the users would take some time to make comments/notes and rate recipes. One of the best things about the online recipes sites is that you get to learn from others mistakes and don't take on recipes that have been universally judged as failure.

Has anybody else been using this feature on EYB?

[nakji]

I have a little, although I didn't realize the notes would be public at first. I also have some recipes that I bookmarked in the beginning to go back and try that I haven't yet. My guess is right now, people are still only using it as an index, and not so much as an interactive site. I'd like to see more notes, too.

[Recluse]

Just got an EYB account set up today, and am totally in love. Sad I missed the lifetime membership, but the yearly fee is quite reasonable. Of the cookbooks I've entered so far, about half of them have been indexed (16,287 recipes!), and a few preliminary ingredient searches have been encouraging as far as the number of recipe results that they returned. This will make figuring out what to do with my weekly CSA goods so much easier!

Really looking forward to seeing the site grow, and someday being able to add books without ISBN numbers (I feel like Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cookbook is glaring at me for leaving it out, poor thing).

[Lindacakes]

I like to go through my cookbooks and make lists of the recipes that interest me, and then I stick that in the front of the book, generally never to be referenced again. I went through all of my indexed cookbooks and set up several favorites lists -- Recipes I Want to Try, Recipes I've Tried and Recommended Recipes.

While I was doing this, I thought, wouldn't it be cool if my I Want to Try list could peek at your Recipes I've Tried list? Which is when I discovered the star rating for individual recipes. If you rate recipes that you've tried, other people can see your ratings (and, as Erin pointed out, your notes purportedly to self).

I emailed the kind EYB peeps and asked them if they could advertise the favorites feature so that the software would become more useful to us. They said they would in some form that escapes me -- newsletter, I think.

In short, rate recipes! The more the better. I bought a cookbook (The Complete Asian Cookbook) because someone here (I think it was Chris Amirault) recommended it and then I see that his favorite recipes are rated -- now I know what to cook from the book. An excellent system, I think, if you know how to work it.

Also, now, if I search by ingredient, I can see if one of those recipes is on one of my lists.

I haven't tried the talk forums, but I think being able to cross reference each other's books would rock.

[nakji]

Okay, I'm taking up your challenge, Lindacakes. I've gone through my Harumi Kurihara books and rated and noted recipes I like. Now I'm looking at Fuchsia Dunlop.

I'd love it if someone did Diana Kennedy, nudge-nudge-wink-wink.

[LindaK]

EatYourBooks got a nice shout out in last week's New York Times: Can Recipe Search Engines Make You a Better Cook?

[runwestierun]

My God I love Eat Your Books.

I want to make some Vietnamese salad rolls but in a smaller size. I need to find a recipe for rice paper wrappers since I can only buy them in the large size. A search of the internet proved futile so I tried my own cookbook library index at Eat Your Books and lo and behold--there was the recipe! In Alford and Duguid's Flatbreads and Flavors, certainly a book I would not have thought to search. Yay!

For any of you that are unfamiliar with it, Eat Your Books is an internet site that creates a master index of all the recipes and ingredients in your personal cookbook library. It has proven to be an invaluable resource to me. I am especially looking forward to using it as all the summer produce becomes available.

What have you found in your own cookbook library using EYB?

[LindaK]

I use EYB sporadically but always find some surprises when I do.

Recently I noticed that they are beginning to index food magazines and blogs so that you can "add" them to your library along with your books. That means that a search will include online recipes from your favorite sites and blogs. The selection is still slim, it's still under development, but it seems like a smart idea.

[OliverB]

I actually haven't used the site in months, I rarely cook with recipes, especially in summer when I cook on fire. I tend to forget about the site (glad I'm a lifetime member!) but on the occasions I have used it I found some good things to try.

The shopping list function would be neat if it really gives you everything and the correct quantities for a recipe, but I think that's beyond what they really can do. Who knows though, I'd love to use it if it's verified for all recipes, but if I have to go and compare with the book first to be sure I might as well make my own list

[BadRabbit]

I agree about the shopping list feature. I don't have enough faith that things have been indexed properly to use it. I've been bitten twice before. It's a shame because it would be nice if I could make a shopping list at work when I don't have my books available.

[lapin d'or]

I would guess I use the site at least once a week and look at the newly indexed books regularly to see what is being added.

I was delighted to see the online recipes from epicurious going on.

Perhaps because I live in a rural location and only ever shop once a week at the most, the shopping list facility is not a deal breaker for me.

I would say one of my delights in this site is that I can quickly find interesting recipes for which I already have the ingredients. I am only ever cooking for 2 so most times I can find enough of what I need.

It is certainly helping me to make better use of my books.

The Eat Your Books team seem very responsive to feedback/error reports so that is all very positive.

Lapin

[FrogPrincesse]

I just had an amazing thought: what if they index all of the cocktail books? Or even just the books of DeGroff, Regan, Wondrich, Haigh, and a few other authors?

EatYourBooks has just launched its member indexing feature. So I've jumped on the occasion and starting indexing The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan, which I consider a great reference. I am not sure exactly what I have gotten myself into, but last night I spent a couple of hours entering drinks, from The Abbey Cocktail to the Corpse Reviver no.2, a total of 200 recipes already. So this may take a while but soon these cocktail books will be in the database. This is exciting!

[FrogPrincesse]

That's it, the Joy of Mixology is now available in the database! I see that someone else has the Savoy cocktail book reserved, so that should be available soon as well.

[TimPeak]

Very happy. As a line cook with hundreds of cookbooks I really needed this site. 163 books indexed. Yes a few of my favorites I had to request index. But very worth the $25 a year. Just wonderful.

[Lindacakes]

I spent quite a bit of time with the site yesterday and was very happy to see that more members are adding notes and recommending recipes.

It really is like a power boost for your cookbook collection -- something most of us have invested thousands of dollars in.

[Chris Amirault]

Still loving this, and very glad I got a lifetime subscription way back when. It's been very helpful the last few times I've wanted to do a blitz on every possible use of, say, grapefruit or anchovies. (No combos, I think. )

Has anyone done a member index? What's that like?

[Chris Amirault]

And how about this feature allowing you to add recipes from websites?

[FrogPrincesse]

Has anyone done a member index? What's that like?

I've indexed 4 books so far (Joy of Mixology, Boozehound, Sam Choy's Polynesian Kitchen, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails) and am entering my 5th one (Sippin' Safari). The cocktails books are easy because there are few ingredients to enter, and I can complete indexing within a week including proof-reading spending about 1 hour every night. Cooking books are a little more involved. I would say that they take about twice the amount of time. Of course this is for the average book; I can't imagine what it must have been to index books with thousands of recipes such as the Larousse Gastronomique!

It's a good way to get to know your books better and I enjoy the process. The reward is great as I get to use my books much more often now.

[Shalmanese]

It's been very helpful the last few times I've wanted to do a blitz on every possible use of, say, grapefruit or anchovies. (No combos, I think. )

Triple Citrus Caesar Salad

Edited February 7, 2012 by Shalmanese (log)

[Chris Hennes]

Is there a way to see the books that you've got in your library that haven't been indexed yet? I know I've got some, but I can't figure out how to see the list.

[blue_dolphin]

Under "My Bookshelf," select "Books" and on the right, there's a blue section where you can check the box to filter by unindexed.

[Shalmanese]

Is there a way to automatically add all issues of a magazine to your bookshelf? If I'm subscribed to a magazine, I don't really want to add a new issue in EYB every month.

[blue_dolphin]

Yes, it seems you can "subscribe" to a magazine so new issues will be automatically added to your bookshelf. You can also choose to add back issues from a date you select.

From Fiona on the EYB Forum:

When you click on +Bookshelf you will be given the option to 'subscribe' to the magazine, so every month as we add a new issue it will automatically be added to your Bookshelf. In addition, you can specify the months you want to add. So if you've been subscribing to a magazine since February 2007, just enter that date to start and it will add all issues of the magazine until the current month.

There aren't a lot of back issues indexed for some magazines but it seemed to work OK for me.

[BadRabbit]

Yes, it seems you can "subscribe" to a magazine so new issues will be automatically added to your bookshelf. You can also choose to add back issues from a date you select.

From Fiona on the EYB Forum:

When you click on +Bookshelf you will be given the option to 'subscribe' to the magazine, so every month as we add a new issue it will automatically be added to your Bookshelf. In addition, you can specify the months you want to add. So if you've been subscribing to a magazine since February 2007, just enter that date to start and it will add all issues of the magazine until the current month.

There aren't a lot of back issues indexed for some magazines but it seemed to work OK for me.

I subscribe to a few magazine on EYB that I don't actually subscribe to in print because the magazine keeps their online recipe database updated frequently. For example, I no longer receive Food & Wine but I have them in EYB because all those recipes are readily available on the website.

Edited February 14, 2012 by BadRabbit (log)