http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussions/p3/feed.rss Mon, 07 Apr 25 11:04:13 -0400 All Discussions - Cookbooker Forums en-CA http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/270/saveur-blog-awards-2-15 Tue, 31 Mar 2015 16:42:17 -0400 Queezle Sister 270@/test-dir/forum/discussions
http://www.saveur.com/content/blog-awards-2015-vote?spMailingID=7624541&spUserID=NjczNjEzNjkwNjIS1&spJobID=642744803&spReportId=NjQyNzQ0ODAzS0]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/268/worst-cookbook-of-the-year Fri, 20 Mar 2015 06:31:35 -0400 kaye16 268@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/adam-richmans-straight-tasty-worst-cookbook-year
Interesting article. Wasn't aware of http://cookbooks.about.com, but am adding it to my rss reader now.]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/267/pi-day-2015 Fri, 13 Mar 2015 11:06:37 -0400 Queezle Sister 267@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/265/2015-piglet Wed, 18 Feb 2015 15:20:50 -0500 Queezle Sister 265@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/266/2015-iacp-nominees-announced Fri, 06 Mar 2015 07:36:48 -0500 kaye16 266@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-battle-of-the-titans-in-iacp-awards-finalists-20150305-story.html#page=1]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/261/fake-cigar Fri, 23 Jan 2015 16:15:39 -0500 friederike 261@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/198/the-future-of-cookbooker Mon, 21 Oct 2013 12:19:49 -0400 andrew 198@/test-dir/forum/discussions
As loyal users of the site will have noticed, it's been extremely quiet lately on my side of things. I've come in a few times a while ago with a hurried apology, but nothing has changed with the site and I wasn't even able to update the recent challenge a few of you ran in September. The truth is, I am simply overwhelmed with the rest of my life: my work, my family, and writing (I'm an author... or was an author and am trying to get back into the writing life) and Cookbooker has slipped down to the bottom of my priority list.

Starting Cookbooker was an amazing experience, and although it didn't take off as I had hoped (it has never been even remotely financially viable), it is obvious that we've developed a core group of users who have found it useful and continue to spend some of their valuable time putting recipe reviews into the site. I will be forever grateful for those of you who've supported and spread the word about Cookbooker over the last few years.

This sounds like a farewell address: but it's not, exactly. I don't want all the work that has gone into Cookbooker to go to waste, and I don't want to be one of those websites that abruptly closes one day, leaving users high and dry.

So, I'm opening the discussion to those of you who've been here and have put time and effort into Cookbooker to get your feedback on how to go forward. As far as I see it, there are three main options:

1. Do nothing new. I still pay the server bills, but don't update the site. This is what's happening now, and it's not a viable option. It's not a lot of money (a basic server is only $25 per month or so), but if the server and site are not updated eventually something's going to break and nobody will have the time to fix it. Plus someone has to deal with the spammers who sometimes appear. So really, this option might as well be: close the site.

2. Hand it over to someone, lock, stock & barrel. This would mean transferring all the source code, the database, the email accounts and the domain name, to someone willing to keep running the site and improving it. This would require someone with time, as well as experience with MySQL (open source database) and PHP programming. If these two terms don't mean anything to you, however well-intentioned you may be, you won't be able to keep Cookbooker going. It took me two years to teach myself to program well enough to create Cookbooker, and even so there are still bugs that should be fixed, not to mention that my code is very messy!

3. Merge with another related site. Someone suggested Goodreads, but that's not likely. Not just because they're enormous and would not be interested in a little site like this, but also because they have no way of capturing reviews of recipes, just books themselves.

More possible is Eat Your Books. I emailed them recently and they are quite interested in helping out. First we would have to see if the data could be easily moved over, but ideally what would happen would be that they would create accounts for everyone who has an active Cookbooker account (and merge if you already have an account there I presume), then move the reviews all over, so they're preserved. It would be some work on both ends (probably more for them), but it would ensure that the reviews continue to be useful and available. Also they have forums there, so people could continue their challenges and perhaps even suggest that EYB have some similar challenges in the future. They generously offered to give everyone free accounts for several months in order to try out their site. No money would change hands in this deal - I'm not trying to make any money from Cookbooker or the review database.

The great thing about EYB is that they're a site that charges a (modest) subscription. Although everyone loves free, the problem with free websites is that they have to get very large to make any sort of advertising money to support themselves. Paid sites are much more likely to last online.

------
So, that's my 2 cents. I'd be happy to hear from people. I'm strongly leaning towards #3, unless one of you is or knows a programmer who has time on their hands and a love for cookbooks.

Best,
Andrew]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/260/battle-of-the-taste-buds Mon, 12 Jan 2015 22:34:22 -0500 Queezle Sister 260@/test-dir/forum/discussions Southern (pulled pork), Mexican (tacos) and Chinese (roast). We rank the Chili braised pork shoulder tacos #1, the pulled pork a close second, and the roast third. We were surprised, thinking that there were few things better than pulled pork! Have you ever done something like this?]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/256/next-challenge Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:48:39 -0500 kaye16 256@/test-dir/forum/discussions I was wondering if we knew which books (or authors?) had the most "owners"? Maybe we could plan a challenge for a most-owned book? ]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/249/best-of-the-year-cookbook-lists-for-2014 Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:08:39 -0500 kaye16 249@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://www.pinterest.com/fallchicken/booklistingcookbooks-2014/

Please share lists you find here and I'll pin them.]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/227/searching-my-bookshelf Mon, 18 Aug 2014 03:14:56 -0400 kaye16 227@/test-dir/forum/discussions Style sheet's gone awry? Something's gone awry. Hope it can be fixed soon.
(Mac OS 10.6.8, Safari 5.1.10)]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/93/what-makes-a-cookbook-a-clunker-and-what-do-you-do-with-them Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:01:18 -0500 Queezle Sister 93@/test-dir/forum/discussions
What do you do when you think a cookbook is a clunker? How many recipes do you need to try, and then do you get rid of the book?
I think I should get rid of some of my own cookbooks, but am strangely reluctant. Do any of you suffer from a similar problem, or do you purge regularly? ]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/252/for-ottolenghi-fans Wed, 10 Dec 2014 15:38:13 -0500 kaye16 252@/test-dir/forum/discussions https://www.facebook.com/groups/298282910353628/]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/235/17000-reviews-by-end-of-november-2014 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 23:04:56 -0400 Queezle Sister 235@/test-dir/forum/discussions
We are 227 reviews away from a total of 17,000. If we average about 5/day, we could hit 17000 by Thanksgiving (apologies to all my friends who do not live in the US). Anyone want to help me? I think if we worked together we could do it. ]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/250/dutch-food-hints-for-speculaaskruiden Wed, 19 Nov 2014 20:21:37 -0500 Queezle Sister 250@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/218/how-do-you-sort-your-cookbooks Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:08:45 -0400 kaye16 218@/test-dir/forum/discussions @frederike asked @wester this in another discussion, but I'd like to ask everyone ... just how do you sort your cookbooks?]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/244/connecting-editions-of-the-geometry-of-pasta Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:47:47 -0500 kaye16 244@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://www.cookbooker.com/title/15655/the-geometry-of-pasta
http://www.cookbooker.com/title/18415/geometry-of-pasta

I tried, but this feature doesn't seem to work any more. :-(]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/242/anyone-made-burgoo Sat, 18 Oct 2014 19:35:28 -0400 lisakelsey 242@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/243/granola Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:37:16 -0400 Queezle Sister 243@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/219/advice-for-cooking-without-a-kitchen-during-remodeling Thu, 03 Apr 2014 12:28:03 -0400 Queezle Sister 219@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/233/one-day-challenges Sun, 14 Sep 2014 04:35:35 -0400 friederike 233@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/117/errata Fri, 31 May 2013 16:46:04 -0400 kaye16 117@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/115/food-adventures-while-traveling-advice Thu, 23 May 2013 13:55:49 -0400 Queezle Sister 115@/test-dir/forum/discussions
I will be traveling to Shanghai, Suzhou, Helsinki, and Paris over the next few months. What dishes are not-to-be-missed, any restaurant advice, or are there interesting (and import-able) ingredients or tools I should look for?

Thanks! ]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/206/best-cookbooks-of-2013 Mon, 09 Dec 2013 15:59:57 -0500 kaye16 206@/test-dir/forum/discussions I think it should be visible to all, whether or not your have a Pinterest account.
http://www.pinterest.com/fallchicken/booklistingcookbooks-2013/
(Santa is definitely bringing me Kitchen Things. :-)]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/205/foodcooking-related-must-do-things-in-the-uk Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:56:36 -0500 Queezle Sister 205@/test-dir/forum/discussions
Thanks in advance for all your advice.]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/229/pick-a-book-you-havent-used Sat, 30 Aug 2014 23:01:17 -0400 awindyday 229@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/228/indexing-issue Sat, 23 Aug 2014 14:00:50 -0400 kateq 228@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/212/the-new-future-of-cookbooker Mon, 03 Feb 2014 16:20:55 -0500 andrew 212@/test-dir/forum/discussions
Although everything is not completely finalized, I'm pleased to let you all know that Cookbooker is not going to vanish into thin air in the near future. One of our members put me in touch with someone from ValuSoft Cosmi - the sellers of MasterCook software, and we've agreed that I will transfer control of Cookbooker to them. They have plans to eventually use it to support the selling of e-cookbooks and continue to support social interaction around cookbooks (which it kind of already does).

No money has changed hands. They'll be covering the hosting costs and I'll hang around for a while to support the transition, so I don't anticipate any near-term changes. Of course, once it's theirs, future changes will be up to them.

Essentially this seemed like the best way to keep the site intact as it is, which I know was a strong wish of our membership. ]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/224/football-soccer-world-cup-challenge Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:19:24 -0400 friederike 224@/test-dir/forum/discussions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup#Group_stage]]> http://cookbooker.com/test-dir/forum/discussion/226/question-on-hygiene-is-it-just-me-or.... Thu, 26 Jun 2014 14:42:58 -0400 friederike 226@/test-dir/forum/discussions Piri Piri Sardines) required me to marinate the sardines in piri piri sauce for a few hours, then drain them, dip slices of baguette in the sauce and fry them, and then serve the sauce - as is, uncooked - with the sardines that have also been grilled in the meantime. Is it just me or do you also think it's gross to serve a marinade as sauce? And this isn't even the first time I've come across such a thing!

I always heard you're supposed change cutting boards and knife after you've used them for raw meat or fish, so I'm pretty surprised to encounter instructions like these...]]>