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I'm still finding my way around here, but I just think this web site is great.  My favorite things so far  -  rediscovering recipes in my books and magazines (now I come here when I need to find recipes instead of search web), notes (love notes - wish we can follow up with comments too), and surprisingly indexing at my own leisure for the same reason ie  finding great recipes and ideas. 

I too absolutely love EYB for so many reasons.  First it was just such a wonderful time-saver to be able to search for favorite recipes in my cookbooks and magazines but as I began to explore more creative ways of searching I found wonderful recipes I never knew I had. I had been a heavy Epicurious user for years and the advanced search techniques transferred right over.   Then I discovered how great EYB is to learn about cookbooks I don't have.  I have played around with lots of searches in the library, read the reviews of cookbooks, looked on other cooks' bookshelves and looked at cookbooks mentioned in the notes section.  All of this has "enabled" me (my husband would definitely say EYB is an enabler site for a cookbook collector!) to find cookbooks that I just had to have and that I might never have bumped into online or in a bookstore. I have probably purchased (mostly used) another 15-20 fabulous cookbooks since joining EYB.  Finally, EYB really started to fill a need to be a part of a community of other cooks.  My very good cooking friend of many years died last November and I quickly realized how much I missed our daily email exchange about recipes and books.   Most of my other friends are of the buy something microwavable at Costco group and they just look at me as if I am weird if I start talking about cookbooks or recipes.  One of the fun things I have been doing the last month or so is looking at other cooks' bookshelves and clicking the "books in common" button.  By doing this I think I have found some real regional differences in the US bookshelves.  So Rinshin, I know that you and I are West Coasters because of the number of fish, Asian and West Coast restaurant cookbooks we have in common (plus you say you live in California).  But many cooks don't list their city or state and it is fun to try to guess what region they live in based on their cookbooks.  Some day I think it would be fun to have local EYB clubs or gatherings.  Maybe Jane and Fiona would want to do an EYB convention eventually and we could all travel somewhere fun!

Oh, wouldn't that be fun hillsboroks!  Something to aspire to.

Back in the beginning of internet days, I belonged to a newsgroups focusing on food and I've attended food gatherings from the area.  It was fun.  But, I outgrew newsgroups like many others.  I've met some wonderful people through recipezaar with similar love of cooking.  We've even had a couple from Australia come and stay with us for few days.  Yes, we cooked every day together. :-)

What I love when I read notes is the diversity of foods being made.  I think I was a lot more adventurous cook when I was younger.  I would make not just one but 3-4 new recipes in one dinner sitting after work.  Now, I can do one. 

I really appreciate the comments on individual recipes.  They sometimes inspire me to have a go myself (if I have the book) or buy the book myself.

I also love the links to recipes in new books - the chance to try before you buy prevents an expensive mistake.

The best thing is that EYB and my books are now  part of my routine and I get much more out of my collection than I did - so thanks.

Easily my favorite thing about EYB these days is member indexing! I really love the "work" (I do it when I'm at my job on a slow day, just answering the phone...I can index and keep busy that way instead of just wasting time on Facebook or playing games). It helps me get to know my cookbooks on a much more intimate level and encourages me to try recipes that I may have completely overlooked before. I also feel good being able to add to the information here since I have so many older, odd books that are likely to not get indexed otherwise. I know that the more books that have been indexed, the more I use this site as my first resource when trying to come up with ideas for "what to cook tonight". My goal is to try to index a book a month but over the holidays I got a bit behind on that...

I try to add comments on recipes I've made now as well, and bookmark ones I've really liked so that I don't forget where to find them!