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Too many books is like having no books at all   Go to last post Go to last unread
#1 Posted : Monday, July 29, 2024 7:24:41 AM(UTC)
Hi. I'm Silvia from Italy. Am I the only one who gets confused because the books and consequently, the recipes are too many? When I need to look up for something I quickly give up because, paradoxically, I have too much choice.
What do you do? How do you narrow the field?
Thanks
#2 Posted : Monday, July 29, 2024 12:27:43 PM(UTC)

I usually search the recipes section for of my ridiculous cookbook collection for either the overall dish I wish to make, or by ingredients. Depending on what it is, a successful search could yield between one and thousands of results. Sometimes I do get overwhelmed, or am drawn to another type of recipe altogether, but usually I pick and choose my favourite bits and / techniques / ingredients from a number of recipes and toss them all together to make a hybrid recipe (for cooking. Baking is another beast entirely, and I choose recipes on their ease, available ingredients, & level of forgiveness to an impatient / terrible baker).


That said, this only works if you're relatively skilled or quite reckless in the kitchen. Sometimes the flavours of an awful creation need to meld until the next day (ahem, last night's air fryer Greek chicken and feta meatballs, made delicious by an overnight rest and that made a fantastic sandwich on toasted sourdough with hummus and roasted red peppers). Sometimes they remain awful, in which case, toasted peanut butter & lemon marmalade is a great backup. But, I'm only feeding myself, not a family who needs to eat.


Most times, the hybrid approach comes up with something very good, sometimes fantastic, in which case it gets entered into my Paprika database as 'Sunday's xxx,' and becomes a much-beloved favourite.


There are very few authors whose recipes I trust implicitly, whose palate matches mine, and even then I tweak. It's an illness.

#3 Posted : Monday, July 29, 2024 12:56:23 PM(UTC)

Just like me in so many ways.. i've got a ridiculous amount of books too and still, even when i found something worth trying i tend to mix it with other favourite which in my case too are in my Paprika database and then they become another recipe to put in it. So many have the same root but then change. This passion is a life sentance but i love it and aking it's my favourite. And i do have few authors that never fail even if usually I have to change the recipe anyway being a vegan. I would like to say something more but being the language not mine i have some difficulties especially since the way you write about food is so beautiful


Thanks for your answer  

#4 Posted : Monday, July 29, 2024 12:56:23 PM(UTC)

I have a very large cookbook collection - almost 3,500 - and almost 500,000 recipes. So my search results are sometimes also a bit overwhelming. The way I deal with it is to change the sort to Buzz so I can see which recipes have got the most love from EYB members. I can then look at member Notes to see what they thought of the recipe which helps me make a selection. Another way I narrow my searches is by going through my cookbooks adding bookmarks. These can be "I want to cook this" or specific recipe types like 'summer salads' or 'fancy desserts'. That way when I am looking I can filter results to see what recipes I might already have noticed as being of interest.

#6 Posted : Monday, July 29, 2024 1:28:03 PM(UTC)
I initially search by ingredient, especially when I need to use something up. Then I scroll a few pages through the list to see the possibilities. Then filter by recipe type, added ingredients or by continent/ethnicity. I match the side dishes to the main dishes according to ethnicity (or nearby countries) whenever possible. For desserts, I search by recipe type and then by ingredient (usually specific fruit or chocolate).

I also have a few bookmarks for my books, and sometimes I limit my recipe search to those books. My bookmarks include: favorite books, books I have member-indexed, and my new books. And I have bookmarked some recipes with "I want to cook this," as well as categories like "Simple dinners with only pantry ingredients" and "Easy breakfasts."
#8 Posted : Monday, July 29, 2024 4:42:36 PM(UTC)

I usually have an idea of what to cook, which drastically reduces the search space from the start, but unsure of the specifics especially what unusual/unexpected ingredients are needed. Having searched for and found a handful of recipes I will then read the method but double whatever time guide is given


The real frustration for me is that more than a quarter of the books on my "bookshelf" here are unindexed. There might be better versions in the 100+ books that won't show up when looking for, for example, "singapore rice noodles" which currently gives me nine possibilities. (Although taking "rice" out of the recipe title give me a nine-fold increase in recipes. Too many really to make sense of.)


On some occasions searching the indexed recipes is an iterative process to winnow down from 80 to nine. For example searching for the classic British pudding "spotted dick" finds me nine recipes but I would prioritise the one from The Pudding Club over a TV chef's version of "fried spotted dick".

#5 Posted : Tuesday, July 30, 2024 6:00:36 AM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: Jane Go to Quoted Post
I have a very large cookbook collection - almost 3,500 - and almost 500,000 recipes. So my search results are sometimes also a bit overwhelming. The way I deal with it is to change the sort to Buzz so I can see which recipes have got the most love from EYB members. I can then look at member Notes to see what they thought of the recipe which helps me make a selection. Another way I narrow my searches is by going through my cookbooks adding bookmarks. These can be "I want to cook this" or specific recipe types like 'summer salads' or 'fancy desserts'. That way when I am looking I can filter results to see what recipes I might already have noticed as being of interest.


I've have never though of looking which recipes are most popular on EYB but it's a really good idea, especially because of the notes. I use bookmarks too but again, when i search for a recipe and i see many that i would like to try, it takes a long time only to pin them by I want to cook this and what type of recipe is. Sometimes i think how lucky my mother was with only maybe 10 books. And I have "only" 883 books.. I cannot imagine you, still I keep on buying them. What it really annoys me most is that I have at least other 300 books in Italian and I never use them because it's impossible not to use the EYB search when you have tried it..

#7 Posted : Tuesday, July 30, 2024 10:18:13 AM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: lkgrover Go to Quoted Post
I initially search by ingredient, especially when I need to use something up. Then I scroll a few pages through the list to see the possibilities. Then filter by recipe type, added ingredients or by continent/ethnicity. I match the side dishes to the main dishes according to ethnicity (or nearby countries) whenever possible. For desserts, I search by recipe type and then by ingredient (usually specific fruit or chocolate). I also have a few bookmarks for my books, and sometimes I limit my recipe search to those books. My bookmarks include: favorite books, books I have member-indexed, and my new books. And I have bookmarked some recipes with "I want to cook this," as well as categories like "Simple dinners with only pantry ingredients" and "Easy breakfasts."


 


Really? You even match the side dishes? You are a super hero to me. This is where I would like to be with a good organization

#9 Posted : Tuesday, July 30, 2024 10:31:55 AM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: ThePatheticBaker Go to Quoted Post
I usually have an idea of what to cook, which drastically reduces the search space from the start, but unsure of the specifics especially what unusual/unexpected ingredients are needed. Having searched for and found a handful of recipes I will then read the method but double whatever time guide is given


The real frustration for me is that more than a quarter of the books on my "bookshelf" here are unindexed. There might be better versions in the 100+ books that won't show up when looking for, for example, "singapore rice noodles" which currently gives me nine possibilities. (Although taking "rice" out of the recipe title give me a nine-fold increase in recipes. Too many really to make sense of.)


On some occasions searching the indexed recipes is an iterative process to winnow down from 80 to nine. For example searching for the classic British pudding "spotted dick" finds me nine recipes but I would prioritise the one from The Pudding Club over a TV chef's version of "fried spotted dick".


I have the same problem because a lot of my books are in italian and there is obviously no way to index them. And even if the book is in english there are so many recipes like Spotted dick which don't mean anything to me as if I were to tell you Pasta sui discorsi. You would never understand what's inside so you should have to read ingredient by ingredient.. Not so easy but then, this is a problem you have only if your native lenguage is not english. For the resti I find EYB amazing but I have to study it better to use all it's potential  

#12 Posted : Tuesday, July 30, 2024 1:09:00 PM(UTC)
Goblina, You might be interested in the "Add personal recipes" function under the My Bookshelf tab for your Italian cookbooks (or favorite recipes in those books). For more information, see "Help/Finding and organizing recipes"; click on "See all 11 articles," then "Adding personal recipes."
#10 Posted : Tuesday, July 30, 2024 1:58:03 PM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: Goblina Go to Quoted Post
I have the same problem because a lot of my books are in italian and there is obviously no way to index them.


You can member index any book in any language. There are many books indexed in German by a member and several in other languages. The recipe titles will be in Italian though the ingredients and category tags will be in English as they are part of the database.

#11 Posted : Wednesday, July 31, 2024 9:53:54 AM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: Jane Go to Quoted Post
You can member index any book in any language. There are many books indexed in German by a member and several in other languages. The recipe titles will be in Italian though the ingredients and category tags will be in English as they are part of the database.


really? How do I find the ones in Italian?

#13 Posted : Wednesday, July 31, 2024 10:31:02 AM(UTC)

Actually there are no indexed books in Italian (yet) though a member has just started indexing the Italian Madre Pizza by Gabriel Bonci. Language isn't a search filter you can apply to the Library but I have added that feature to our developers' to-do list. In the meantime you can use Publication country as a filter - there are 330 books in the Library published in Italy. Most are in English, some are in German but several are in Italian.

#14 Posted : Saturday, August 3, 2024 3:51:56 AM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: Jane Go to Quoted Post
Actually there are no indexed books in Italian (yet) though a member has just started indexing the Italian Madre Pizza by Gabriel Bonci. Language isn't a search filter you can apply to the Library but I have added that feature to our developers' to-do list. In the meantime you can use Publication country as a filter - there are 330 books in the Library published in Italy. Most are in English, some are in German but several are in Italian.


Thanks a lot. I have found some of my books in that list. I may start to index some of. ines too, after the summer break, even if i don't know if I would be able to 

#15 Posted : Saturday, August 3, 2024 11:45:54 PM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: Goblina Go to Quoted Post
I quickly give up because, paradoxically, I have too much choice. What do you do? How do you narrow the field? Thanks


I am hoping the much-anticipated Random Recipe feature will assist in our choices. It should be soon (Jane?). I can't wait.

#17 Posted : Tuesday, August 6, 2024 8:50:22 AM(UTC)
I play a game with my family and ask them to say a number between 1 and the max number of pages, and 1 and 25 recipes per page. They love it, whoever sees the message on the whatsapp family group responds first and then i have to cook that recipe. It is really fun :)
#16 Posted : Tuesday, August 6, 2024 9:42:41 AM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: Ganga108 Go to Quoted Post
I am hoping the much-anticipated Random Recipe feature will assist in our choices. It should be soon (Jane?). I can't wait.


Random Recipe? Interesting 😉

#18 Posted : Tuesday, August 6, 2024 9:44:05 AM(UTC)

Originally Posted by: Agaillard Go to Quoted Post
I play a game with my family and ask them to say a number between 1 and the max number of pages, and 1 and 25 recipes per page. They love it, whoever sees the message on the whatsapp family group responds first and then i have to cook that recipe. It is really fun :)


it's a beautiful idea. My son who's 22 would think I'm crazy if I only suggested it but I could ply with my husband 🤗

#19 Posted : Tuesday, August 6, 2024 9:44:21 AM(UTC)

Random recipe pick is high on our developers' list though they have a big project they need to finish off first.

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