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Hello, my name is Michelle and I'm a cookbook lover! I have lived all over the western US and I now reside in Derbyshire, UK (married a Brit about 11 years ago!). I have lots of cookbooks, but have not cooked for a number of years due to inability to stand for very long in the kitchen. However, my lovely husband has just completed the framework for a cooking station in the spare room and I am slowly filling it up with my favourite appliances, ingredients, and cookbooks. After the holidays, I plan to dig in and cook up a storm! Mainly, I love to bake but have recently become interested in slow cooking. My other love is Italian cooking, as my mother's people are from Armento in Basilicata. Her father was, in fact, the first of his family to be born in America and he helped raise me until I was old enough to go to school. He taught me how to plant and pick peppers and tomatoes, skin tomatoes (spear on a fork and dip in boiling water for a couple of moments), make killer spaghetti sauce from scratch, and the best way to eat fresh bread, cheese, and salami (involves a eating bits from a knife blade!). My grandmother was the baker in the family and she taught me how to make really flaky pie crust, cinnamon crust (kid's treat) with the leftover bits, cupcakes, layer cakes, buttercream frosting, and various pastries. My mother taught me how to make biscotti and BBQ (there's a combination for you). My first (late) husband taught me some of the chemistry of cooking and was always making up new recipes. So, most of the people in my life have loved and cooked food. My British husband currently cooks our meals because I couldn't for a few years now. But when we were first married, I baked for him, and so he now has a list of things he wants me to bake as soon as my "kitchen" is functional, bless him <smile>. As I am over 60, I have accumulated books, magazines, keepsake recipes, and more and EYB has now come to the rescue, allowing me to search across my whole collection for variations on recipes. I am so glad I found EYB and became a member almost immediately I found this website. I am also really glad, being mostly homebound, to have found a community of other enthusiasts -- thank you for being here! And thank you, Jane and Fiona, for creating EYB!  Cheers, Michelle G  ;-)    [An American in Derbyshire, UK]

Hello everyone!  My name is Melissa, from Connecticut, USA.  Finding EYB has been a dream.  I've been trying to figure out how in the world I can make a master index of my many CI/CC/ATK books and magazines, so I can find *that* recipe, but then discovered this community and was very happy to know the work was already done.  YAY!  Just about half my books are unindexed, and I'm eager to try my skills at a "real" cookbook (I recently indexed 25 recipes in one of the Wilton Yearbooks), but am feeling shy about it, honestly.  There is so MUCH to remember and consider when indexing.  It's both exciting and terrifying - lol!  My time is sporadically available (like so many others, no doubt) so I'm afraid I'll take too long (though if I use my Facebook time for indexing.......)  
When I first began collecting cookbooks I was pretty undiscriminating.  As time passed, however, I realized I wasn't all that interested to know what was in so many of them and I began to scale back, keeping only those which genuinely made me happy to open and peruse. The library is my best friend, as I prefer to explore a cookbook before committing to purchasing.  Even at that I have an ever-expanding Amazon Wish List of books to get hold of.  :)    
I am so grateful to Jane and Fiona for founding this site!  It will be exciting to watch it evolve over the coming years.  So much potential! All my best to my fellow cookbook fanatics.  

Welcome, Melissa!   You're already ahead of many EYB members in having done any indexing at all, so on behalf of all EYB users thanks very much for that, even if you go no further.

But I encourage you to to continue if you can, and not to be terrified.  It is exacting work, but it gets easier as you go along.  My suggestion is to look among your books for something with 150 recipes or fewer for your first "real" book.  I waited far too long between my first and second efforts and had to re-learn most of the guidelines. 

If time seems not to permit, another good way to keep your hand in is to fairly frequently use the Bookmarklet to clip online recipes and index them -- studying the categories and ingredients in the released/approved recipe can be a refresher.  Though it's nowhere near as helpful as Sydney Chambers' thorough and patient review reports.

Best wishes in the new year for you and your family.

Originally Posted by: ellabee

But I encourage you to to continue if you can, and not to be terrified.  It is exacting work, but it gets easier as you go along.  My suggestion is to look among your books for something with 150 recipes or fewer for your first "real" book.  I waited far too long between my first and second efforts and had to re-learn most of the guidelines. 

Thank you for the encouragement, Ellabee.  I have already asked for approval to add two missing magazines from the Cook's Illustrated offerings.  I don't want to lose the insight I've gained with the guidelines, so even if it takes a little longer than I'm happy with, I'm moving forward - onward and upward!  I'd love for this to become a hobby I can enjoy, and take some pride in.  I really need that, and best of all it can benefit more than just me!