NCT Cookbook!!!

OK folks! Thanks to Kimchee's great suggestion and input from several other members, we are going to compile our first annual NCT Cookbook. While the details are yet to be finalized, the intent is to be a fundraiser to help Doc cover the costs of maintaining the forum we all call home.

We really want this to be a group effort, so we are hoping for everyone to participate. So far, the requirements are few:



1. Recipes must be something tried and true (TNT). This will be a collection of our personal favorites.

2. Hopefully, everyone will add at least 1 recipe to the collection. I hate to limit anyone's enthusiasm, but maybe 5 max per person until we get an idea of how many recipes we collect? It's easier to start off with a limit. That way if we don't have room for every recipe, I don't have to be responsible for cutting something out and hurting any feelings. If we have room, we can always ask for more. So start off by sending your 5 best!

3. Until the details of printing (either hard copy or on-line) are resolved, we can't be sure if we can use many pics. But it would sure be nice if we can! My software will accommodate pics beautifully, so feel free to send a pic of your dish if you wish. Just PLEASE don't feel bad if we can't use them in the end. For the sake of my email and storage, please only send one pic per dish - so make it a good one.

4. I have set up a gmail account to collect the recipes. Please forward all recipes & pics to: nctcookbook@gmail.com

5. It will help greatly if you send any pics as attachments, not in the body of the message.

6. I believe I can import from Mastercook, Living Cookbook, MealMaster, and MSWord. Therefore, if you could use one of those formats it would help limit the amount of typing I have to do.


Any questions, contact Adillo or me.


Now open for further suggestions.......................... (and volunteers)

Awesome SS!!!! Thanks!

I think the cookbook was an excellent idea. We had talked about it before but that was early on, now I think we are ready.

This cookbook will help defray some of the costs of running the site but just as important it will hopefully get us some new members and help us grow.

I'm counting on you all to support SS in this effort and if you have time you can volunteer for some of the upcoming tasks as they come up. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!!!!!

This could be something people with blogs could advertise and push, too.
Dunno exactly how it works, but we might even be able to offer it via Amazon,
if someone has a seller's account there.


edit to add:

If you need or want a particular format, like Ingredients in a list with dashes at front, or TBSP vs Tbsp, etc etc,
how about posting it here. That could save some effort too.
And hurry, I have recipes to send, LOLOLOLOL!

Wow!!! sounds great.

I've picked 5 of my favorite recipes that I've cooked and photographed.

I got one of them from online, and I'd like to include it, but don't know how I should handle the copyright worries.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gramercy-Tavern-Gingerbread-103087

Should I change the wording in the directions? Just cite the link? Or forget about this one because it's not original?

Lee

You can't copyright ingredient lists because those are considered facts. As many recipes are copied all over the internet, it's really hard to determine where it originated to give anyone credit. If you want to include it in the cookbook, that shouldn't be a problem as long as you put the directions in your own words.

Mama said:

You can't copyright ingredient lists because those are considered facts. As many recipes are copied all over the internet, it's really hard to determine where it originated to give anyone credit. If you want to include it in the cookbook, that shouldn't be a problem as long as you put the directions in your own words.

Click to expand...

Mama's exactly right! Put the directions in your own words. If you want to be real safe, put in the title "inspired by a recipe from......." or something like that.

Could you copy and paste from an online source? I keep all my recipes at www.recipesonrails.com (my own web site). I could direct you to some I think would be appropriate.

When you set up rules for the recipes, consider controlling the serving size. We should expand or contract recipes for you to meet that size.

Mama’s right. Just type up the instructions in your own words, and it’s fine.

Also, it’s a good idea to NOT include links in the cookbook. Links are subject to close, but a printed book can last generations.

We need to decide on ingredient convention.

Is it TBSP or Tbsp. TSP or Tsp. 1/4 cup or 1/4 Cup. Do we use terms like Pinch or Dash? Will it be metric or US, grams or ounces, Celsius or Fahrenheit, etc.

What is total word count for a recipe? We should all try to hit the desired word count by +/- 100 words. There is nothing wrong with short and fast recipes of only 60 words or so, but on a page, mixing a 60 word recipe with a 400 word recipe is a visual disaster. If all recipes are the same word count, they all look the same on the page, and they all take up the same “block” of space on the page which makes it easier to print.

White space on a page can be filled with pics or a callout box like “Chef’s Tip”.

What are the basic chapters……Appetizer, Meat, Outdoor, Baking, etc. What chapters are we trying to fill?

For consistency, it would be nice, but perhaps not practical, to have the same number of recipes per chapter. If Entrée gets 30 recipes, then we should think about whether or not Dessert gets 30, and Appetizer gets 30. Consistency in design and layout makes for a more pleasing book.

And we should all agree on basic terminology. Things like BBQ, Roast, Fry, Sautee, etc should all be agreed upon and we should all use the same language so that the book flows from cover to cover as if one author wrote it. Having one recipe say to “Fry” a chicken breast in 3 tbsp of oil is quite different from saying “Fry” a chicken wing in 4 inches of oil in a deep fryer. BBQ to some means grilled meat with sauce, but to others it means low and slow or Smoking. Basic terms need to be defined.

It may seem minor, but this can be major. If a person reading the book sees one recipe saying to “fry” in 3 inches of oil, and the next says to “Fry” the chicken in a pan and then reduce to make a sauce, there is going to be some serious confusion. Worse still are cultural differences where BBQ, Smoking, and Grilling all mean different things to different localities. We need to define upfront what WE mean in the book, and the reader can adapt in order.

Put me down to help out with tasks.

Keltin, I think you just 'volunteered' to help me with the technical stuff!

Wait for my email - it will probably take me a few minutes to compile.

count me in on a recipe and buying a few cookbooks.

now i just have to think of what recipe might be a good one. i haven't had much feedback on any recipe i've posted here, and i know i've posted one or two marginal ones that i've improved upon since, so i can only assume that otherwise my recipes suck.

lol.

You need to submit your split pea soup, BT. I personally really like that one.

thanks mama! i'm humbled.

although, i'd have to give credit to dw's mom. it was based on her recipe.

ok, ss, so there's my first entry: http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10445

i wonder if i could edit the ingredients and directions to add the potatoes as an option? i'd mentioned the addition of par boiled spuds in post #9 of that thread, and since have added them every time i make the soup, so i'd say it was part of the improved recipe.

bt, give credit anywhere you want - just send the recipe in!

oops, i edited my post after you'd responded, ss.

ok, so, i'll email it, along with my latest tnt from the crock pot, Buckytom's Pork Rib Roast with Apple and Butter Gravy: http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16304

SilverSage said:

bt, give credit anywhere you want - just send the recipe in!

Click to expand...

A question SS - Do you want the recipe in the body of the email & the pic as an attachment (1 attachment total) OR The recipe attached as a MSWord doc and the pic a seperate attachment (2 attachments total) OR The recipe in a MSWord doc WITH the pic in the doc (1 attachment total)? Sorry for being a PITA. Let me know what I can do to help with this project.

With all due respect, before we deluge SS with recipes, I think we need to get the skeleton in place first.

Submittals would be easiest in Word as DOC files. Pics can be worried about later.

But DOC files (or straight text in Notepad) need to be the same. We need a Template.

Something like:

[Recipe Name]
[Submitters Name (are we using real name or online name??)]

[Ingredients]
List of stuff in an agreed fashion like TBSP for Table Spoon

[Procedure]
How do you do it. How many words allowed here. This spot is the ONLY spot of a recipe that can be copyrighted. So if we all write our own bits here, we are free and clear on copyright and can sell the book.

[Notes]
Not necessary, but if you have tips and adjustments, it’s a good thing. But again, overall word count has to be considered.

What is the total word count allowed???

I can go ahead and form the template and basic Glossary of terms if desired?

Word docs are better than email text.

Keltin, you are an important part of the team. read my PM so you can help explain the setup and the standards. That's something you and Andy are better at than I am.

I sent a recipe to the gmail email address you listed. I forgot to list the title as Sticky Chicken, though. I sent it in MSWord. I wanted to make sure that is the way you wanted them sent before I send anymore.

...I sent it before these last posts were made. I guess you can just delete the email and I'll make any corrections you want and resend it later.

Ok, I don't know it all yet, but I know enough at this point to say everyone please hold on for a moment. Take this time to think about the recipes you want to do. Get them straight in your head and how you want them.

Honestly, you would be surprised how often you will want to change your own text after re-reading it a few times over a couple of days! Really!!

I can assure you this will not be as simple as posting a link to a Forum entry…..unless someone takes the time to convert it to the proper format. Which may be possible if we have time.

In the end, I imagine what is going to be needed is a DOC (Word or Open Office which is free and great) file. And that file will need to be setup using a standard template. In the end, we can end up with 500 DOC files, but they should all be setup using the same Headers, formatting, etc.

That allows an import program to link to a directory filled with our DOC files and simply pull them all in at once and make a book. A little massaging for callouts and pics, and it’s ready to print.

I’ve not had time to examine the S/W in question, but I have downloaded a copy of it and will get familiar with it over the next few days.

Once I know more about imports, we all will know more about the template required to make this easier on SS to formulate this book.

So, for now, just think about what you want to submit. SS has asked for a limit of 5 recipes per member.

That would be hard for ME to pick my own personal 5 favorites! So please, go over what you have done and use this time to think about what you want to present and have immortalized. Take this time now to pick your Best of the Best! In a few days, we’ll have all the technical difficulties worked out, and I hope we all know which are our five favorites by then!!

As for pictures, I don’t know what printer/publisher will be picked for this, but I can tell you this from personal experience. Pictures are the LAST thing you need for a book. Place holders are easily placed on a page if you know the size. What is MOST important is to get all of that wonderful text in and in place first and you can add [AxB] placeholders to any page layout to be a place holder for your pic later.

Behind the scenes, a lot needs to be done to get it technically straight.

But first and foremost for everyone wanting to submit, find your five best recipes, and get your text into shape - preferably a Word DOC file. You can do that now, and reformat can happen easily later once we know what the template is. Pictures can happen later and only need to be worried about just before submitting to the printer - at this point, pic place holders are good enough.

Let’s do this people! We are going to rock the culinary community!!

I don't understand everything he just said, but I'm counting on Keltin and Adillo for the technical datials - sooooo...........


WHAT HE SAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

shouldn't it be as simple as copy and pasting from a post to wordpad, then adjusting to fit a template or form?

bt, I have some pretty fancy software for producing a cookbook. It scales recipes, calculates nutritional info, prices servings, and allows me to create some pretty impressive formats. It does a whole lot more and can export a file for publishing however you need it. It can handle pictures of the finished dishes and also step by step instructional pics. It can accept files from all of the major recipe formats as well as Word.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to use most of the features. I know how to make the output look really fancy. But I have only used it for recipes that i have manually typed in. It is fully capable of importing various formats, but I have never learned to use those features. Ketlin and Adillo are going to look at the software and show me how to use the import features.

Until then, we just need everyone to sit tight. Find your best recipes and get set. It should only take a couple days and we'll be able to import your recipes without my having to retype everything.

This is going to be a great project, but I need a help. So just bear with us while we get the details hashed out.

Thanks everyone!

buckytom said:

shouldn't it be as simple as copy and pasting from a post to wordpad, then adjusting to fit a template or form?

Click to expand...

Not exactly. If you open word and select the AA button to display the styles and formatting, you can see all available styles for that template.

For importation, you set your layout to recognize those styles. So a Head1 becomes a big and bold title. A Head2 becomes an Italicized header. A head3 becomes copytext. An extra becomes a callout. A caption becomes a screen. Etc, etc, etc.

It’s much like coding in C where you do global defines. You define “h_line” as a horizontal line running from X pos 1 to X Pos 2. Then all you need do is call H_line throughout your program and it gets replaced with that beautiful horizontal line.

Proper importation will key on the styles you set it to recognize. So on a good program, you can tell it that when you see Style 1, make that bold, verdana font, black text on a beige background. Then, on an import, EVERY Style 1 gets treated that way meaning you don’t have to go through the whole book and do it yourself.

Keltin said:

Not exactly. If you open word and select the AA button to display the styles and formatting, you can see all available styles for that template.

For importation, you set your layout to recognize those styles. So a Head1 becomes a big and bold title. A Head2 becomes an Italicized header. A head3 becomes copytext. An extra becomes a callout. A caption becomes a screen. Etc, etc, etc.

It’s much like coding in C where you do global defines. You define “h_line” as a horizontal line running from X pos 1 to X Pos 2. Then all you need do is call H_line throughout your program and it gets replaced with that beautiful horizontal line.

Proper importation will key on the styles you set it to recognize. So on a good program, you can tell it that when you see Style 1, make that bold, verdana font, black text on a beige background. Then, on an import, EVERY Style 1 gets treated that way meaning you don’t have to go through the whole book and do it yourself.

Click to expand...

YIKES!! I have Word 2007 and it doesn't look anything like that any more. I will need to find those features again. LOL

SilverSage said:

bt, I have some pretty fancy software for producing a cookbook. It scales recipes, calculates nutritional info, prices servings, and allows me to create some pretty impressive formats. It does a whole lot more and can export a file for publishing however you need it. It can handle pictures of the finished dishes and also step by step instructional pics. It can accept files from all of the major recipe formats as well as Word.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to use most of the features. I know how to make the output look really fancy. But I have only used it for recipes that i have manually typed in. It is fully capable of importing various formats, but I have never learned to use those features. Ketlin and Adillo are going to look at the software and show me how to use the import features.

Until then, we just need everyone to sit tight. Find your best recipes and get set. It should only take a couple days and we'll be able to import your recipes without my having to retype everything.

This is going to be a great project, but I need a help. So just bear with us while we get the details hashed out.

Thanks everyone!

Click to expand...

What software is that SS? I have been working up mine and family recipes to hopefully make cookbooks for my girls with our family recipes. That sounds like a good program. I will probably need to save up to buy the program but it sounds great!! LOL.

lilbopeep said:

YIKES!! I have Word 2007 and it doesn't look anything like that any more. I will need to find those features again. LOL

Click to expand...

I feel for you. MS put their foot in thier own ass when they unleashed that beast. The whole docx, xlsx, etc, is utter crap. How any major programmer could completely corrupt a worldwide format like they did is beyond me. But you have my sympathies as you struggle through it.

Keltin said:

I feel for you. MS put their foot in thier own ass when they unleashed that beast. The whole docx, xlsx, etc, is utter crap. How any major programmer could completely corrupt a worldwide format like they did is beyond me. But you have my sympathies as you struggle through it.

Click to expand...

Oh I like the program and you can save media in an older format so as to be compatible with 2003. I just need to find WHERE those features are.

Should be easy to find. On the menu bar look for Format. Drop down window appears when you click it. Styles and Formatting should be there. If not, uninstall that crap and get some real SW!