Will's dashboard

I'm so sorry that you are having trouble with the search. I've just tried various searches and the link you gave using Firefox 3.5.5 and Safari and I haven't had any problems. We have someone trying it with various other browsers.

Can I trouble you to let me know what browser and version you are using? There may be a compatibility problem we just haven't identified yet.

Will
Founder

Thanks so much for writing! We love our visitors from all over the world -- and this was definitely a gaffe on our part. The site does not require zip or postal codes -- it's just helpful for us. But we neglected to let people know that. Big mistake! We will be fixing that soon -- and really appreciate that you signed up -- and wrote us.

Oh, and I've always wanted to go to Cape Town!

Again, thanks -- and apologies.

Thank you so much for writing us and I'm sorry that you are frustrated. But it was never our intention to put all the recipes from any of Julia Child's books on the site. The idea of Cookstr is to be a rich repository of recipes from the best chefs and authors -- but also a way for you to discover the terrific cookbooks that are out there. So we feature, by and large, a limited number of recipes from each book and hope you will use us often and also discover books to add to your collection. We get the rights to put recipes online from the publishers who share publishing income with the authors -- and they, by and large, give us the rights to sample a nice number of recipes from cookbooks but not to reprint the cookbooks in full. It's only through selling books that authors and publishers make a living. And there's nothing quite like a physical cookbook, is there? We hope Cookstr will be your go-to recipe resource with its wide selection of tested and trusted recipes from great chefs and auithors -- but we also hope that it will help you explore the world of cookbooks so you can make great choices about what you add to your physical cookbook collection.

We do know that many of our users have limited budgets and so we are proud that we feature cookbooks that are generally available in libraries across the country. So that's another option for exploring all the recipes from Julia's books.

It's the same with the clips on the site -- we feature some for free but hope you will want to buy the terrific DVDs. The tag after the show says that there are recipes on the site but it doesn't say that all of the recipes are on the site. It's important to add that Cookstr doesn't share in the income from the Julia and Jacques books or DVDs -- that money goes to the producers, publishers, and authors. And you can also be proud to know that when you buy a Julia Child book or DVD some of that money goes to the Julia Child Foundation which does great work.

Again, it's the producers and publishers who determine how many recipes go on the site. And I know you aren't asking for all of them -- just the ones in the shows. But those would constitute almost all, if not all, of the content of the great book JULIA AND JACQUES: Cooking at Home. And sales of the book is largely what paid to create the series which airs on public television.

I hope this explanation makes sense! I do understand your frustration and am really grateful to you for writing us. And please do reply if you have further thoughts.

As for the earlier PBS series, that was produced, I believe, by a different producer. We would love to see that shown again on television. It is so terrific. But I think it may be available on DVD. Let me know if you want me to find more information.

Thanks!

Will
Founder

I really appreciate your writing us about this! It is a problem that we are working on and hope to have fixed in a few weeks.

Please do stick with us in the meantime. We are really happy you like the content and are bound and determined to make sure it gets to you faster.

Best!

Will
Founder

Thanks so much for this comment! We have finished dish photos for about a third of the recipes on Cookstr and are constantly trying to increase the number. We want to feature the very best recipes from classic cookbooks -- and many of these were published without photographs (for example, most of the Julia Child recipes). Whenever possible we try to choose recipes where there are finished dish photographs. Also, sometimes, we have trouble making arrangements with the photographers. So when we don't have a finished dish, we pair the recipe with an ingredient shot so there's something nice to look at. But we know it isn't the same.

Great food photography is expensive -- and we never want to run pictures that don't like nice -- nor do we want pictures that aren't of the actual dish. I find it really frustrating when a site shows a finished dish that looks nothing like what you get if you follow the actual recipe.

Do stick with us and you'll find more and more finished dish shots, I promise!

Best,

Will
Founder

You've made my day!
Will

I love this idea! Thanks! We have a limited development budget at the moment -- but as soon as we can afford more work we'll see if we can get this done. It would be terrific.
Again, thanks!
Will
Founder

Thanks for the offer! We are still pondering different ways of doing this -- and hope to be able to implement them soon in the New Year!
Best!
Will
Founder

Thanks so much for the great suggestion -- and wow did this simple thing take us longer that we had hoped or expected. But we do at last have a favicon!
Hope you've been sticking with us and finding lots of great things to cook. And thanks for the feedback and the patience!
Best,
Will
Founder

Dear Patty:
Also wanted to let you know that we've finally fixed the back button problem! So you now won't lose the search parameters when you go back a step.
Thanks so much for the feedback and hope you've been finding lots of great things to cook!
Best,
Will
Founder

I think we've got this fixed at last! So now you can use the back button in the middle of a search and just go back to the previous step -- not all the way back to the start. Thanks so much for the great feedback and the patience. And do let us know how it's working for you -- and what you are cooking!
Best,
Will
Founder

I think you will find that the back button now works like a dream and you won't lose your search criteria in the middle of a search! Thanks so much for letting us know about this -- and for sticking with us. And do let us know how it's working for you.
Will
Founder

Thanks so much for your idea! We are working on this and should have it up and running in about a month or so.

So glad you are using Cookstr -- and writing us with great suggestions.

Best!
Will
Founder

This is a really good point. You are the first person to raise it but I totally agree -- it needs to be fixed.

I wish I could tell you that I had the resources to fix it in the next few weeks -- but there's some other stuff that we need to fix first (like the back button functionality on search). But we will get to this and before too long I hope.

Thanks so much for letting us. We don't want anyone pulled out of the flow! Do stick with us -- and keep letting us know what we can do better.

Best!
Will
Founder

I'm so sorry you are annoyed -- and I totally understand why. We are working on some site improvements now and I wish I could tell you this was one of them. But there was some other stuff we had to do first (like fixing the back button functionality on the search). But I promise we will get to this! I know it's annoying.

Please do stick with us in the meantime -- and thanks so much for letting us know!

Thanks so much for the great comments, Daniel! It's incredibly kind of you to write -- and much appreciated. The site was designed by the awesome Barbarian Group and built by the awesome Pivotal Labs. So psyched it makes you want to go out and cook. Do let us know what you make!

We are making some changes right now -- adding the main nav to the home page and fixing the back button functionality on search. Do let us know if you think we are making things better. Or not! We love feedback.

Best!
Will
Founder

I'm so sorry! I know this is a big problem and fixing it is our top priority. We hope to have it fixed next week. It's very frustrating I agree. Please do stick with us. And thank you for writing!
Best,
Will
Founder

Dear Duarte:

Well, you certainly made all of our day! That was such a kind email to send. We are thrilled that you like the site, that you found us through Top Chef, and that we are the home page in your browser! Wow! :-)
We will be adding more chefs and more recipes and more features. Please do let us know what you think, what you are cooking, and who you would like to see on the site.

Thank you!!!!

Best,
Will
Founder

Yes, very sadly Sheila Lukins died. We've paid tribute to her in newsletters and on the blog. She was one of a kind and is sorely missed. We did just recently change her bio on the site. We are so proud to continue the legacy of and share recipes from many talented chefs and authors who are no longer alive -- Julia Child, James Beard, and Sheila Lukins, to name just a few.
Thanks so much for writing us.
Best,
Will
Founder

We've recently been having some trouble with a particular version of Firefox and it's going to take us a little while to fix. Can I trouble you to let me know what browser you are using and what version?
I'm so sorry -- this sounds very frustrating.
Best,
Will
Founder