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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
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I'm sorry s-w-f. I didn't see this:
That's interesting - I can't find that functionality on Google - could you share the link please?
On Windows PCs there is a place on the screen called a Browser Address Bar. Right now, on my screen, it says, "http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=1525190"
If I replace that with just, "pulled pork, brown rice" and press enter, .83 seconds later Google, which is my default search engine, shows me about 1,150,000 pages that all contain both 2-word phrases.
If I type, "recipe: pulled pork, brown rice, -eggs" .90 seconds later it returns about 1,450,000 recipes that have both of my "leftovers" and none of those recipes call for eggs.

If my default search engine is set to Bing it works almost exactly the same except to exclude eggs from the search I have to type "not eggs" instead of "-eggs"

You can get a lot more information by typing in, "How to do advanced searches in Google", or "How to do advanced searches in Bing"
Haven't checked, but strongly suspect, that would work with every possible default search engine.

By the way, you don't put in quantities for a search. When I wrote, "Leftover 1, Leftover 2" I was using placeholders for whatever the leftovers actually were.

But if you're not using a PC or a Mac, you're on your own because I'm too old and too dumb to figure out hand held devices.
 
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... You can get a lot more information by typing in, "How to do advanced searches in Google", or "How to do advanced searches in Bing"
Haven't checked, but strongly suspect, that would work with every possible default search engine.

By the way, you don't put in quantities for a search. When I wrote, "Leftover 1, Leftover 2" I was using placeholders for whatever the leftovers actually were.

But if you're not using a PC or a Mac, you're on your own because I'm too old and too dumb to figure out hand held devices.
Skillet, if you look at the search results page, you should also see across the top a list of food categories, like soups, casseroles, salads, etc. You can click on those to further refine your results.

Those advanced search methods work pretty much the same on all search engines on all devices, with minor variations in how to employ it, as you mentioned. It's called Boolean search and was established as the standard at the beginning of the development of computing.

https://www.lifewire.com/what-does-boolean-search-3481475
 
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Welcome to DC.

As Craig said, we're mostly Americans and Canadians but we also have European and African members. In the past we've had active members from Asian locations as well. Not sure how active they are currently.

And some from as far away as Australia. But we don't care where you are from. Just so long as you made your trip to here.
 
It looks like we're all talking at slightly cross-purposes.

If I've got 150g chicken and 400g chickpeas that I want to use up in a single recipe then that's difficult to do - even with the Google approach that skillet suggests. As you say, Google can give you recipes that include/exculde ingredients which you then have to sift through to find one that matches what you have. Even modifying what you propose by adding a quantity (i.e. "150g brown rice") instantly removes lots of results (where you might choose to modify a recipe that only has 140g).

So what we're looking for is something where you say "150g chicken", "200g chickpeas" and it searches for the recipe that is the closest fit to what you have. Unless I'm missing something, Google can't do this. As GotGarlic says - It's boolean - true/false - no compromise. Whereas for the ingredient quantity, we want a fuzzy search with boolean just for the ingredient.

As far as copyright goes, I have some arrangements in place where I can use other people's recipes from cook books and I promote their books in return. In addition, we all cook and change recipes all of the time, often inspired by what somebody else has done so copyright isn't an issue as I don't plan to outright copy other author's creations without their permission.
 
Hi everyone, I've been cooking for a long time and seem to have trouble using up ingredients in my fridge and cupboard which drives me nuts!

So as part of my MBA, I'm planning to create a website to help reduce food waste - I know, another cooking website - just what the world needs!

I'm registering here in the hope that when the time comes, you'll all be able to help me out by completing a short questionnaire. I've not created it yet but assuming you're all keen cooks :chef:, I've hopefully come to the right place!

Simple answer: Make soup!
 
It looks like we're all talking at slightly cross-purposes.

If I've got 150g chicken and 400g chickpeas that I want to use up in a single recipe then that's difficult to do - even with the Google approach that skillet suggests. As you say, Google can give you recipes that include/exculde ingredients which you then have to sift through to find one that matches what you have. Even modifying what you propose by adding a quantity (i.e. "150g brown rice") instantly removes lots of results (where you might choose to modify a recipe that only has 140g).

So what we're looking for is something where you say "150g chicken", "200g chickpeas" and it searches for the recipe that is the closest fit to what you have. Unless I'm missing something, Google can't do this. As GotGarlic says - It's boolean - true/false - no compromise. Whereas for the ingredient quantity, we want a fuzzy search with boolean just for the ingredient.

As far as copyright goes, I have some arrangements in place where I can use other people's recipes from cook books and I promote their books in return. In addition, we all cook and change recipes all of the time, often inspired by what somebody else has done so copyright isn't an issue as I don't plan to outright copy other author's creations without their permission.

Hold on Hoss. I'm not suggesting anything and got no dog in your hunt. What I said was I might use a search engine to get a general idea in the rare instance that I feel stuck but the answer is virtually never in a recipe from google or anyplace else. With some experience, the answers you are searching for come almost intuitively. If you want to add one more site to the millions that already exist, good luck with that but frankly, I don't have too much interest in the subject. Was only trying to answer a question and politely correct some perceived misunderstandings.
 
It looks like we're all talking at slightly cross-purposes.

If I've got 150g chicken and 400g chickpeas that I want to use up in a single recipe then that's difficult to do - even with the Google approach that skillet suggests. As you say, Google can give you recipes that include/exculde ingredients which you then have to sift through to find one that matches what you have. Even modifying what you propose by adding a quantity (i.e. "150g brown rice") instantly removes lots of results (where you might choose to modify a recipe that only has 140g).

So what we're looking for is something where you say "150g chicken", "200g chickpeas" and it searches for the recipe that is the closest fit to what you have. Unless I'm missing something, Google can't do this. As GotGarlic says - It's boolean - true/false - no compromise. Whereas for the ingredient quantity, we want a fuzzy search with boolean just for the ingredient...

That isn't exactly what I said. I said you can do a Boolean search with Google (and other search engines). I did not say the results were true/false, black and white. In fact, Google does use fuzzy search logic. You can see it in action when you misspell a search term and it asks "do you mean this?" and displays the correct spelling. If you search for a chicken dish, it will also show results that include turkey. It only returns results with just the specific terms you used if you use the Boolean operator to tell it to do that.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/fuzzy-search

It sounds like you have not actually tried it to see what I'm talking about.

You seem to be fixated on the idea that people search for specific amounts of specific ingredients. I don't believe they do. People just search for ingredients and a little more or less of this or that really only matters when it comes to some baking ingredients. A few tablespoons more or less of chicken or chickpeas are not going to ruin a dish.
 
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It sounds like you have not actually tried it to see what I'm talking about.

And you seem to think I don't know how Google works! I've been working with SEO (which basically means Google) for over a decade!

You seem to be fixated on the idea that people search for specific amounts of specific ingredients. I don't believe they do. People just search for ingredients and a little more or less of this or that really only matters when it comes to some baking ingredients. A few tablespoons more or less of chicken or chickpeas are not going to ruin a dish.

I also don't believe they do - and as somebody mentioned earlier in this thread, it's a learned behaviour. If you could search for a specific amount of an ingredient and get a result that matched what you were searching for then you would. And if it didn't find a match (which it won't) for the search term: recipe: "150g chicken" "400g chickpeas" "200g brown rice" (the quotes are important) then you end up with a 100% fuzzy search when you want something "more boolean" and less vague.

If I tell you that I've got the following:
150g chicken
400g chickpeas
200g brown rice.

I want to find a recipe which is as close as possible to using all of these ingredients - the top 5 Google Search Results don't even come close. (if you can share a link showing otherwise I'd certainly use it!)
 
And you seem to think I don't know how Google works! I've been working with SEO (which basically means Google) for over a decade!

How do I know what you know? You said you're working on a master's degree. As far as I know, you could be 22 years old.

Btw, I started designing websites, including SEO, in the mid '90s.

Good luck with your project.
 
...I'm registering here in the hope that when the time comes, you'll all be able to help me out by completing a short questionnaire. I've not created it yet but assuming you're all keen cooks :chef:, I've hopefully come to the right place!
Hi stop. I've been reading along, but now I want to comment after your reply to Got Garlic about Netscape. Netscape (and Edge and Chrome) IS a browser, but it is not an SEO. My favorite line from the linked article is "If you are sitting in your car, the browser would be your windshield and the steering wheel would be the search engine."

You say your purpose in joining Discuss Cooking is "...in the hope that when the time comes, you'll all be able to help me out by completing a short questionnaire...". This implies that you joined up to fulfill a need for a project? I suppose that you didn't take the time to read Da Rules:

NO SPAM! Our user base is not a resource to be "mined" by individuals, groups, or businesses, for profit or not for profit. Participants may not post affiliate links or links to direct others to any pages at their own commercial website or website in which they have a commercial interest.
Do not use posts to promote your blog, videos, surveys or contests. You may place a single link in your signature to a noncommercial blog.


I'm surprised that a moderator hasn't shown you the way to the door by now...
 

Probably because I haven't shared an affiliate link or directing anybody to another site or any commercial site of interest. I'm sure a moderator will have seen this and thought they'd help somebody who's doing something for a project. They also probably appreciate my openness from the start instead of starting a thread saying "what do you consider the key features of a cooking website to be?"

I'm well aware of the difference between a browser and what SEO is. I'd even go as far as saying that calling it "an SEO" demonstrates your knowledge on the subject. You'll see GotGarlic questioned my age and referenced website design - my reference to Netscape 4 was a more subtle reference to those 2 things.

But thank you for popping by. It's nice to establish the people that are here to help others and those that aren't.
 
I can be helpful when appropriate. However, I've been cooking since I was 12, have never had trouble repurposing leftovers, and throw almost no food items out. Therfore, I don't have a need for your proposed...whatever, and cannot come up with any suggestions.

I know a kernel about IT - I've been married to an IT guy for possibly longer than you've been alive. ?
 
I wish the world had more cooks like you! :) I suspect I don't need to share any stats on food waste but they're incredible. If my contribution helps, even a little then I'll have done a good thing!

I've been alive for a lot longer than you might expect - I'm certainly not 22!! I'm doing another masters because I enjoy learning and get bored quickly.

I've contacted admins about my questionnaire so there's still time for me to get deleted :mellow:
 
"If you are sitting in your car, the browser would be your windshield and the steering wheel would be the search engine."/QUOTE]

This is an interesting analogy. I'd say SEO was more like your Sat Nav. It's dependant upon your input, doesn't always get it right and can be frustrating. It can also save you an incredible amount of time and energy.
 
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