[deltadude]

I'm hunting for FREE recipe software, or try before buy - shareware.

What do you use to save and catalog recipes?

My current method of saving recipes, is to use Windows Notepad and save recipe as text file. I then save them in the appropriate folder, i.e. Poultry, Seafood, Soup-Chowders, etc.

The problem is my recipe collection is growing, and I want to add features like:

• images of the food, or the finished dish.
• hyperlink to other recipes or "how to" info,
• search capabilities

I used to use NYC "Now Your Cooking" software,
h t t p: / / w w w .ffts.com/info.htm (remove spaces)
even registered it, but that hard drive crashed and I stopped using it, about 3 or 4 years ago. NYC takes a serious commitment to use it properly, and has a ton of features.

I want something pretty simple, sort of a note system that allows pictures, and the few features I mentioned above.

I'm playing with TreeDBNotes-Free, and it may be the solution, but so far haven't found a way to import the several hundred recipes. Not sure the free version even allows that kind of import.
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[MaryE]

Hi!

It's not free, but I use MS Word to keep my recipes. You can keep pictures and hyperlinks in there. So, I keep everything in sections, use the header tags to create indexes and you can easily search if you're looking for a particular ingredient.

Hope that helps!

[MaryB]

MasterCook will do what you want but it isn't free. $19.95 (I bought it via download for $9.95) is pretty cheap though and it comes with a lot of free recipes.

[phatch]

Text is really one of the best I think.

And you've got a good file heirarchy, that helps a lot too. Extremely portable and searchable straight from the file manager tools. Assuming you're using windows you can do file name searches and file content searches from windows Explorer or use the Google Desktop Search. Vista offers good searches right from the Start Menu.

If you want to add images, I'd recommend learning some basic HTML/XML. Your text files can be marked up fairly simply and your file hierarchy is already good for these mark up languages. A bit later, I'll point you to a wiki style tool as well you might like for this purpose.

Still very searchable with basic free tools in the operating system and compatible with email, cell phones, PDAs and so forth for recipe portability.

Another handy tool for such recipe archives is HTTrack. HTTrack Website Copier - Offline Browser This tool copies existing websites for your local offline browsing. It doesn't work with all websites. Some database/script driven websites are incompatible but there are a lot of them that you can save for your own use. There are ways for you to use log-in accounts with it as well for whacking private sites. Good also for backing up a web site of your own.

If you want more powerful searches, you can set up a wiki on your personal computer. Again, your basic text files are a good start for this project. You'll need a software engine to do the indexing searching and so on, but there are some free ones out there. Here's an article for setting one up on your PC Organize Your Life With A Wiki | Maximum PC

Phil

[phatch]

So I tried out the instiki myself yesterday Once you get the right install file (instiki-0.13.0.zip), it works pretty cleanly. The editing and linking is different than I'm used to in HTML but is fairly straightforward. Right now I'm mostly copying and pasting content from existing sources focusing on my Chinese Archive. It's fairly quick and easy. When I've got all of that imported, I'll export a website version of my Chinese Wiki for my PDA for easy recipe and info access in the kitchen.

As time permits, I'll go back in and add formatting and pretty it up. I'm liking it so far.

Phil

[Pete]

I am a big fan the the "Mastercook" programs. I have used a number of them though currently I run 7.0 at home. It's not free, but is only about $20. It's pretty easy to learn though I don't take advantage of many of the options it features such as grocery lists, home menu planning, etc. I comes with 1000s of recipes already loaded on it that you can explore and a pretty simple interface for inputting recipes and a good internal search engine. I would highly consider picking up a copy.

[DimityrDimitrov]

You can start writing in blog as my mom do .

[rachael24]

I just have a huge excel spreadsheet that I transferred all of my old recipes onto a few years ago. Plus I keep adding whenever I get the chance. I find it convenient, especially with the tabs on the bottom.

[NavyJeremy]

Can anybody tell me if mastercook will work with Vista. I just went and looked at the program but nothing says if it will/will not work with Vista. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[RPMcMurphy]

I'm going to start using google documents to store my recipes...i can access from anywhere even my phone, and its fairly robust for online document storage and searching)

right now i use it to track my budget/finances and also plan weekly menus and it works great .

[Pete]

Jeremy, I can't say 100% for sure that it will work on Vista, but I have owned a number of Mastercook programs over the years and used them on many different Microsoft platforms and have never had an issue with it on any of them. So I guess it would be a pretty safe bet to say it will run on Vista.

[Dillbert]

Originally Posted by rachael24

I just have a huge excel spreadsheet that I transferred all of my old recipes onto a few years ago. Plus I keep adding whenever I get the chance. I find it convenient, especially with the tabs on the bottom.

experiences vary - here's MasterCook's support:

MasterCook and Vista

[gcmachel]

Has anyone tried the Big Oven software? In some reviews it ranks #1 (but I don't trust review rankings). The interesting thing about it is it seems to integrate with the bigoven website. Also, this only works on Windows, and reports on using it on a Mac with emulation software is spotty. I have both Windows and Mac, but it would also be nice to find software that has native support for both Windows and Mac so I can use either computer. Anyone know good recipe software for a Mac that might work on a PC?

Just noticed (again) that the original post was for free software. I'm willing to pay a little bit for the right software, but I'm not a professional chef, so not really looking for anything "industrial".

[deltadude]

Originally Posted by deltadude

I'm hunting for FREE recipe software, or try before buy - shareware.

What do you use to save and catalog recipes?

I'm playing with TreeDBNotes-Free, and it may be the solution, but so far haven't found a way to import the several hundred recipes. Not sure the free version even allows that kind of import.
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I went ahead and registered (purchased) the TreeDBNotesPro, I love this DB program.
I have imported most of my text recipes, no problem.
This DB notes program is for all kinds of note storage, it has a ton of features, I use it now for my bookmarks, bill pay history, research on stuff. I keep all my passwords to forums, banking, subscription sites etc.

Ok for recipes,
TDBNpro uses tabs and each tab has a tree hierarchy, very similar to windows explorer.
Some of my tabs for recipes DB
BBQ, Misc, How-to, Events, Menus, Shopping.
under each tab are folders i.e. Poultry, Mexican.
under each folder is a subfolder or note .. with individual recipes.

What I like best.
•I can cut n paste recipes from the internet, bookmark to the orginal online recipe.
•Include images,
•Keep notes of changes or substitutions.
•Hyperlink to another recipe, i.e. a recipe calls for "pico de gallo", I hyperlink to one of my "pico de gallo" recipes.
•Its free form, or you can use templates that you create.
•its searchable

You can try it out for free....