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Which recipe database/application do you use?

post #1 of 14
6/13/07 at 6:19pm
Thread Starter 
As a matter of interest do any of you enter your recipes into a computer database?.

I am on Apple Mac and use Connoisseur The Little App Factory

I have used it for the last 18 months and now have over 550 entries. Once the recipe has been entered I have found it very useful in terms of instant retrieval, adjustment, printing and ingredient listing etc.

I now regard my  Mac as a culinary tool :D !.

maxon8
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post #2 of 14
6/13/07 at 6:39pm
I've tried a number of them over the years. Don't like any of them. I'm happier with a text editor as I get quick searches and total portability to PDA, phone, paper or whatever.

Phil
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post #3 of 14
6/14/07 at 3:56am
It's not the programs. I'm a reactionary who doesn't trust the computer. With some justification, having had several crashes that caused the loss of everything.

That aside, though, I've always wondered how people use a recipe that isn't a hard copy. I transfer any recipe I want to keep onto 4x6 index cards, and use home-made recipe-card holders when making one of those dishes.

For me, the very idea of running back and forth to a computer screen is insane.
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post #4 of 14
6/14/07 at 6:36am
I use a custom one created by my dh, who is a database programmer. It's created in FileMaker Pro and is very user friendly.

KYHeirloomer, we make nightly backups of our harddrives to a redundant system to act as a failsafe for catastrophic crashes. Removable hard drives and disc drives/writers are so cheap these days, they are good tools to use!

I also print a recipe as I need it and add it to a sectioned binder that I keep in the kitchen. That way, I can make notes and scribbles on the copy and later, transfer those notes into the puter for all of time! ;)

I could have a monitor in the kitchen but even though I have lots of counter space, I would begrudge not having a clutter free counter environment...I'm one of the whack jobs that must have nothing sitting out on my counters and have them clean clean clean before and after "service" lol.
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post #5 of 14
6/14/07 at 8:57am
Depends on the computer or other device you're using.

There's some cool touch screen computers that you can mount under cabinet and fold down when you want them. Tack on a wireless mouse and spillproof keyboard and you've got a handy kitchen system.

Or you can go with this from HP in a bigger format. HP TouchSmart IQ770 - TheMurph - Maximum PC
Stick it on one of the shelves on a kitchen cart.

I usually use a PDA in the kitchen, very close in size to an index card. It has Wi-Fi so I can surf to a website for a recipe if I want to.

For a hybrid PDA/computer, check out the OQO: oqo

But you could send an email of the recipe to yourself on your cell phone and use that screen too though many are too small for that to be that useful.

Phil
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post #6 of 14
6/14/07 at 9:25am
I now have an automatic backup drive which copies my hard drive every hour. This was installed by my DH after a crash in the recent past.

I use Living Cookbook. It's not perfect but it works for me. I upgraded it so now it asks if I want to back up my recipe database each time I exit the program.
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post #7 of 14
6/14/07 at 9:26am
Phil, I wasn't kidding about being a reactionary. Which includes only semi-literacy with modern electronics.

Take it as a given that I don't understand one word in three of your last post.

Not your fault, of course.
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post #8 of 14
6/16/07 at 7:01am
maxon8; I use a site called recipeZarr. There I can put recipies into a box or create a cook book once I've tried the recipe. I had'nt thought of a redunant system before this thread but it sounds like a good idea givin the problems KYHeirloomer has had. I'm glad you called my attention to it.Hard copying recipies is just inaffecient to me with the cyber age...good cookin...cookie
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post #9 of 14
6/16/07 at 7:44am
Way too complicated for me. While I keep my recipes on my computer, they, as well as a lot of other stuff, are on a small portable hard drive that'll fit into my pocket (great portability should I need it, and safe from computer failure and viri). The drive is easy to search and it's a snap to print out the recipes. I work with a hard copy in the kitchen. I'm with KYH on this ...

Shel
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post #10 of 14
6/17/07 at 8:19pm
I put my laptop on the countertop in the kitchen!
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post #11 of 14
6/18/07 at 6:25pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for your views.

What I have been doing is to scan a recipe of interest from a book, magazine, internet etc. into my computer for future cooking. I therefore have a ready supply of possible recipes to use. Once cooked / modified and if liked it is then typed into my Connoisseur database. A text edit copy is then made which is compatible with most computers as well as a printed paper copy which is then placed into an ever expanding A-Z file for use in the kitchen. I modify and then backup everything to another drive as I go along and burn a RW-CD monthly.

Like many of you I still use a paper copy in the kitchen but have found the computer database incredibly useful. At first it was a pain to type in all my original recipes. Many took longer to enter than they did to cook!. Now that it is done I am able to refine my cooking, make notes of what does and does not work, pair recipes together and now have a better understanding of what I have created and what I need to expand upon. Loose bits of paper do not come close to this accessibility.

I am not saying that this is the route that everyone should take; however everyone on this forum is already using a computer and therefore a logical step forward is a recipe database. For me if has brought and is bringing everything together; however a word of warning, backup everything and before you start typing make sure the database you are about to use DOES WHAT YOU WANT. They are all a variation of a theme; a recipe database, however some do it better than others. :smoking:

maxon8
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post #12 of 14
6/20/07 at 6:28am
I look at all you gentelmen/lady replies and I'm so confused. Heck, it took me 20 years to get a microwave.but I find the ideas very interesting.Thanks for bringing a old man up to date :) ...good cyber cookin...cookie
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post #13 of 14
6/20/07 at 6:32am
I use YummySoup! by HungrySeacow Software (hungryseacowDOTcom). My fiancee and I have a mac mini setup in the kitchen, so we typically fullscreen recipes and work directly from the computer screen when we cook at home.

I think any type of database-driven recipe app is worth its weight in salt simply because of the quick searching that's available. I can search for recipes with certain ingredients, certain ethnicities, difficulties, ratings, you name it. It allows you to categorize your recipes however you want, and quickly maintain and modify them as well. Plus there are lots of nice perks (such as automatically-generated grocery lists, wine lists, the like).

Applications like these have become a mainstay in our kitchen.
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post #14 of 14
7/7/07 at 2:13pm

Database

I use the second Mastercook program, I have spent 14 years customizing the database and have 800 recipes in it, a 42 meal plan and it gives me shopping lists, I can cost out meals or menus. I've used it as a private chef, catering chef and as a nutrition coach...it rocks!
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