I absolutely love collecting recipes. There are times when I would sit in the computer all day and all night just scouring the Internet for interesting recipes. Usually, I print out my favourites and those I deem I must try, and paste them on one of the millions of notebooks I also happen to collect. However it’s always quite difficult to organize recipes this way. Digitally I convert recipes into PDF files according to the source, but if say, I have a craving for chicken or cranberries, I would have to look at each of the PDF files to find a recipe that contains these ingredients. It’s also difficult to organize recipes because most ingredients overlap with each other.
In other words, I needed something that would allow me to get what I want with just one click.
So I asked my brother the computer expert to recommend a good app that will manage my recipes for me. The moment he showed me the screenshots for an app called MacGourmet, it was love at first sight!
I remember thinking, “Wow! This app allows you to plan your meals, gather nutritional facts, and make your recipe collection into a cookbook!” And so we ended up getting the Deluxe version. I haven’t been able to explore all the features yet, but what I’ve seen and my general experience of use so far has been so positive that I really felt the need to express my love for this amazing application! Right from its interface to the organization of the tabs for when you save a new recipe, I’m very happy to have come across such a well-done app.
The main window is called the Recipe Box, and this is where you will be able to see all your recipes. You can actually change the look of your Recipe Box according to your preference.
The default setting is the “Metropolitan”, but my favourite is the “Green Chalkboard” because I think it is rather adorable and gives this homey, hand-written feel. As far as easier readability is concerned though, “Metropolitan” arguably wins, but not to fret, there are about 20 other designs to choose from.
Aside from the impressive look of the application, it has a lot of plug-ins and also allows you to sync your recipes to your portable Apple devices [given that you bought the iPhone/iPod Touch version of the app as well]. Inputting the recipe is fairly easy, with easy to follow tabs and blanks that will ask you to fill out the usual recipe information, such as the yield or number of servings for each recipe. You can also go down to the last detail in terms of tagging your recipe. You can either make your own tags or use pre-existing ones provided in the application.
One of my favourite features is the option to put a thumbnail with every step of the procedure in a recipe, given of course that your source or you yourself have a photo of each step. Not only is it pretty to have step-by-step photos, it also helps to crosscheck with them as you go along a recipe.
I also like that when you choose to print a specific recipe, you can choose the format or theme your print-out will look like. As for the style or color, there is black and white, a borderless version and two other color schemes I will leave you to explore.
The awesome thing about it is that you don’t even have to enter ingredients one by one. You can just copy from a site or a blog, click paste, and the app will automatically recognize numbers and units of measurements and make it appear under the correct heading. Genius right!?
I definitely enjoy using this app to organize and present my collection of recipes and would recommend it to absolutely anyone who wants to have a database of recipes on their computers. You can even sync this to your smartphone so I really can’t imagine anything better! I tend to be really meticulous when it comes to these things, and this fabulous application definitely satiates my needs. So to the dear people who developed this App, thank you! 🙂
Disclaimer: In case you were wondering, it is with genuine love for this app that I wrote this entry. I am not being paid in any way to do this. 😉
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The MacGourmet can be purchased from the Apple AppStore for $28.99. You can opt for the Deluxe version from Mariner Software for $49.95. Or you can visit the official site for a trial download to help you decide. Either way, I can assure you, it’s worth it! 😉
