Give Thanks For These Apps!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and, if you’re doing any cooking, you should take a look at these apps.

EPI (Epicurious) and AllRecipes (Cost: free): Both apps have thousands of recipes and are easy to navigate.  Epicurious pulls recipes from Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Self and features renowned chefs and cookbooks. You can search by cuisine or holiday and create a combined recipe shopping list that you can email to yourself. For $1.99, you can sync your recipe box across multiple devices and with the Epicurious web site from your computer. 

The AllRecipes Pro version ($4.99 iPad/$2.99 iPhone) gives you access to other features such as grocery lists, syncing and cuisine/occasion-based browsing. The app allows you to search by holiday and create a combined recipe shopping list. Other than the syncing, EPI offers you the same features with no additional cost.

iCookbook (Cost: $4.99): This app has the basic searching, grocery list and syncing features as the others.  You also get a few how-to videos, measurement conversions and ingredient substitutions. There is a Voice Command feature which can, with some improvement, be useful if you’re using your iPad while preparing food and want ‘hands-free’ cooking. It is intended to navigate you through the different steps and set times with voice commands but it is still inconsistent and slow to respond. With future updates, however, this could be a great app.  In addition, to get more than the 2000 in-app recipes, you can buy bundles of specialty recipes (gluten-free, slow cooker, etc.) ranging from $0.99 - $2.99.

Palate (Cost: free):  Although more basic than the others, this app searches the myriad of food blogs online in addition to the popular sites such as Epicurious, Food Network and AllRecipes.  You can find some interesting dishes if you’re willing to look around.

Menu Maker (Cost: free):  If all the searching stresses you out, this app gives you one-stop shopping. It offers you a set of recipes for all Thanksgiving courses and then does an outstanding job of creating a shopping list (for emailing) and schedule for all your preparations. There is also access to tips such as wine pairings, what to do with leftovers, etc. If you’re looking to create a Thanksgiving dinner with a variety of traditional recipes, give this app a try.  

Better Homes & Garden Celebrate (Cost: $0.99) This offers party planning for different celebrations and holidays. There are menus for different occasions with beautiful photos and articles. All that’s lacking is a tool to create your shopping list.

Without a doubt, the iPad is a valuable tool to have in the kitchen. However, one slip or spill and your device is no more valuable than a carton of expired milk. If you’re prone to sloppiness or just don’t want the disruption of washing and drying your hands every time you need to touch your device, a screen protector can be indispensable and economical. Here are links to two sites where you can purchase these:

http://www.chefsleeve.com/

http://www.cleverwraps.com/iPad/

And while you’re cooking, you may also be waiting for family to arrive from out of town. Instead of checking various web sites and apps for each airline, I use TripTracker (Cost: free). You can set flight departure and arrival information for multiple airlines and obtain current information with just one app. It’s also great if you’re traveling and want to consolidate all your airline, hotel and car information in one place.

Let me know your impressions if you try any of these apps. Next up:  Apps that can help with your business!