On 2/26/2012 8:19 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> On 2/26/2012 1:08 AM, isw wrote:
>> In >,
>> Ed > wrote:
>>
>>> On Sat, 25 Feb 2012 22:21:01 -0500, Mark > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Does anyone know of any cookbook software where you can add your own
>>>> recipes to make your own (digital) cookbook?
>>>>
>>>> I would like to be able to copy and paste recipes I get off the
>>>> Internet instead of having to type every word. Maybe even include a
>>>> pic of the food which often accompanies online recipes. I don't even
>>>> know if such a thing exists.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Mark
>>>
>>> I use Word. I have separate files for sausage, cakes, etc to make
>>> finding them easier I also have Access so I can put them in the
>>> database for simple searching.
>>
>> There are a lot of issues with using any sort of text editor for recipes:
>>
>> It makes it very difficult to treat the ingredients differently from the
>> preparation method, etc. -- you want to be able to search on "egg"
>> without finding every instance of "beat the egg whites ..." for example.
>>
>> Separating recipes in any way into separate files is awkward, too; where
>> do you put "sausage gravy" -- in "sausages" or in "gravies"? The huge
>> advantage of having a single database is that any given item can be in
>> as many different categories as it needs to, and it can be moved
>> instantly between them.
>>
>> Also, it's nice to be able to link recipes that are related -- say, a
>> frosting you use with several cakes, so you don't need to have the
>> frosting repeated over and over -- and what do you do when you need to
>> change something about the frosting; find every instance of it and
>> change them all? Good luck.
>>
>> Or how about scaling recipes for different numbers of servings? Word
>> can't even begin to do that.
>>
>> Or attaching ratings -- how can you search for all your "three star"
>> recipes, using Word?
>>
>>> There are a few versions of recipe software available, but I've not
>>> tried them.
>>
>> I started collecting recipes years before I got a computer or internet
>> access. My first "recipe software" was dBase II, with scripts I had to
>> write myself; it had serious limitations. I migrated to Word when that
>> became available to me. It was somewhat better, but still very limited.
>>
>> Later I got Master Cook, which was far easier to work with, but sadly
>> they stopped supporting the Mac, and with OS X, it just didn't work any
>> more.
>>
>> For several years, I've been using MacGourmet, and while not "perfect",
>> it is by far the best recipe software I've used.
>>
>> At present, my collection is just about 8,000 recipes, and MacGourmet
>> can handle it without any problem at all. Yeah, I know that a lot of the
>> recipes are near-duplicates, but one of the big advantages of a *good*
>> system is that they are there if you ever need them, but otherwise they
>> don't get in the way at all.
>>
>> Isaac
>
> Yes, I use MS Word and I can do a quick search for specific ingredients
> with Google Desktop. However, I can see the value of programs that will
> adjust the amounts of ingredients for the number of servings.
>
> I usually print out the recipe before cooking.
>
I noticed a little later that someone likes to cut and paste from the
'net. May I put in a plug for the free program PlainText that allows
copying a web page and pasting only the textual material. This save a
lot of editing and you can define a key combination to run the program
and paste at the same time. For example, I use CTRL-0.

--
Jim Silverton

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.