Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: MollyGrubbles on August 29, 2009, 03:31:11 am
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Hi All,
I am curious if anyone else here uses recipe software (bigoven, living cookbook, mastercook etc). I have noticed a couple of references to it in various posts, but could not find a topic dedicated to this subject.
At the moment, I am using the trial version of Living Cookbook (http://www.livingcookbook.com) but before I commit to buying anything, I am interested to find out what others are using & how it is working for them.
Living Cookbook seems to be a little laborious to put the recipes into, but once they are in, it can do meal plans, shopping lists, nutritional information for each recipe, and lots of other stuff, much of which I am still discovering.
Any help/reviews that you can provide would be welcome. I am also happy to answer any questions about living cookbook if anyone is interested in that.
Molly
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I'm afraid I'm so modern that all I do is print out recipes and file them. I guess that's my 'mature' age showing. Also the computer is in another room and I'm the Mother of the owner. Really don't know what I'm going to do when she builds her house. :'( :'( I do own a laptop but don't connect it to the internet.
Sorry I can't be of any help.
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Hello Molly!
Up until last year, when I bought an Apple Mac, I used a great little program called Accuchef.
http://www.accuchef.com/
I used it for many years and would still, if they offered a Mac version. It is very cheap - only $20 and has loads of features, including very easy recipe importing.
They also offer a trial version so give it a go.
If anyone has any ideas on a good Mac recipe program I'm all ears!
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I use Living Kitchen. I love it. When I find something on the Internet, I just open Living Kitchen, click on the relevant cookbook and then click on "new recipe". I then "capture" the recipe in a matter of seconds. The programme is brilliant. No more notes all over the kitchen and I can see my cook books grow. Plus I can just print out the recipes for people who would like a particular recipe. I'm thinking of compiling a book of my favourite recipes for my sister for Christmas with a few photos to make it more personal.
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vivacity, i can't find that one, do you have a link for it? (or is it actually the living cookbook mentioned above?)
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Hi Vivacity,
I also can't find that one, but it does sound a lot like Living Cookbook.
I only just realised that there was a "capture" feature (just after I posted the topic). Prior to this I had been entering each title, ingredient and process step seperately. No wonder I found it laborious :-))
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I've just had a look at Living Cookbook - it looks fantastic and I'd love to try it but sadly it is not for Mac's.
Bum!
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Hi Amanda,
Have you looked at any of these?
MacGourmet http://macgourmet.com/
A Cook's Books http://www.3caam.com/products.html
ShopNCook http://www.shopncook.com/
From what I can gather, these seem to be the 3 most popular recipe organisers for Mac users & seem to have similar capability to Living Cookbook.
This site also has a list of recipe software with a little blurb about each, but it doesn't seem to actually review them - just an overview of what each can do:
http://www.pure-mac.com/recipes.html
There is also software you can get to have 'virtual windows' on your mac, which means a lot of windows programs will then work for you, however I don't think it comes cheap. ???
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Doooohhhhh. I'm such a nerdbrain. Of course, I meant Living Cookbook :-))
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Thanks for those sites, Molly. I wil have a look at them.
I had a brief look at Macgourmet, but wasn't really inspired - especially after seeing Living Cookbook!
I also saw the 'virtual windows' thingys but you a right - can be fairly pricey!
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Thanks for your suggestions. Do these come in imperial and metric versions or just one?? I had thought someone, somewhere posted that living cookbook was imperial measurements and I don't want to invest if it doesn't do metric.
Thanks
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i have just checked that ILB and it does metric - sort of. so it changed oz to grams in some spots but not others and a pint stayed at a pint. (but is also in cups too)
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Thanks Brazen. :-*
:-\ If I invest the time and $ then I want it to be tmx and metric friendly - my Grandfather would be appalled but how much is a pint??
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my mum has a pint jug and i'm thinking it's a little less than a litre. have you googled?
PS: a pint is a very old and not so common measurement ;)
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No I haven't - it was more a point that I don't know my imperial measurements ??? ??? ???
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LOL
i have a vague idea about most of the rest, but admit i'll generally do a conversion (and i would link you but lost my bookmarks when i got this computer)
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A pint in England and USA are two different things! An English (Imperial) pint is 568ml and a US pint is 473ml.
Shayla in Cape Town
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I have always worked on a pint being 600ml as mum always had an old pint milk bottle at home when I was growing up and we measured it to be 600ml one time ??? ??? Maybe the Aus pint is different again :-))
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I'm with you ILB - I haven't got a clue when it comes to imperial measures. Karen is right, Living Cookbook does do metric, but it tends to 'prefer' the imperial measures (you have to keep an eye on it to make sure it hasn't slipped in an imperial measurement here & there).
Actually I fib a little. I do know that an American Tablespoon is only 15mL compared to the Aussie Tablespoon which is 20mL. You now know as much as I do (and probably more ;) )!
The online conversion tool I use is http://www.onlineconversion.com
Faffa - from what I could find on google, the old Australian Pint was the same as the British pint (568 mL) however the bottle may not have originally been filled to the top or back then companies may simply have been more generous and not worried that they were 'giving away' 32mL for free (or whatever that is in ounces).
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Thanks. I'm a bit set in my ways I guess but I just don't have time to be fiddling around with conversions. Either it does what I want or not.. :-)) >:(
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A pint in UK is 20 fluid ounces (fl oz), but in US it is 16 fl oz. 1 gallon in UK was 160 fl oz = 4.55 litres. Most plastic buckets are 9 litres (2 gallons)
When metric came in, we had 600ml milk bottles instead of pints.
Who has heard of gills? 4 gills = 1 pt
Lucky my brain still works after all those years - they did fill the pint bottles to the top, and the top 50 or 60ml was CREAM - yummo
When we went metric we got new bottles.
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Thermomixer I am seriously impressed with your memory and no I have never heard of a gill.
ILB - I haven't had a problem with the actual ingredients in a recipe showing imperial instead of metric (unless the recipe I entered was an imperial recipe which I hadn't got around to converting yet), I have only found the issue of imperial instead of metric when assigning nutritional values to each ingredient. If you are not bothered about making sure all the nutritional data is there for each ingredient, then it shouldn't be a problem.
As far as basic entering of a recipe goes, it is very simple. You create a 'new recipe' in LC, then copy the recipe you want, paste it in the "capture" feature & then you assign the parts of the recipe to the text you just copied (ie. you highlight the heading & press "heading", you highlight all the inredients & press "ingredients", etc) The whole thing usually takes me a minute or less to enter a new recipe. This is all you need to do. From there however, you can add stuff like the nutritional values, etc but that isn't stuff that has to be done straight away.
Of course, if all your favourite recipes are written down, it's a different story.
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i've heard of a gill :) think some of the recipes in mum's old commonsense cookbook must use it! and very interestiong to find out the reason for the 600ml bottles!
thanks MG for that explanation, i was stuck on how to do that, will have a go now
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Thermomixer your age is showing. I can remember that was one of the chants we did each morning at school after the Lord's prayer and God save the queen.
2 pints=1 quart
4 quarts=1 gallon Think that's correct going on a very old memory here.
Sadly if I am doing dressmaking I still convert back to inches. I can't really estimate centimetres, only 30cm as that's a foot.
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LOL - at least we didn't sing God Save the King !!!
Did your exercise books have all those tables on the back page - 12 inches = 1 foot, 3 ft = 1 yard, 22 yards = 1 chain (cricket pitch length), 10 chain (?) = 1 furlong (racing people know this one) 8 furlongs = 1 mile
12 pennies = 1 shilling, 2 shillings = 1 florin, 10 florins = 1 pound
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cookie, i use inches more than cm, because my major at uni was weaving,w hich operates in inches. so even though i learned in metric i still use a lot of imperial ;)
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LOL - at least we didn't sing God Save the King !!!
Did your exercise books have all those tables on the back page - 12 inches = 1 foot, 3 ft = 1 yard, 22 yards = 1 chain (cricket pitch length), 10 chain (?) = 1 furlong (racing people know this one) 8 furlongs = 1 mile
12 pennies = 1 shilling, 2 shillings = 1 florin, 10 florins = 1 pound
I started school in 1951 and he died in 1952 so I must have sung it - OMG how old does that make me feel ??? ???
Have you noticed how some of the oldies still revert to shillings when they have a very senior moment - something for us to look forward to :'( :'( :'(
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ILB - I haven't had a problem with the actual ingredients in a recipe showing imperial instead of metric (unless the recipe I entered was an imperial recipe which I hadn't got around to converting yet), I have only found the issue of imperial instead of metric when assigning nutritional values to each ingredient. If you are not bothered about making sure all the nutritional data is there for each ingredient, then it shouldn't be a problem.
As far as basic entering of a recipe goes, it is very simple. You create a 'new recipe' in LC, then copy the recipe you want, paste it in the "capture" feature & then you assign the parts of the recipe to the text you just copied (ie. you highlight the heading & press "heading", you highlight all the inredients & press "ingredients", etc) The whole thing usually takes me a minute or less to enter a new recipe. This is all you need to do. From there however, you can add stuff like the nutritional values, etc but that isn't stuff that has to be done straight away.
Of course, if all your favourite recipes are written down, it's a different story.
Thanks heaps. Sounds like it might just do what I want then. I'm not so worried about the nutritional info (don't have time for that :-)) ). I'll look into it when I have holidays in a few weeks.
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I use living cookbook software and find it very very convenient and easy to use. I have set the default costing in euro. Most of the time I use metric as most of my reciipes are metric and so is my thermomix. I have a special cookbook for thermomix and every recipe I find using thermomix I copy and paste under the capture and I not only get nutritional values but costs as well.
It does start off as laborious having to enter the cost of each ingredient but I really enjoyed doing this as once you start using the recipes with your "true" ingredients, it is an eye opener as to the cost of the ingredients.
I had to delete loads and loads of ingredients from the database to start with as well because most of the stuff and brand names do not exist in my country. But I started including all my ingredients and also the pictures of the ingredients so I can recognize them easitly
I would recommend this software to anyone.
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wow that sounds fantastic!!!
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Sounds like I had better invest. Thanks MG for explaining that such a program exists. I had one that I disregarded ages ago because it was so cumbersome.
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Thanks Rita, I think you have given me the confidence to go ahead & purchase the full version. I have certainly had no trouble with it so far & once I have enough recipes in it, it will make life much easier with shopping lists & menu planning etc. I do that already, but I do it by sitting down with a gazillion different recipe books in front of me, planning the menu & then having to go back & do the shopping list by hand too.
Pleased to help you out Thermomixer. I am a bit of an electronic geek. If it can be done on a computer, it will be in my house.
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I use living cookbook to manage my menu planning and to import recipes that I find on the web and ones I've scanned in from magazines etc. I then export the recipes for my menu to mmf format and import them into handy cookbook on my iphone. Means that I can check my shopping list while I'm in the shop and have my iphone in the kitchen (or my baby laptop) while I'm cooking. I was worried about having my phone in the kitchen with me....but since it survived me feeding it a cup of tea the other day....I'm probably safe.
Take care
Stacey
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Just thought I would share my latest (free) find on the internet, via a comment on an "organising site".
on this link: http://www.stacksandstacks.com/blog/2007/10/17/post-3rd-organising-your-recipes/ I found this comment:
"From Laura, November 9 2007
My saving grace when it comes to recipes is a free program called Evernote.
Most of my recipes come from the internet (websites, blogs, etc.) Whenever I find something that is intriguing to me, I copy it to my program. Evernote lets me tag recipes with as many tags as I'd like, so I can categorize things in MANY ways. (For example I have categories like "main dishes" "chicken" "soups/stews" "beef" "crock-pot" - as you can guess, these categories frequently overlap, and I love being able to find things in any category. I can also tag things as "favorites" or "recipes I've tried" or even "served to the Johnsons" so I don't serve the same meal to guests.)
When I plan my menu for the week I sit down with my program, choose the recipes I want for the week, then print them out on 4×6 cards. Then I keep used cards in a recipe card box. The beauty is, I don't even sort the recipe box because I've got a tag in Evernote telling me if some thing's been printed already. If it has, I can simply flip quickly through my stack of cards to find the recipe.
This system has worked BEAUTIFULLY for me!"
I downloaded the program – free smaller version and have uploaded all my recipes on it, I can catalogue them by theme (meat, bread, etc.) and have just found out that I can access the recipes online, I belive they are saved on my computer but available online also.
Its still all new to me but I am quite pleased with this programme!
Regards
Barbara
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Thanks for that Gralke. Had hoped to have 2 weeks off work to have some time to look into this, but alas this wasn't to be. Hopefully I'll get a chance to soon though.
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Thought I would bring this old chestnut back.......
Can L.C. print out a customized grocery shopping list?
I have been thinking about buying the program, as I really need to organize all my recipes.
Has anyone printed off a booklet, and were you happy with it?
Also can you leave remove items you don't want in there, say like the nutrition box?
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Thought I would bring this old chestnut back.......
Can L.C. print out a customized grocery shopping list?
I have been thinking about buying the program, as I really need to organize all my recipes.
Has anyone printed off a booklet, and were you happy with it?
Also can you leave remove items you don't want in there, say like the nutrition box?
1. Can L.C. print out a customized grocery shopping list?
Yes, in oh so many ways - by recipe, store, aisle, show costs, multiple recipies, pantry inventory etc etc
2. Has anyone printed off a booklet, and were you happy with it?
Not lately. If youc an hold out till tomorrow, I'll upload a sample to my new web site and you can have a look. Any particular format you're looking for?
3. Also can you leave remove items you don't want in there, say like the nutrition box?
Do you mean in the print out, or on the screen? Not 100% sure, but I think so. Will demonstrate in the sample.
Russell.
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Thanks Russell, that would be appreciated.
I was going to download the free trial......but I'm at the end of my download capacity, so it was going to take forever!
Love the customized shopping list......I guess I was asking can you choose which information you want shown on the screen, or if it was a fixed template?
I read that you can custom pick colours, layout etc.......I'm getting very keen now ;)
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I'm going to download the free trial and have a play.
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Amanda, I also use a Mac and have been using A Cook's Book for years. Am quite happy with it. Like the fact that it will make shopping lists and menus for me.
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3. Also can you leave remove items you don't want in there, say like the nutrition box?
Do you mean in the print out, or on the screen? Not 100% sure, but I think so. Will demonstrate in the sample.
Russell.
Yes, can definitely leave out the nutrition box. I clear it every time as I don't need it. Not sure what the LC idea of nutrition is and it might tell me to use skim milk powder.......
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3. Also can you leave remove items you don't want in there, say like the nutrition box?
Do you mean in the print out, or on the screen? Not 100% sure, but I think so. Will demonstrate in the sample.
Russell.
Yes, can definitely leave out the nutrition box. I clear it every time as I don't need it. Not sure what the LC idea of nutrition is and it might tell me to use skim milk powder.......
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Yes, can definitely leave out the nutrition box. I clear it every time as I don't need it. Not sure what the LC idea of nutrition is and
it might tell me to use skim milk powder.......
If anyone is interested in swapping/sharing Living Cookbooks files, that would be great!
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Amanda, I also use a Mac and have been using A Cook's Book for years. Am quite happy with it. Like the fact that it will make shopping lists and menus for me.
I also have a mac & have been looking for software. I can't seem to find a trial version of A Cook's Book (maybe I'm just technologically challenged). Did you get a trial version or jump straight in and buy?
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I tried the trial version first, then bought.
Try this website http://www.livingcookbook.com/
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Thanks Cathy79 but Living Cookbook doesn't run on Mac unless it's via Parallels. I do have Parallels but would prefer Mac compatible software. Just have to keep looking or work on recommendations and buy sight unseen.
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Thanks Cathy79 but Living Cookbook doesn't run on Mac unless it's via Parallels. I do have Parallels but would prefer Mac compatible software. Just have to keep looking or work on recommendations and buy sight unseen.
What the geek in me did was, install LC2008 on Damaris's Windows PC, then put on a VNC client. This means I can access anywhere in the house via my laptop, netbook, imac, Windows VM on the iMac, or iphone :) Great for using in the kitchen while cooking. In theory anyway, has yet to be tested.
Russell.
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Thanks Cathy79 but Living Cookbook doesn't run on Mac unless it's via Parallels. I do have Parallels but would prefer Mac compatible software. Just have to keep looking or work on recommendations and buy sight unseen.
My mistake - I thought you meant you couldn't find a website for the product.
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I'm not sure if it works with LC in particular as my license is on the wrong machine, but I have VMWare fusion 3. It lets you run windows applications from an icon on ht emac desktop just like Mac application, it just starts up the Vm machine first. Of course that's an expensive option if you haven't got the VMWare software already.
The LC people are going to refund the second upgrade license I purchased by mistake. I thought that was nice of them.
Russell.
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After using the Living Cookbook for a few hours, I don't really like it.
I spent most of my time deleting all the cookbooks already there and the next hour or so deleting all the ingredients that I don't use!
I also found it difficult to capture recipes from my computer. To me, it's way too time consuming. I'll stick with my folders on my computer and Word.
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That's a shame MJ. I haven't bothered deleting all the cookbooks and ingredients - they're just sitting there, being ignored.
Did you use the "capturing" technique? I found once I got the hang of it, it's quite easy. The videos on the web are helpful.
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It certainly does take a lot of "cleaning up" if you want it streamlines and Australia only content, but as Cathy says you can generally ignore that. As for the importing, I haven't done enough to comment, but because there is so much categorisation and configuration, it's not going to strip all that data from plain text easily unless the text has been formatted, so yes, there would be a bit of cut & paste into the right areas.
It's sort of like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer. if you don't need the bells and whistles, a simple file is easier. If you want to be able to slice & dice your recipes, ingredients, menus, nutritional data, grocery lists etc etc, then nothing beats it.
Russell.
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I guess as I've been using it as I collect recipes, it's not so much time - just a few minutes here and there. Quite different to sitting down and converting a large collection.
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Amanda, I also use a Mac and have been using A Cook's Book for years. Am quite happy with it. Like the fact that it will make shopping lists and menus for me.
I also have a mac & have been looking for software. I can't seem to find a trial version of A Cook's Book (maybe I'm just technologically challenged). Did you get a trial version or jump straight in and buy?
I'm on a Mac and for years have used Mastercook. My latest Mac doesn't support OS9 - so I've had to switch over to MacGourmet. So far I'm happy with it. There are apparently ways to download certain recipes directly from the net - I'm challenged so haven't figured that one out - but with a combination of entering the ingredients manually and cutting and pasting the instructions I've been happy.
There is a trial version of it to try.
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Thanks Chocdoc. I'm off to google MacGourmet.
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VHJ & Amanda, I just visited the A Cook's Book site and if you scroll down to see all the features of the program then it comes up at the bottom with the opportunity to "download" and under that it says "Purchase a Cook's Book". If you choose the "download" it will download to your computer and you can use it on a trial basis. You are limited in how many recipes you can put into it and I think there are some other limitations but you can get a good ideas at to the capabilities of it. It is about time I updated my version as I haven't used it in ages due to various computer issues.
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Hi All,
For those interested in seeing what cookbooks can come out of Living Cookbook, with some additional post-editing, go have a look at http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=3447.0 (http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=3447.0).
Russell.
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I purchased the full version of living cookbooks about 2 weeks ago.
I have to say that I LOVE it!
Admittedly, it does take a few recipes to get the hang of it, but once you do.......I can copy & paste a recipe straight from the net, and format in no time to my own book.
I did spend a little time fiddling with the settings, to get the layout I was happy with. Now any recipe I add is neat and uniform.
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When you are cooking do you have a computer in your kitchen to read off Maddy or do you still print out? :)
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When you are cooking do you have a computer in your kitchen to read off Maddy or do you still print out? :)
Hi Chelsea.....I have to confess to being a recipe book tragic ;)
The family are so used to me now photographing everything I make.....it's become a bit of a joke now :D
I am slowly transferring all my trusted and favourite recipes to living cookbooks, then I do print them off.
I use green display books for all my thermomix recipes, and have different books for soups/mains/cakes etc.
One side I have therecipe print off, then the other side I print off a big picture of the cooked recipe.....like the ones I post here.
I've started books for my other non-TM recipes, but do the same process.
The intention is to have my own personalised books, with all my favourites, instead of trawling through the oodles of cookbooks looking for something.
Also, this concept makes it much easier to compile a cook book for my daughter/son.....when it's their time to leave the nest ;)
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Chelsea, I have scanned one of my recipes to show you how I want them to all look like.
(http://)(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt266/nachothecat/scan0004-1-1.jpg)
The great thing is you can add the nutrition panel, web source, photos, author notes etc.....it can be all customized by you.
When you view the recipe on your computer, and you add in the web source that the recipe came from, you can then click that and be directed straight to origin of that recipe site.
Also handy to access a recipe at a click of a mouse, and print a copy out if someone wants it ;)
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That looks great Maddy. I really like what you are doing. I'm not into doing online shopping lists and things like that, but I do look at my recipe file occasionally and think it would look nice jazzed up a bit (and uniform). :)
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Well Maddy (and everyone else on here ;D ;D) you have convinced me and I am going to be buying LC for myself for Mothers Day (just as an extra for me because I can lol) I think this will be wonderful for when my kids decide to leave home ONE day as well ;D ;D Hopefully I will get the day on Sunday to just sit and play ;) ;)
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Looks great maddy - I keep thinking that I should - but then again - I'll wait. One day
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Looks great maddy - I keep thinking that I should - but then again - I'll wait. One day
:D That's what I said for ages too Mr.T......but finally decided to go ahead and do it ;)
A little recipe entry every day, makes it an easier/enjoyable task. Wish I could apply that theory to my monthly BAS statements though :-))
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ROFL Maddy, advice taken, since I have only just finished the BAS and can totally relate :-)) :-)) :-)) :-)) so a nice day playing tomorrow and then a recipe a day there after ;) ;)
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Have fun Kathryn :)
Oh, and the recipe transferring is way more fun!......with no ugly payments due to the government ;)
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ROFLMAO - yes I always cringe when I hit that button waiting to see what it is going to be :-)) :o
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Faffa.....how did you go? Did you end up purchasing/have a play with it?
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Living Cookbook software no longer on website to try the demo/trial? :(
I searched high and low, with no luck! Was keen to try it out before buying!
Anyone recently had same problem or is it just me?
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Oh I missed your reply Maddy ... I have it and I have to say I ADORE it :D :D I spent a bit of time cleaning it up and setting it up in my play time and now I am in heaven :)
can't say the same for my pending BAS though :D :D :D :-)) :-))
DeafThermie I found a link for you so hope it works ;) ;)
http://www.livingcookbook.com/product/freetrial.aspx (http://www.livingcookbook.com/product/freetrial.aspx)
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Oh I missed your reply Maddy ... I have it and I have to say I ADORE it :D :D I spent a bit of time cleaning it up and setting it up in my play time and now I am in heaven :)
Good to hear Kathryn!
It does take a little fiddling, but worth the time setting it up.
I find it's so easy now to copy a recipe straight off this forum/and others, then paste in my cook book straight away.
No more pieces of paper laying around with recipes everywhere!
For those wanting to use the demo version first.....you cant import a recipe with just the demo.
You will need to type it in to see the layout.
Once you purchase full version, you can then import to your hearts content!
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just a quick question as i haven't read the entire thread yet and haven't foudn the answer yet - when you buy Living Cookbook do you download it or do you have a CD sent out to you? i really can't be bothered waiting for a CD lol
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You can have either from memory Karen, I downloaded it cause I couldn't be bothered waiting either!!
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ah thanks kathryn! when it was asking for my address i didn't want to go any further in case there was no download option!
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I have used mastercook for years and have been thinking of changing to Living Cookbook as it seems to do things better than mastercook does these days, can you tell me if I buy it can I run it on more than one PC, I have a laptop and a work PC ... I need the laptop in the kitchen but usualoly do my mealplans on the work PC?
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They have a deal going at the moment for multiple licences so I doubt you can have more than one copy without paying.
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I have used Living Cookbook for quite a few months now and love it. I have it installed on my office computer and notebook, but have the database on a separate hard drive which I can access from either computer (otherwise you could do the same thing by saving your recipes to a thumb drive and moving it between computers as you need to - don't forget to do backups though!!).
The license for Living Cookbook only allows you to install it on one computer, so either you have to get two licenses (I did this as it was on special) or install it on a central hard drive which you can access from different computers. A good thing to add to the Xmas wishlist maybe?
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I've just purchace Living Cookbook and I'm really liking it. I got sick of printing out web pages and then having fun trying to find them again in my bookmarks. I'm also hoping as my list of TMX all in ones grows that I'll use it to help menu plan.
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I thought I would go back to this thread following up on a comment by Frozzie on Tarasis' "I hate ...." thread.
Frozzie, you said that your (free) version Evernote regularly reaches its daily / weekly / monthly / Gb limit - what is that limit? I really know nothing about the different recipe programs and have never even looked into or researched them (other than this thread), I just cut and paste all my recipes into Word then print off what I need and that seems to work adequately .... but is there something better? So, now comes the naive question for the day: What advantages have recipe programs got over a word document?
I have been re-reading this thread but I am still not sure if they are worth the work. How much do they cost? How is everyone getting on with the various programs? What are their strengths and / or weaknesses? I would really be interested in hearing more.
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I posted earlier about Mastercook ( which I am still using BTW ) It is a fair bit of work to set up but most of them have quick import features to help get your recipes in. I use mine for recipes, Meal planning and shopping lists, ( I only shop once a week so need to make sure I have everything at once ) So for me it has been worth the effort but I have been using the same software for about 15 years, so it has been a gradual built up.
Since purchasing a TM ( almost 2 years ago ) and becoming additcted to collecting the recipes on this forum I haveused Evernote as well. If you only using software to store and view recipes ( not menu planning or shopping lists ) then Evernote is fantastic. I have recipe catagories in the notebook section ie: cakes - beef etc etc. The search feature makes it must faster to find a recipe than my recipe software. And it is available for andriod etc so you can look up a recipe if you need to while at the supermarket. I use evernote mainly for recipes and a few other things I need to remember and I have only once gone near the free limit. You may go over when you first start transfering stuff but on a month basis you will probably be ok it is a 60mb limit for free I am half way thru the month and sitting at 15mb.
On the topic of Andriod ( Smart phones ) I have also been transfering my shopping list direct from my computer to "out of milk " app, to use at the supermarket and finding that I am getting through the asiles faster.
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i have just downloaded the trial version of living cookbook and i like it, i am just abit stumped with unit measures, i have changed the measure to metric but everytime i create a shopping list of recipes i have added, the ingredients come up in us measurements, even though when i entered the recipe i added them as metric...it seems that there are a few of you who use this and find it good, could you please give some advice on how i can get it to show the correct units.. thankyou in advance
em
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I am using the free version of Evernote. It's very easy to use and doesn't really take much time to set up as you just add categories as you go. I did try a free version of Living Cookbook but it would never download properly so I just gave up and went to Evernote. I have a small netbook computer as well as my main computer and an android phone so I really like being able to update on one and it syncs all three for you.
To menu plan I just add the "This Week" tab to the recipes and then remove it when I have cooked the meal. I add the hyperlinks to the recipes so I can then just click on them and post any comments without having to locate the thread in the forum. When it comes to shopping lists I generally have to go and check the fridge and cupboard as I keep most things on hand and only buy what I need for the week. For this reason I don't think I need a program with the shopping lists. I know that you can also download an extra which will allow you to copy from the forum direct to Evernote but I find it so easy just to copy and paste that I haven't bothered with it.
As everyone has said before, I really only ever went near the 60MB monthly limit when I was first transferring everything into it. Now I find I don't have any problems. I did start with a Word document myself but as I didn't have the mini computer (which I use on a recipe stand in the kitchen) I printed the recipes and found it was a big waste of paper. Also the search function on Evernote makes it very easy to locate recipes as you can search on title, date created, images, etc.
Hope all this helps.
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thanks twitterpated, i have just about given up on lc, it seems complicated to customize it the way i would want it to work. its a shame because i like the idea behind it. will check out evernote.
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I'm still sitting here, undecided, so I very much look forward to your feedback, em, if you want to give it once you've checked out evernote.
Cheers
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With Evernote if you highlight the recipe ( and photos ) on the forum ( or where ever ) and then right click you will get an "add to Evernote" option if you have evernote installed on your PC it will then clip the recipe and add it to whatever catagory you tell it too.
Love the idea anout the "This Week " Notebook never thought of that!
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thanks twitterpated, i have just about given up on lc, it seems complicated to customize it the way i would want it to work. its a shame because i like the idea behind it. will check out evernote.
Em, you can't change things on the downloaded sample of living cook books. It's just a structured sample to show you.
Once you purchase it, you then have the ability to change the layout, measurements, and everything else.