Please help me with some decisions about recipes storage etc.

Hello everyone I just received my new ipad yesterday.

I do A LOT of cooking and have thousands and thousands of recipes on slips of paper, in word documents, bookmarked in favorites, on pinterest , etc. I finally want to collect them all in one place and then plan to use my ipad in the kitchen. One of the things I'm frightened of is losing my recipes. I lost some years ago when someone thought they backed up my computer before doing work on it. My computer is now automatically backed up.

Anyway, back to my wants and questions. I want my recipes available both on my computer and on my ipad. I also want to be able to make changes on either device and have the changes available on both. I also want to be able to print recipes or possibly make gift recipe books. I'm thinking of making a template and then just plug the information in so that all my recipes will have the same feel. I also want my recipes private.

After using pinterest I've realized I am a visual person and very much like to see a photo when making a recipe decision. If there is a way to create my own pinterest like cookbook on my computer/ipad that is what I would do.

I've considered using evernote or paprika but wonder about having my recipes out there and if something happens to one of these companies what happens to my recipes. LOL...as you can see I'm a little gun shy from my last loss. I've also read that the printed pages are sometimes funky from either just evernote or both evernote and paprika.

The other ways I've thought of storing my recipes is either in pages or keynote. I've never used iwork before and would have to convert my word document recipes to whichever I'm going to use. Someone also mentioned iphoto but I question how much text I can put there.

I also would like to minimize touching the tablet while cooking to keep it clean. I have a wonderful adjustable depth cookbook stand in the kitchen with an acrylic front. I also order an external keyboard to type/make changes. LOL..I wish there was a mouse for the tablet but instead I guess arrow keys and a stylus will have to do. Is there a particular brand of stylus you recommend? I would love if it had a long or adjustable handle so that I will not have to fold down the acrylic cover that will be protecting the ipad.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

MsB said:

I do A LOT of cooking and have thousands and thousands of recipes on slips of paper, in word documents, bookmarked in favorites, on pinterest , etc. I finally want to collect them all in one place and then plan to use my ipad in the kitchen. One of the things I'm frightened of is losing my recipes. I lost some years ago when someone thought they backed up my computer before doing work on it. My computer is now automatically backed up.

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I can definitely appreciate your concerns…and I can appreciate your desire to organize your recipes via computer.

But just some "food for thought"…what do you think folks did to organize their cooking recipes before computers??

- Nick

p.s. And yes…computers/electronics in the kitchen can be messy…and dangerous for the electronic item (lots of "powdery" ingredients & liquids).

I have been planning the same thing for a while as I have a lot of recipes scattered all over also.

Is your Computer also an Apple product? You want the ipad and computer to sync. Maybe Pages on both devices as with iCloud it will sync.

Glad you brought this up as it will get me off my duff and get me doing something about it!

Consider Evernote.

You can add and tag your existing recipes, add text, documents, photos, make it all searchable.

It syncs online with your iDevices, desktop, online etc. So, automatically backed up, editable from 'everywhere'.

Bento is a database program that has Templates for Recipies.
Bento also has an iPad app that will stay synced up.
With Bento you can design the Recipe Template just the way you want it including photos and videos.

Just a thought
DavidH

Thanks for answering pigoo3. Before computers they did what I did collect them in books, files etc. My recipe collection is over 30 years old .

Thanks for responding dtravis. Yes my computer is also a mac and I guess cloud is the way to go.

I am so torn about what to use. Pages does make sense. But then I've heard people rave about evernote. What I think I like about Paprika is that it seems to have photos of your recipes in the index.

LOL...I wish pinterest could be completely private. It really is helpful to see the photos of the dish when choosing what to cook.

Thanks MrPlow. A lot of people seem to love evernote. Is it totally private? Do you know if there is a way to index, in this case recipes, by photos?

Hmmm Thanks DavisH. I'll have to give bento a look,

I had Evernote on my iPad so downloaded it on the Mac. Works great and syncs with it's own evernote server to any device or computer you have it on. Looks promising.

It's very private and free!

Yes it's private, unless you explicitly share something.

You can organise recipes into different notebooks of your choosing, maybe starters, main course, desserts or chicken, beef, fish etc.

But you can also tag things and display/search by tag.

It's free so it's easy to take a look, have a play around to see if it suits.

While I'm an Apple advocate I'd personally avoid iCloud at the moment due to the limited file types it supports

MsB said:

Thanks for answering pigoo3. Before computers they did what I did collect them in books, files etc. My recipe collection is over 30 years old .

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Yes they did do that…but there are other non-computer ways of organizing recipes.

For example:

- 3 ring binders (rewrite the recipes on the appropriate size paper)…and store them in the binders by food category (if you would have multiple binders).
- recipe card files (again…the recipes would have to be rewritten onto the appropriate sized index cards)
- folks who have been cooking for a long time…and accumulating lots & lots of recipes…at some point come to the realization that they need to start organizing…and begin using some sort of a system. Hopefully BEFORE 30 years has gone by!!! This way only PART of the personal recipe library would need to be organized.
- some folks (after 30 years of cooking….in many cases fewer years)…decide to write a cookbook!

But doing this project via a computer is a very very good way! This is actually one of the earliest reasons some average folks (way back in the 1980's)…used personal computers for. Recipe organization programs have been around FOREVER. I'm guessing that you have never heard of Apple's "Hypercard". It was an Apple program from the 1980's that could be used to organize recipes on the computer.

- Nick

Nick, you are no fun! I want my computer to help me! No room for all those binders either! Grin

dtravis7 said:

Nick, you are no fun! I want my computer to help me! No room for all those binders either! Grin

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Just a friendly discussion.

A computer is a GREAT solution for this sort of project. It's just that doing it is like doing homework…nobody WANTS to do it. That's why many folks (just like you, the OP, and I)…haven't done it…it's a lot of work!!! And why many times…the "recipe library" remains on scraps of paper stored in folders…and not organized using the computer!

Maybe with good voice dictation software…and a good organizing program…this project for many of us will finally get done! But probably not! It's just a LOT OF WORK…and MUCH MORE FUN to actually cook/bake…and eat what is made!!!

- Nick

A vote here for Paprika!

It syncs easily between Mac and IOS devices and is fairly simple to use.

I would have one word of warning regarding computer recipe software (given what I've seen & experienced since the 1980's). Buy a software application that has been around for a longgg time…and is updated fairly regularly.

You don't want to buy a recipe software program…spend hours & hours & hours entering info…then find out in a few years that the program is no longer being updated, is no longer compatible with the latest Macintosh hardware, or compatible with the latest version of the Mac OS.

For me…although it may be a bit boring…MS Excel is my choice. You just setup a spreadsheet (maybe include some macro's to automate it a bit)…and you're good to go!

And MS Excel has been around for a long long time…so the importing of files from older versions is usually no problem when newer versions are released.

- Nick

Just a note about recipe software. I have been using different programs for years. I have never lost a recipe. When I came to Apple a few years ago, I had to change apps. Alll my recipes were imported in to the new program. I recently had to switch again as there was no support or syncing on my old program. Once again all my recipes were imported. I used Dropbox to sync among my computers. Now with Paprika, which I love, it syncs automatically. I also back up regularly.
If you have more than one computer it's like having another backup. My recipes are stored on the hard drive of each computer. You could also save the library to an external hard drive.
By using these recipe programs you will be so much more organized.

prrs4me said:

I have been using different programs for years. I have never lost a recipe.

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Just so we know…how many years are we talking about?

Recipes (as you probably know) can be collected over a long period of time. Someone (for example)…could currently be 35 years old…and been collecting recipes since they were 15. This person would have 20 years of recipes so far…and could continue to collect more recipes for 40+ years into the future.

So this person would certainly want a recipe program that will stand the test of time. I can tell you that there were plenty of recipe programs from the 1980's, 1990's, and beyond…that have been DOA for a long time. I certainly wouldn't want to have used one of those programs (back then)…to find out one day that it is no longer compatible with the newest Mac hardware or OS version.

I speaking totally from Macintosh experience (not Windows). Things can change VERY quickly in the "Macintosh World"…things in the Windows world seem to last forever!

Heck…there's probably folks in the "Windows World" who are still running Windows XP on relatively new hardware…and still running software from the late 1990's! This is impossible with Macintosh hardware & the Mac OS.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Just so we know…how many years are we talking about?

Recipes (as you probably know) can be collected over a long period of time. Someone (for example)…could currently be 35 years old…and been collecting recipes since they were 15. This person would have 20 years of recipes so far…and could continue to collect more recipes for 40+ years into the future.

So this person would certainly want a recipe program that will stand the test of time. I can tell you that there were plenty of recipe programs from the 1980's, 1990's, and beyond…that have been DOA for a long time. I certainly wouldn't want to have used one of those programs (back then)…to find out one day that it is no longer compatible with the newest Mac hardware or OS version.

I speaking totally from Macintosh experience (not Windows). Things can change VERY quickly in the "Macintosh World"…things in the Windows world seem to last forever!
.

Heck…there's probably folks in the "Windows World" who are still running Windows XP on relatively new hardware…and still running software from the late 1990's! This is impossible with Macintosh hardware & the Mac OS.

- Nick

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Well I guess since the 90's on a pc. My point is that you can always change applications and import your recipes in to the new program. Which I've had to do several times. Just make sure that you choose a program that supports the file type. I haven't had a problem yet
How many recipe applications have you used. Have you had a problem?

prrs4me said:

Well I guess since the 90's on a pc. My point is that you can always change applications and import your recipes in to the new program. Which I've had to do several times. Just make sure that you choose a program that supports the file type. I haven't had a problem yet
How many recipe applications have you used. Have you had a problem?

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That's a good long time!

The point you made about the file type & importing is a good one.

Personally…outside of Microsoft Office & Adobe products…I have not seen the type of successful importing of files like you mention:

- Windows recipe program files imported into Macintosh programs
- Older Macintosh recipe program files into different Macintosh recipe programs
- Older Macintosh recipe files from older programs…into newer Macintosh recipe programs from different developers.

Generally this type of successful file importation is hard to come by (in the Macintosh world) outside of MS Office and Adobe programs. But if you've had success…great!

- Nick