Awaken your taste buds!!!!
Fine tune your dining experiences
with MacGourmet Deluxe
In today’s world, there are a vast number, and variety of restaurants to avail yourself of when deciding to dine out or dine in. However, if you choose to dine in then someone must decide what to cook? Do I have the ingredients? And most importantly, do I have enough time to prepare it?
Luckily, a solution is at hand with the application MacGourmet Deluxe. It is very easy to install and begin to include recipes from your collection as well as from other sources. New users will find a collection of recipes ready for them to use with the recipe manager (mac users think of it as your IT support for the kitchen). For those who must read a manual first (definitely not long time mac users) MacGourmet Deluxe comes with a manual on cd and a downloadable .pdf online. However, the user interface is so intuitive that most users will leave the manual to rest in peace. It is so enticing that I found myself inputing recipes before I even looked over the application. I might add that my family didn’t get a good meal that night because I couldn’t get my nose out of the computer. I also plan to take advantage of the fact that you can import from other programs such as MasterCook, MasterChef, and others. The application provides a recipe exchange forum where there is a wealth of information and additional services. In no time at all I found the recipes from a favorite mystery writer (Joanne Fluke) who includes some yummy recipes in each story. I’ve never had the time to type them out; but, I downloaded them from the forum and imported them in minutes. Every time I use it I find something new and inviting.
MacGourmet is versatile in appearances. The default view is MyRecipes; however, there are many other choices such as category, ingredients, meals, wine lists, and the left side column on the screen that works like an iTunes playlist. My favorite aspect of the program is that I can go into the menus and plan a meal with what I have available in the refrigerator or pantry. This comes in handy when you are late, tired and can’t think straight. It is so nice to have a helper think for you.
Versatility is another feature that makes MacGourmet Deluxe a helpful sidekick in the kitchen. I just drag and drop recipes onto the shopping list, and it combines the ingredients into a manageable shopping list. It also saves the day by preventing disastrous spills with a Chef’s view screen. This allows the user to leave their computer far away from the slippery slopes of the kitchen counter while working.Or they can print it out for ease of use or portability. In fact, the shopping list can also be ported to the iPod, iPhone, or a PDA to help the busy epicurean.
The MAC is always presented as the digital hub of the home. Since I’m a mac user, I guess it is time for me to sort my torn and tattered grease stained recipes that I have stuffed in every cookbook or folder. I’ll use iPhoto to take pictures of my recipes and drag and drop them in true mac fashion into the recipe. I’ll organize and sort my categories of recipes as I organize my iTunes playlists. Hopefully, I will be able to import how to movies into the photo block for helpful hints on a recipe. (I haven’t tried this as yet so hint, hint if this isn’t a feature as yet.)
Finally, when I get everything installed and organized I will take advantage of the feature that will allow me to easily publish them to the web and to share them with friends. Lastly, the application makes it very easy for you to create and publish a cookbook. I’m becoming an advocate for going green and cutting down paper pollution. But, I would print the cookbook to a pdf file for electronic distribution for friends and families.
Key features:
Build, print, and share your own cookbook from your recipe collection
Use Mealplan feature to plan and organize meals.
Sync your plans with iCal
Easily calculate the nutritional content of your recipes
Publish your recipes to your .mac account or to your web site
Manage your wine collection by recording notes about your favorite wines
Import recipes from your favorite online source
Create shopping lists from Weekly Meal Planner or from one or more recipes
Store and manage all your cooking notes
Organize your folders using Smart List
Plan a meal using Cupboard Find or Potluck Find Features
Company/Producer’s name: Mariner Software
Address: 410 N 3rd St, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone #: 612-529-3770
Online address: www.marinersoftware.com
Subject(s): Cooking
Price: $44.95
Copyright: 2008
Hardware requirements:
Minimum System Requirements:• Mac OS X 10.4 or higher (including Leopard)
Ratings:
*****Excellent ****good ***average **weak/acceptable *poor
Ease of installation: *****
Ease of use:(reading) *****
Documentation: *****
Product support: *****
Packaging: *****
Index: *****
Graphics: *****
Color: *****
Overall rating: *****
Appropriate for: _X__Business _X__Education __X_Personal
Reviewer: Linda McNeil is a Pa. media specialist. Linda teaches several online and classroom courses to adults/teachers for the PA Dept. of Education. Linda is also a professional artist and she maintains her own website (www.brushcolor.com) and several blogs. She is a member of MACS@PACS, MACBUS, MLMUG, National League of American Pen Women, TriState YA Review Committee, and other organizations.
