Back in early 2011, I was looking for the perfect recipe app so I reviewed three applications, MacGourmet, SousChef & Yum. Long time has passed and sadly, Yum development has stopped. Our pick from the three Recipe Apps was MacGourmet, and it’s still on heavy development! They released the third version of their application, as well as a new iPhone companion app. With a sweet new icon for both and the familiar interface it’s a win! You can follow them on Twitter @MacGourmet and Join their page on Facebook.
I was so happy when I found out this app and started using it on it’s second version, so when I read about the upgrade, I was so excited! The designer in me always thought they could have done better with their icon and they did on both sides: Desktop and Mobile. What I absolutely loved about the previous version was the ability to sync wirelessly! This version besides having the option to do it wireless, you can also sync through iTunes, so every time you sync your device it syncs your recipes. Talk about convenience! Here you can read the highlights for our favorite recipe app:
Plan Your Meals: Use the weekly planner to plan meals and make menus with an optional plug-in, letting you create weekly planners, Create shopping lists for all the recipes of the week (just one trip to the grocery store!), you can send your meal plans to iCal so you can organize your busy week, You can create menus and print them along with a schedule for the week.
Smart Lists: This is by far one of my favorite features. Create lists that automatically keep themselves updated when you make changes. It’s as simple as adding keywords to your recipes when you add them and let MacGourmet do the hard work for you. Or maybe keep track of the recipes you’ve already prepared and the ones you still haven’t tried- everything works so you don’t make the same meals over and over again!
Free Recipe Packs: Download one of the many easy-to-import recipe collections available here. Also check out their MacGourmet Recipe Swap Forum so you can share your cooking love with others and exchange recipes. you can find more than recipes, there are tips, tricks, talks about kitchen gear. There are so many recipes to swap your head will spin!
Looking to Import from other Mac Apps? Import from Cookn’Text, MacGourmet Binary and Text, MasterCook, MasterCook MX2, MasterCook Mac, Meal-Master, RecipeML and Yum XML. You can also check the Competitive Upgrades Page, so if you already own another Mac recipe app and are thinking about switching, just download the importer for the product you use, import your information into MacGourmet and give it a try. MacGourmet really makes it easy for you to switch!
Read your Recipes from a Kitchen-safe Distance: View your recipes in an extra large format, perfect for your kitchen while you cook. You don’t want your mac next to the oven or the stove now, do you? You can place your mac nearby and with the extra-large sized Chef View it’s easy enough for you to read your recipes from a safe distance for your Mac. And a little plus, you can use your Apple Remote to select ingredients, directions, turn on speech recognition and talk to your Mac, and have MacGourmet’s chef view speak the text of the selected ingredient or direction. MacGourmet is the kitchen helper you never had!
Import Recipes straight from the web: MacGourmet was the first application that gave us users the option to import directly from the web. They have over 40 sites compatible with MacGourmet and have more on the way! What you need to do is when you are on the recipe that you like, select the link on your browser and then either go to Safari>Services>MacGourmet>Import Recipe from WebPage or hit Shift-Command-O and voilá the app does the job for you. YAY! No more transcribing recipes… just make sure to add keywords so the recipes come up as you search for them. Here’s a list of the most popular sites that have compatibility:
- Fine Cooking
- Martha Stewart
- Bon Appétit
- Food52
- Food Network (as well as the Canada and UK sister sites)
- CookStr
- Epicurious
- All Recipes
- Food & Wine
- You can read the rest of the list here (too long to add!)
Sync With iPhone & iPad: Take your Recipes, Notes & Lists on the go:
- MacGourmet touch for iPhone: The companion app to MacGourmet for Mac, lets you take your recipes, shopping lists and notes with you by syncing your iPhone or iPod touch with your copy of MacGourmet or MacGourmet Deluxe. It’s MacGourmet in your pocket! Buy MacGourmet touch for iPhone and iPod at the App Store for $2.99! (regular price $4.99)
- MacGourmet touch for iPad: Lets you take your recipes and notes into the kitchen. The step-step-step directions of the included chef view make cooking easy. It’s MacGourmet in your hands! Buy MacGourmet touch for iPad at the App Store for $4.99 (regular price $9.99)
Requirements for both: iOS 4+, Mac OS X 10.5+, MacGourmet 3+
Requirements for MacGourmet 3.1: Mac OS X 10.5+, MobileMe account for online publishing.
MacGourmet can be purchased for only $29 from the online store or the MacApp Store
*This article was pubblished first on The Foodies’ Kitchen, my cooking blog.