Now You're Cooking?

good
key review info
application features
  • Recipe search, meal plan, import/export across multiple cookbooks.
  • (3 more, see all...)

I love going out and eating in nice places, but there's a place I haven't been in a while, and that is my kitchen. The sad truth is that, besides the easy stuff to do (boiling and frying), I can't cook if my life depended on it.

Do you remember how good the meals used to be at home? Your mother's cooking, or your grandma's? I keep thinking of a special dish, that was always the hit at parties or get-togethers, the secret recipe.

The thing is, it was never a secret to anyone else except me. I could never understand how all the ingredients were mixed so beautifully together and how my mother knew how much of everything to put in. Well, my new project this year is to stop putting this thing off and learn how to cook. The best way to do it is, of course, by practicing.

I found a new use for my computer since I discovered this software: "Now You're Cooking!". Mainly, this software will help you manage recipes and it will assist with meal planning. It also has a lot of different features.

At first sight it doesn't seem to be so interesting, but in this case is not the package we are interested in, but what's inside. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of information available.

The program has a main working area that is the place where all the selected windows will open. The Recipe section has all the recipes assigned to categories to help you quickly find exactly what you need. You can change recipe assignments to categories at any time if it isn't to your liking.

Adding a new recipe is a breeze because all you have to do is write the name and complete the form with the quantities and the ingredients. After you've done that, you can move on to adding a picture, rating the recipe and even emailing it to your friends or printing it. Now, isn't this is a lot better than having scribbled pieces of paper everywhere?

The Menu part has an easy to use window. All you have to do is select recipe items from a list and they are automatically added to the breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack section. Here you can also plan menus for the coming week or if you have a dinner party to prepare for, this comes in very handy.

After deciding on a menu you might want to write all the ingredients down so that you know what you'll have to buy. There is no need to do that if you're using "Now you're cooking!". The program has a special part where you can makeup your shopping list, and it's very easy too. Just add items from the drop-down list and put in a quantity.

With the printed list you're ready to go to the store, but wouldn't it be nice to find exactly the coupons that match your list? Well, "Now you're cooking!" seems to have it all. In the Coupon tab you can record all of your coupons and all your cares will be over, it will all be taken care for you.

Nutritional information is an important part of the cooking process. You can get it from the Nutrition tab. It includes a host of individual food items with all their nutritional values based on the serving size, so if you're on a diet this is of great help.

If you're a beginner at this cooking stuff like I am, or an expert, the cooking terms Glossary is a most notable feature of the program; it is your "cooking dictionary".

The Good

The part that I liked best about this program is that all the information is there or you can get hold of it easy. "Now You're Cooking!" has a trial period of 60 days, much longer than any of the other programs on the market.

The Bad

While running "Now You're Cooking" I got a lot of error messages referring to the database and that was kind of annoying.

The Truth

"Now You're Cooking!" is not as enjoyable as you might think. To appreciate this program at its highest potential you have to have at least some knowledge about cooking.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 2
features 3
ease of use 3
pricing / value 3


final rating 3
Editor's review
good