Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Foodie Fun on iPads & iPhones

It's been a couple of weeks since I got my fantastic Apple iPad and I'm having a great time downloading foodie apps and checking them out. Sitting in my living room, I just pick one... do a search for any ingredient... and in an instant have a list of recipe options with tabs to create a shopping list that can get sent to my iPhone, notes I can add to make changes, write comments or change ingredients... like I usually do in the margins of my paper cookbooks. It's all very exciting.

But I have a confession... I'm one of those cooks that enjoys leaving a trail of fingerprints, ingredient splatters and notes on cookbook pages. Many people over the years have bought me those plexiglass stands to preserve the condition of my cookbooks. I scoff at them! Those marks add character... not to mention a very quick flip to have the book itself stop at a well loved recipe.

So, I've been stalling when it came to actually take my iPad into the kitchen. The last thing I want is to "decorate" it with gobs of oil or gravy! So I made one dish... more in a minute, wiping my hands every 30 seconds (or so it seemed) and telling my Honey that I had to find some sort of protective cover for it. He found this great idea with something I always have on had .... Just put the iPad into a gallon size ziplock baggie (the extra large size) with the labelling on the back, zip it up and you have the perfect protection without interfering with functionality.

So now that I'm not scared to death of messing it up, there's the other big challenge... which app do I start with.

Tackling Bittman Recipe Hop at A Moderate Life
In honor of Alex of A Moderate Life's cool Tackling Bittman Recipe Hop, I thought I'd find a lovely lamb stew recipe from my How To Cook Everything iPad app (I have the free iPhone version too).
I need a great comfort dish for the blustery winter weather we're having . If you look closely at the photo at the top of the page, you'll see a lovely dinner plate starring my iPad dinner of Mellow Lamb Curry.
I modified it a bit... but then that's exactly what Bittman is all about. Given my Honey's sore throat, I left out the cayenne pepper. I also used a different curry blend of spices, combining the last of the Sri Lankan Black Curry & the Singapore Curry blends to make my own curry blend.

hearthandsoulgirlichef

Plus it's a great Hearth 'n Soul entry too, I think. A partner in crime to Alex, is GirliChef, but you can get to Hearth 'n Soul through either of these ladies (plus a number of others).
Now it's time to check out some more foodie iPad apps to download. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

6 comments:

Cyndi said...

Oh, Ruth, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for the tip about the ziploc bag. I, too, was hesitant to use my iPad in the kitchen.

The Food Hunter said...

I just took the plunge and brought mine into the kitchen and then I decided to spill a glass of red wine on it....yikes...I think I will be using the plastic bag from now on.

Heather S-G said...

How cool is that! I mean, I'll probably never have an iPad...though I want one desperately...but if I do ever get one, I'll remember this tip! Thanks Ruth...and thanks for sharing it w/ the hearth and soul hop this week, as well :D

pam said...

What a great idea!! Thanks for entering Tackling Bittman!

Christy said...

I am a messy cook - and my cookbooks show the "love". If I ever get such an amazing gadget I hope I remember this wonderful tip! Being in the baggie protects it from spills too -- brilliant! I am late but thanks for linking this up to the Hearth and Soul Hop!

Couscous & Consciousness said...

Hi Ruth - Funny thing - I visited this posted about 10 days ago, and I was sure I left a comment, but it doesn't seem to be here, so not sure what happened. Anyway - I think this is a great idea - I'm always getting stuff on my iPhone using it in the kitchen, so now it goes into a little snack size ziplock. Love your lamb curry also.

Thanks so much for sharing with Tackling Bittman :-)

Sue