Useful, but has a learning curve

I began with the iPad version, as it’s easiest to use for reading recipes while cooking, and is inexpensive. I expanded to the iPhone version because I wanted the shopping list feature (the mastery of its efficient use still escapes me), and I finally paid far more for the OS X app for my Mac laptop, for the ease of typing as well as for possible further flexibility. I’m pleased to have all three and have discovered that the Mac version allows sub-categories, which is helpful: I cook with chicken often, and am now able to differentiate between chicken breasts, whole chicken, legs/thighs, and cooked chicken, which speeds up my choices. I could not, however, easily delete the subcategories I had inadvertantly created while learning on the laptop OS X. The iPad version made that very easy- slide left, a common gesture on the iPad, allows instant deletion, and voila, my categories list looks so much better.

It is incredibly easy to download recipes from the net, and not much harder entering from favorite cookbooks in all versions.

Making notes is easiest on the OS X, version, as is the very valuable ability to create entire menus- and add notes about when they’re appropriate, or record when they were used.

What I would appreciate in all versions is the ability to search on an ingredient, rather than only on words in the title of a recipe. For instance, if I were gifted with some saffron, and wanted to use it but forgot which recipe it was in, I would have to search manually through the recipes.

The learning curve for the features is a little steep, but this is a very useful app, thoughtfully designed. I’m very glad I found it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes to archive favorite recipes.

Beeper00 about Paprika Recipe Manager