software for cooks

[Kath]

I want to buy some software to help me organize my recipes. I've looked at the Cooking Light 5.0 (in the box, haven't seen it running) and I've seen references in different dialogs in this bulletin board. I like the idea of being able to drag and drop recipes from internet sites (CL 5.0 says it does that). Would appreciate feedback from anyone who uses a recipe software. Thanks.

[You Know Me]

You might try http://www.mastercook.com . It is the official website for Mastercook. They have a bulletin board (among other features) that is very interesting to browse. If you post a question there you will have an answer within hours. Guaranteed.

I'm sure you will also get some feedback from the folks here; but wanted you to have the "official" website as well.

P.S. I have it and LOVE it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[lindrusso]

I have Mastercook and have been very satisfied so far. It's very nice being able to copy and past recipes into my computer cookbooks. I have one cookbook for things I want to try and one for the tried and true favorites. And yes, the bulletin board is very useful if you ever have questions or need help.

I use the search function to find recipes with ingredients I have on hand. I've also found the shopping list to come in handy on some occasions. This feature lets you select several recipes and generate a shopping list. Then you just go through the shopping list, check the items that you don't have on hand and print out the list - very handy for dinner parties where you're creating many dishes at one time.

It seems that whenever this question pops up, Mastercook is the software most often mentioned.

[Laura B]

MasterCook is a fabulous program. i really recommend it. The ability to pull recipes from this bulletin board and other web pages is very convenient. In general, I just like the organization of it. I love having all of CL recipes together, being able to print, the ease of pasting recipes into email or bulletin board messages, etc.

When I first got MC, I spent lots of time at the MasterCook bulletin board. The moderators there are very helpful and get back to you so fast if you have a question.

[Pat]

I am also a big fan of MasterCook. I have the CL version. I too keep a cookbook for To Try Later recipes and a Favorites cookbook. I read either on this board or the MasterCook board that they are coming out with a version 6 in the fall.

[BethR]

Another vote for Mastercook from me. I have the CL version and highly recommend it. One thing I didn't do that I wish I had was to sit down with the software and accompanying manual for a few hours and just play with it until I learned it well. I never seemed to have a nice block of "quality time" to do this after I got the program. So I learned it "on the fly," figuring things out via the help section (or reading informative posts on this BB!) when I wanted or needed to do something new. You can learn it this way, but it means you won't get the most out of this powerful software until you've owned it for a while.
Beth

[SandyDee]

I have the MasterCook 5.0 and I love it. I do not have the Cooking Light version (only because I didn't know there was one until after I got the one I have) but on Mastercook you can create new cookbooks within the program So I have created a Cooking Light cookbook where I put all of the recipes that I import from the CL website and from the generous people here on the CL BB. I highly recommend getting one. I too love the search option. It has come in handy on so many occasions.

[Kath]

My thanks to everyone for responding. Looks like I'll have myself a Mastercook software setup soon. I'm sure I'll spend plenty of time with the manual, the help button, and the mastercook website as I get going.

[MrsReber]

Well, folks, after reading all your messages, I went on Amazon and bought myself the Mastercook cd. Should be here today or tomorrow. I can't wait after all the positive feeback posted on the BB!

[laden]

Does Sam's or Costco sell the Cooking Light 5.0 version? I hate to spend full price anytime if I don't have to!

[Laura B]

Originally posted by laden:
Does Sam's or Costco sell the Cooking Light 5.0 version? I hate to spend full price anytime if I don't have to!

I don't know about Sams or Costco, but...

It is usually easy to find 5 to 10 dollars off from amazon.com, bn.com, or buy.com if you go to www.dealcodes.com (http://www.dealcodes.com) or www.payonlyshipping.com. (http://www.payonlyshipping.com.) When I bought my Best of Mastercook, I went to buy.com because they had the cheapest price (45 dollars). I had a ten dollars off coupon from one of the coupon sites plus the program came with a 20 dollar rebate! So, I paid about 15 bucks plus shipping when all was said and done. The CL Mastercook is alot cheaper than Best of MasterCook, so if you can find a coupon, you'll be set!



[This message has been edited by Laura B (edited 07-19-2000).]

[Deanna]

Recently there was a promotion where you bought three boxes of Cheerios and got MasterCook 5.0 for something like $1.99!

Now, this probably doesn't contain any Cooking Light recipes, but it sure is cheap.

Guess you could put on your "detective" cap and do a little investigating on the internet to see if this is still available...or go check the boxes at the grocery store!

[JeanneW]

Actually, the Cheerios offer was for the CL version of Mastercook. It has recipes from 1996-1998 plus some other cookbooks. I got this from the Cheerios offer and it's great. Just look for those "specially marked boxes."
You can't beat $1.99.

[MrsReber]

I got my Mastercook (for $19.99 at Amazon) and I installed it. But now I don't know where to start!!! It looks wonderful, I don't even know what to do first! I am still reading the book that came with it. Can't wait to get myself more organized.

[Ed]

Hi everyone,

Great Idea on the Cheerio boxes, do you know if this is a promotion that has run it's course or is on now?

Also I looked at the web site for Mastercook and on the info about the software it said the requirements were for a Pentium. Do those of you who have the software all have Pentium Processors? I have an Intel Celeron and I'm not sure it will run the software, any thoughts?

[Beth]

The Cheerios offer is based on getting 3 O-codes from specially marked boxes, which will probably be a greater issue than the expiration of the offer (3/1/01). I haven't seen them around for a while. I did see an ad in the coupon section for a similar ofer with Chex cereal, but I haven't noticed the special boxes.

One of the best deals might be to get the full Best of MasterCook if you can find a good deal on it. At payonlyshipping.com, there is a $10 off coupon for orders of at least $30 at buy.com, plus Sierra has a $20 rebate that I believe is still good. Buy.com had a no shipping on certain software that included the MasterCook. I just looked for it there and it looks like they are out, but maybe you can get the same deal by looking around or asking. Maybe even buy.com on back-order. While I was looking around, it looked like the going price for just Cooking Light was $14.95.

[Laura B]

Originally posted by Ed:
Also I looked at the web site for Mastercook and on the info about the software it said the requirements were for a Pentium. Do those of you who have the software all have Pentium Processors? I have an Intel Celeron and I'm not sure it will run the software, any thoughts?

Ed: I use a celeron processor as well, and Best of MasterCook runs beautifully on my computer. When I bought my computer last year, I asked about the differences between a celeron and a pentium because I was not sure what to get. The woman at Gateway said that what they call celeron now used to be called pentium, but when pentiums got so much better they changed the name. So from what I understand, a celeron is basically the same thing as a pentium (just a lower power one). I highly recommend getting MasterCook - especially Best of MasterCook because it has SO many recipes (inluding lots more Cooking Light recipes than are in the Cooking Light MasterCook edition)!



[This message has been edited by Laura B (edited 07-20-2000).]

[Ed]

Beth & Laura B:

Thanks for the information.

Beth, I will be looking when I go to a grocery store for the specially marked boxes, was at my local store today and they didn't have them.

Laura B, I appreciate the info on the celeron. I thought it would be too restrictive for a software company to have a program like that which not most computer users could run. So I can go ahead and plan to get the program, I'm glad you mentioned about the "Best of Mastercook," I was all set to get the CL version as I sure like the CL recipes, but based on what you said I will definely look at the other one.

Thanks again to both of you,

Ed

[JennyLiz]

I acquired my MasterCook through the Cheerios offer, but I haven't seen the specially marked boxes lately. I did just buy a box of Chex on the 22nd with the same deal. (Collect 3 codes, pay 1.99 shipping via www.chumbo.com) (http://www.)) The difference is it's the regular MasterCook, not the CL version. Still a great deal.

[This message has been edited by JennyLiz (edited 07-25-2000).]

[ginny177]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pat:
[B]I am also a big fan of MasterCook

Pat, I'm back with another MC (v 5.0)"how to" .
Now that you have shown me how to copy recipes from the board into my "try later" book , I have added several . To be safe, I'd like to copy them to a floppy , but the program HELP only shows hoe to back up the entire MC progam, using a zip drive.
Can you help me ? Thanks

[Beth]

Ginny, I recently wnet through this before an uninstall/reinstall. I copied cookbook by cookbook to my floppy drive. I think I found the easiest way was to open MC in one window and shrink it down so that you can go into My Computer (assuming you're using windows)and select the floppy drive there, open it so you are looking at what is on the floppy disk (blank if you're starting with a clean disk). Then, do a click and drag (click and hold on the folder you want to copy and drag it over to the floppy drive window). You should get a little graphic telling you it is copying the file to the floppy drive. Hope that helps.

[ginny177]

Beth, That seemed to work Even tho I read the floppy after I copied to it, I still don't quite trust it ! ;-)
Don't know what I'd do without all the helpful people on this board. Master Cook has my accuont royally mixed up. They've had me re-register 2 times now, but still keep denying me access to their message boards when I try to log on for help, So I have turned to the CL baord for my instructions. Frustrating ! But I'm sure the help I get here is much better and easier to follow anyway. Thanks again. Ginny

[Beth]

Me too, me too! I would have given up withou the support I've gotten here, so I'm glad to pass on what I've learned. I'm trying to put together a mini-cookbook with it this coming week. I may be back! Glad it helped.

When you go to reload them, you can copy them back the same way, then hit F5 when you get back into the MC program itself to refresh MC and "find" the new books.

[Lauren]

Hi all!
I bought MC 6.0 last week at Best Buy. Can't wait to really play with it! I noticed it contains recipes through 1998. What about '99? Does Sierra ever market annual add-ons? I am wondering if in the future I could install recipes from '99 and '00.

[Beth]

This is a regular question here....so far at least, you can get the monthly cookpacs or buy an upgraded version of MC when it comes out. Lots of folks have expressed a desire for an annual update, especially if it might be priced more favorable than the monthly ones.

[Pat]

Ginny, Sorry I didn't see your post until today. But Beth answered your post so all is well. I am so glad you are enjoying your MC.

[Beth]

Nanci, you could copy the recipes from the CookPac over to MasterCook using the autofill, starting with the ones you wnted most. The best answer really would be to have complete annual editions of the CL recipes in MC format available on disk, CD-ROM or download.

[Nanci]

Does anyone have feedback on the new version of MC? I heard that all of the CookingLight recipes (except Holiday ?) are included in previous versions of the software -- so if you have CL 4.0 and CL 5.0 you're better off purchasing a different version of the software. There is a complete listing of all the cookbooks at the Sierra Website.

The CookBooks do not include the whole year's worth of recipes, just selections from the year. CookPaks are the only place to get them all. 1997 is not currently available in MasterCook format.

I would be lost withouth MasterCook! It is terrific for scaling recipes, e-mailing, and getting nutritional information.