The holidays are here, and if you’re like us (please say you’re like us), you’re still looking for a few perfect recipes for the dinner parties, family feasts, and neighborhood get-togethers that lie ahead. Got an iPad? Cooks&Books&Recipes Featured Cook Katie recommends two holiday recipe iPad apps that should make your search easier and fun!
Cooks&Books&Recipes Featured Cook Katie:
During the holiday season, one of my favorite activities is to flip through a great holiday cookbook. There is something about the beautiful pictures of lavish feasts that just puts me in the holiday spirit! Since this is the first year that I have had an iPad during the holidays, I was excited to see what holiday cooking apps were available, and if I found them as enjoyable as the perusal of a regular cookbook. I immediately found two holiday cooking apps that I have thoroughly enjoyed so far this season.
Fine Cooking: Cooking for the Holidays
Fine Cooking Holidays – app image
The great interface and the beautiful design are the first things I noticed. The flip-through style of interaction makes this app feel more like a magazine than most others, and it is very easy to navigate. The photographs are gorgeous, and like the Fine Cooking magazine, the whole app has a very simple, minimalist look that I find appealing. When it came to the actual recipes, I was a bit disappointed: there were only thirty recipes in the app (some of them previously published, I think, in the print magazine), whereas I was expecting something closer to a full-length magazine. However, the low price of $1.99 makes this one of the less-expensive cooking apps, and the recipes are all interesting and fresh.
Bottom Line: Some interesting, quality recipes and great photos make this a good app for the price, especially if you do not already subscribe to Fine Cooking magazine. Better Homes & Gardens Celebrate App At $3.99, this app is about twice the price of many others, but it is worth every penny! I love how they organized this app around different occasions and party themes. The first screen gives you the choice of looking at Autumn-, Thanksgiving-, or Christmas-themed celebrations, and there are at least six parties within each category, all accompanied by wonderful photographs. Celebrate! not only provides tasty recipes but also has ideas for decorating and entertaining for each occasion. But this app isn’t only pretty to look at; the recipes are also wonderful. Â I made the pumpkin cornbread from one of the Thanksgiving menus, and it is the best cornbread I have ever tasted! My one complaint with this app is that there is no way to save or bookmark recipes within the app. Also, it automatically returns to the home screen if you exit, making it hard to find a recipe if you need to leave the app. Bottom Line: If you are looking for a cooking app with a little escapism, Celebrate! will transport you to perfectly appointed holiday parties with no work required. Recipes that use seasonal ingredients in creative ways make this an app that you will use again and again. These holiday recipe iPad apps are just the start of what could be a beautiful and tasty holiday season! Read Holiday Recipe iPad Apps:
Better Homes and Gardens: Celebrate!
Fine Cooking,
Better Homes & Gardens on Cooks&Books&Recipes!
