Looking for the best shopping/recipe app with an iMac interface

September 11, 2009 7:13 AM

I love the iPhone app GroceryZen, which is a shopping checklist app with a built in recipe thingy. However, I'm tired of waiting for them to make my recipes editable on my iMac. Are there any apps I can use that function similarly that have, right now, this feature? Or, conversely, any good cooking apps for the iMac that have an iPhone app add on?

Basically, I want an interface on the iMac that lets me enter ingredients and quantities that I can export to the iPhone and then when out click a button ("I want to make this tonight!") that adds all the ingredients to my shopping list.

posted by You Should See the Other Guy to computers & internet (3 comments total)

You could try BigOven. The iPhone app is free and the Desktop app is a 30 day trial. I don't know about it creating grocery lists...

I use BigOven as follows:
1) Sit at work, wonder what I'm going to cook. I browse the website and "favorite" something interesting
2) iPhone app is linked to my account, so I launch it at the grocery store and have the ingredient list ready to go in my "favorite" list
3) I get home and launch the desktop app on my NetBook, load up the recipe and away I go.

truth be told I let the 30 day trial expire, and I've been referencing the iPhone recently (not really an ideal solution in the kitchen; I guess I could just launch the website on said NetBook). The desktop app lets you add/edit recipes with greater control than the website. It might be worth a try.

I'm curious what other solutions MeFites use.
posted by teabag at 7:43 AM on September 11

A friend of mine loves MacGourmet, it's pricey perhaps but there's a trial download. It's a standalone database on the Mac that allows for easy importing of recipes from a lot of the big recipe sites. I'm pretty sure she told me it makes your grocery list and sends it to the iPhone MacGourmet app as well. Also, there's a nutrition calculator plugin (for a fee as well). For my needs, it seemed pricey, but she is always trying new recipes and says it was totally worth it.
posted by scrowdid at 12:59 PM on September 11

We have the Mac and iPhone versions of MacGourmet, and use them all the time. You can sync your shopping lists to your iPhone/iPod Touch, too.
posted by DakotaPaul at 2:28 PM on September 11