Create a notebook of clippings and ideas,
and take a step towards culinary greatness
Recipe book are big business, and you can’t
walk into a bookshop without being confronted by beefy hardbacks written by TV chefs
full of exciting new recipes. The world of tablets hasn’t been untouched,
either, and those recipes are now often found on Google Play, such as the Jamie
Oliver 20 Minute Meals app.
With so many recipes online for free, you
can save yourself some money and make your own recipe book. We’ve used
Evernote, which enables you to add tags and photos to your recipes, and what’s
more, it’s totally free.
Follow our steps to making your own
personal recipe book on your Android tablet, and you can walk into bookshops
with your head held high in the knowledge that you’ve gone one better.
1. Install Evernote
Install
Evernote
To get started, go to Google Play and
install Evernote. You can do this direct from your device, or by going to http://play.google.com and sending the app to
your device using a connected Google account. The software takes next to no
time to download and install on your Android tablet before you’re ready to
start.
2. Browser the web
Browser
the web
Once your app is installed on your device,
it’s time to find some recipes that you’d like to try. There are a few apps you
can use, but seeing as there are thousands of free recipes online, why not try www.bbc.co.uk/food, www.channel4.com/food or even www.jamieoliver.co.uk? Or you could
just search for ‘recipes’ in your browser and see what you find.
3. Save a recipe
Save
a recipe
Once you find something you like, it’s time
to add it to your notes. After a few less than crispy baked potatoes, we found
this recipe for tasty jacket spuds. We just tapped and held on the first word
for the recipe, and dragged the selection area over the text we’re interested
in, and then tapped ‘Copy’ at the top of the screen.
4. Add a new note
Add
a new note
Once we’ve highlighted everything we want
to keep, it’s time to add it to a new note. Go back to Evernote, and start a
new note. Tap the empty area and press ‘Paste’ to have the recipe added. Now
give your recipe a name. this is basic functionality for a note app, but when
we begin to add tags, Evernote starts to get really good.
5. Tag it up
Tag
it up
Click the tag icon under your note, and you
can start adding keywords to your recipe. Try adding all of the main
ingredients, for instance, as well as identifiers such as ‘snack’ or ‘dinner
party’. Once your recipe book gets filled up with meal ideas that you’ve
collected from all over the internet, you’ll have something personalized and
searchable.
6. Search your tags
Search
your tags
To search your recipe tags, just click the
search icon in the top right-hand corner of the app, which looks like a
magnifying glass. Type in what you’re looking for, and then Evernote searches
the text and names of your notes, as well as the tags that you’ve entered,
returning the recipes with specific ingredients.
7. Take a shot
Take
a shot
Ever been at a restaurant, and eaten
something that you think you could make yourself, or perhaps even do it better?
In Evernote you can use your tablet’s camera to add photos to your notes. Just
snap interesting food while you’re out and about, and add some ideas, to make a
recipe book that grows with you.
8. Ultimate recipe book
Ultimate
recipe book
You’ve now created a personal recipe book,
which is not only packed with your favorite meals, but is a place for storing
all your cool culinary ideas as well. Why not download the Evernote plug-in,
costing $3.75, to take clippings of websites to really enrich your recipe
compendium and make it a real rival to proper recipe books?
