I pieced this recipe file together because I wanted some convenient way to access my own recipes, and a quick and easy way to make copies of my recipes for friends. Let me state up front that I am not a programmer, nor am I experienced with Hypercard. That said, I feel like this does a pretty good job of keeping recipes together.
I am uploading this as freeware (i.e., I don't expect any money from you). However, I do ask a favor of you. I have uploaded this version with only one recipe already typed in. Obviously, I could have saved you lots of work if I'd typed in lots of great recipes. Well, that's what I want from you. I'm hoping that every person who downloads this stack will type in their favorite recipes ... and then type in some that aren't necessarily their favorite ... then add any recipes you can lay your hands on ... and FINALLY "export" those recipes and upload the exported file to the same place you got this.
***If they get back to me, I will download your file and "import" it to my own recipe file. After I've collected recipes from you and lots of other people who received this stack, I'll upload this stack again (plus any minor revisions) with ALL of those recipes loaded in. At least hundreds of them.***
I'm hoping it will only take a month or so, but I really have no idea. MY GOAL IS TO COMPILE THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF RECIPES YOU'VE EVER SEEN IN ONE PLACE ... to make this into a SUPER cookbook.
Wouldn't you (or your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever) enjoy having hundreds of recipes at your fingertips? A cookbook where you could merely type in a keyword and the recipe you want would pop up? A cookbook where you could quickly and easily print a copy of your famous chili recipe for your friends? A cookbook that would allow you to add your own recipes, and those given to you, without filling a box or drawer full of recipe cards and slips of paper that make it impossible to find the recipe you want? People pay lots of money for cookbooks, and most cooks have several. With this program you could have them all in one location FOR FREE.
Directions for Use:
The Super Cookbook stack is pretty self-explanatory. The first field is for the "Course." I suggest you type in one of the normal labels used to divide sections in a cookbook. E.g., I use "Main Course," "Vegetable," "Dessert," "Pastry," "Soup," "Sauce," etc.
The second field is for an additional descriptor. Frankly, I use this as a way to add any information that might not be obvious, but I'm not very consistent about it. You might use this, however, for something like a chili called Uncle Bob's Red. You could put "Soup" in the first field and "Chili" in the second, since the title doesn't necessarily tell anyone that this is chili. Also, I frequently put list the main ingredient in this field, e.g., in the first field I might put "Vegetable" and in the second put "Corn." Something to remember as you use this field: you can sort the stack by either the first, the second, or the third fields.
The third field is the name of your dish. It will appear in boldface. IF YOU PLAN TO UPLOAD YOUR RECIPES, you might want to put your name after the name of your dish, e.g., "Spaghetti Sauce (Jef's)" so that everyone will know where it came from.
The next 20 fields are for ingredients. Make it clear, so that anyone would understand what you mean. [I highly recommend you use the following abbreviations: t. = teaspoon, T. = tablespoon, C. = cup, pt. = pint, qt. = quart, lb. = pound] If you say the ingredient is "1 lb. chicken" do you mean cooked or raw? If you say "1 clove garlic" do you mean whole or minced? BE CLEAR! I have yet to find a recipe that has more than 20 ingredients. However, if you have something that has a sauce or topping that adds several ingredients (e.g., a cake recipe that also has a special icing) you might consider putting the topping/sauce etc. on a separate recipe card and tell the readers, in each recipe, that they should see the other recipe for the topping or the cake that goes with that topping. If you run short of fields, you might also consider putting more than one ingredient in a field.
The last field is a scrolling field. It will allow you to write the directions for your recipe ... even if the directions are pretty long & involved. I also encourage you add at the end of this field any comments you can ... is this a wonderful dish? Say so, so the reader will know what you think. Is this sweeter than other similar recipes? Say so. Add all the comments you want ... the field will scroll to give you plenty of space.
BUTTONS: As you move the cursor over a button it will provide a description of that button's function in the area just above the button row. The left-most button will add a new recipe card for you to type on. The one next to it will delete a card. The one next to that will quit the program. The next will print the recipe, in a format I've provided. The right-most button will export your recipes to a text file (so you can upload it and I can add it to my cookbook). The next button will import a properly formatted text file. The next two buttons work together ... one allows you to type in a word or phrase to find. Press the button, it will give you a dialogue box to type in, then it will find the first card that has that word or phrase (at the moment it searches the whole card). The other button will allow you to repeat that same search without typing in the same phrase again. And, the next button permits you to sort the cards, by "Course," "Type," or "Name" of the dish. Finally, the first button to the left of the direction arrows will take you to the "Index" stack.
The Index stack simply gets the names of all of your dishes and lists them in the same order as you have sorted your recipes. Because updating this list, when you add new recipes, can take some time, you must update it by pushing the button in the upper left corner. Another button is provided to allow you to print the list.
A nice feature of the Index stack is that you can quickly look through the list of recipes to find one that interests you, click on the one you want, and the stack will automatically take you to that recipe card.
I hope you find this stack useful, and I hope you will contribute a whole long list of recipes to my effort. If you have any suggestions for additions, feel free to say so. However, keep in mind that it may be beyond my ability. If you are a Hypercard wizard and can make a button or xcmd, etc., for these stacks that you think would improve them (and would be easy for me to add without losing all the recipes), please feel free to upload that addition along with your recipes. Be sure to include your name, so I can give you credit for your contribution.
UPLOAD LOTS AND LOTS OF RECIPES! Clearly label your file as "Recipes."
