Archive for the ‘SousChef’ Category

Shortlinks for Recipes

Monday, April 26th, 2010

A new addition to SousChef for iPad that will be rolled out to our Mac version soon is the generation of recipe shortlinks. These little URL’s are perfect for Tweeting, Blogs, Posting to Facebook and just sharing recipes in general. Each link points to a static recipe page which is accessible to anyone once you give them the URL. Of course, recipes that have been opt-ed out of the cloud are not available in this manner. These pages are hosted by us and are free for anyone to use. To access these links in the iPad app, just tap the gear icon on a recipe, tap share and then tap the way you’d like to share the link. Enjoy!

Here are a few examples:

http://myreci.pe/4H
http://myreci.pe/6K
http://myreci.pe/nrgN

Available for iPad

Monday, April 5th, 2010

Acacia Tree Software is proud to announce the release of our a brand new version of SousChef for iPad!

It allows iPad users to search the 160,000+ recipes in SousChef’s online recipe cloud, and then cook using the iPad instead of a recipe book in the kitchen.

We’ll be posting a quick overview of the process of writing this app along with some bits and pieces that we created to make it happen along the way in the near future. IPhone users don’t worry we’re still working on the iPhone version as well!

Check out SousChefApp.com for screenshots.

Or go directly to the iTunes store.

A few thoughts on iPad.

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Wow.  So just when you thought you were getting a handle on adapting your software to every platform Apple had to offer…  They go and annouce the iPad.

Now, opinions out in the web vary on this new Apple brainchild.  However, we at Acacia Tree Software, love it!  Why?  It’s perfect for your kitchen!  You can buy a dock for it and put it right on the counter, or if you have limited counter space (like me) you can get a mount and put it on the wall.  There are even new outlets that include built-in USB ports (check them out here) so you don’t have to worry about it running out of battery life if you have mounds of dishes or alot of prep work.  And with a glass screen, its easy to clean.  Plus, it’s a full on media station right there.  You can listen to music or watch downloaded video or movies while you cook or surf the web while you eat a sandwich. The only thing it needs? That’s right, recipes.

Pre-orders started today. We ordered ours this morning.

As you can no doubt tell, we’re pretty excited about the possibilities of moving SousChef to this new platform.  We think it’s a perfect fit.  That’s not to say we’re stopping development on SousChef for iPhone though–it’s still a main priority.  But the iPad has really got us thinking and planning.  Hopefully, you’ll see the entire SousChef family of integrated apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad out to you all in the near future.

So keep those feature requests coming.  We really do read them.

User Submission: AppleScript

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

One of our users, Christopher Hickman, inquired a few of weeks ago about SousChef’s compatibility with AppleScript. After some work, Christopher is sharing two neat scripts with the rest of us. The scripts were created to open SousChef and have it perform a specific function; either selecting a specific recipe, or searching for one in the cloud. His goal was to make it possible to add dinner plans to his iCal calendar and have them contain links to specific recipes in SousChef. Clicking these links opens SousChef and displays the recipe. Ingenious!

And while we’re on the subject of scripts. Here is a link to our friends at Red Sweater Software’s Fast Scripts. Fast Scripts allows you to set key commands for specific scripts. Set a key command to Christopher’s copy recipe link script and it makes the task of copying recipes into iCal even simpler.

SousChefLauncher.zip
SousChef Launcher AppleScript

Let us know what you think!

Indie Developer Spotlight Promo

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

We’re participating in the Macworld 2010 Indie Developer Spotlight by offering SousChef for 20% off for the duration of the expo. The promo covers everything–full licenses, competitive upgrades and gifts.

Go here for more info on how to take advantage of the promotion.

The Indie Developer Spotlight also includes lots of other companies selling their software for 20% off, so go check it out!

Recipe Spotlight: Nabeyaki Udon

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

We’ve decided that as developers of recipe management software, it might be fun for us to showcase some of our favorite recipes here on the blog from time to time.

I’m going first with “Nabeyaki Udon”, which I’ve uploaded to the cloud in its original form. This is a dish that my wife and I love to get at Japanese restaurants. It’s a sort of noodle soup in a fish-based broth. I’ve always wanted to try making it, but never thought I’d be able to find the ingredients. However, like most exotic foods, its always easier than you think once you start in on it.

The main thing that makes udon, well udon, is the noodles and broth. The noodles are easy. They boil like every other kind. The broth is simply a mix of dashi, mirin, and soy sauce. The dashi is simply a stock made from boiling bonito flakes in water, or just using a bonito packet like I did. Mirin is just a Japanese rice cooking wine.

Beyond that its just a mix of ingredients. The recipe calls for chicken, but we used shrimp and huge amount of shitake and some enoki mushrooms. Then we used bok choy instead of leaks just because leeks are such a pain to break down. We also added a few fish cake slices to that be found at the asian market.

So although there are a lot of pieces to the recipe, its all pretty easy and when it comes together it’s just as good as in the restaurant. What more can you ask?

To find this recipe in SousChef’s Recipe Cloud, simply select to search be “Recipe Name” in the search field and enter “Nabeyaki Udon”.

2009 End of Year Sale!

Monday, December 21st, 2009

We’ve had an eventful year with much to celebrate! Now through January 1st use the coupon code “SOUSCHEF09″ and get 25% off SousChef. Remember, you can gift SousChef easily using our in-application store, just Download SousChef (if you haven’t already) and select “Buy SousChef…” from the SousChef menu.

SousChef 1.2.4 Released

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Today we released SousChef v1.2.4 (v723). This update fixes several bugs and adds a few features.

Version 1.2.4 fixes some errors that occurred during recipe editing. The process is now much more stable. Directions that seemed to disappear no longer do so. In addition, importing now functions correctly in Google Chrome, and improvements have been made to PDF import.

New features include coupon code support within the in-application store, and a Feedback option in the Help menu to make it easier for users to contact us directly within the program.

So, enjoy the latest version of SousChef v1.2.4, and continue to let us know how we can improve our software for you.

Download SousChef 1.2.4

SousChef 1.2.4 (v723) release notes (PDF)

Apple iPhone Tech Talk

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Apple iPhone Tech Talk in New York City. Tech Talk content is similar to Apple’s WWDC sessions but much more distilled. Because of this you are presented with, in a one day event, all the things that Apple feels are most important or generally applicable when building iPhone apps. It is hard to explain how useful this is. In particular the sessions on user interface design and web technologies were outstanding.

What does this mean for SousChef? It means that SousChef for iPhone has gotten a nice bump of inspiration and some more ideas that I think will make it a killer recipe app for iPhone when it comes out. As always, we don’t comment on release dates since we’ll invariably miss them and make you unhappy.

SousChef 1.2.3 Released

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

This morning we released SousChef v1.2.3 (v712). This update fixes several bugs and improves stability.

Version 1.2.3 fixes a crash during cloud searches performed by some PowerPC machines, and problems opening imported VRC and MacGourmet files. Problems occurring when certain recipes with images were posted to Blogger now work correctly. Stability during recipe editing has been improved, especially when removing items from recipes. SousChef now warns you before deleting a collection or folder of recipes. In addition to these, we’ve made a number of smaller improvements and bug fixes.

Download SousChef 1.2.3 Now

We hope you enjoy the latest version of SousChef, and continue to let us know how we can improve our software for you.