Shop’NCook Blog

Update July 11, 2009: The issue is now fixed on the US versions of Shop’NCook Home, Menu and Pro. I will update the international versions and Shop’NCook Reader in a few days - meanwhile use the workaround below.

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Java for Mac OS X 10.5 can cause Shop’NCook to crash. I am working on it and hopefully will publish a compatible version of Shop’NCook in a few days. Meanwhile, Shop’NCook users should wait before installing the latest Java update.

Update June 30, 2009:  Mmm, the latest Java update seems to be protecting against very serious security vulnerabilities. Forget what I wrote above - do install the update as soon as possible, then applies the easy workaround below to continue using Shop’NCook.

If you have already installed it, here is a simple workaround:

1. Open the Java Preferences in folder Applications/Utilities .
2.  Drag J2SE 1.4.2, 32-bit at the top of the choices for Java applications.

That’s it! By setting Java 1.4.2 as your preferred Java Virtual Machine, Shop’NCook will work again like before.

Shop’NCook software comes with about 2000 grocery items, most of them with nutritional data. It is sufficient for many purposes, but does not cover everything. Occasionally, you will encounter ingredients not in the database. This post shows step by step how easy it is to add an ingredient to the database and include it in the nutritional analysis of your recipes.

1. Adding an ingredient to the database

Display the Shopping List manager tab, click on the Edit button to open the database editor. Select “Extended List” in the Tools menu to display all the categories and items of the database. Choose the appropriate category. Click on the NewItem button and type the new item name. In the Pro edition, you can also input the cost information to include the ingredient in your cost calculations.

Click on OK to save the change to the database.

2. Accessing the nutritional information

Locate the new item in the Shopping List panel and click on the question mark next to it.

This will open the nutritional information window (still empty). Click on the Edit button to reach the nutritional information editor.

In the Nutritional information editor, you can add the nutritional data and the unit conversion data.

3. Adding nutritional data

You input the nutritional data in the bottom area of the Nutritional information editor window. The default quantity of the ingredient is 100 g. If you want to input the nutrient values for another quantity, make sure  to first set the correct ingredient quantity and click on Apply. Input then the nutritional values corresponding to the quantity selected.

When you don’t know the value of a nutrient, leave it just empty. A good place to find the nutritional values of your ingredients is the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

4. Adding unit conversion data

Unit conversion data allows Shop’NCook to compute the nutritional information of ingredients for a vast number of quantities and units of measure.

For example: Ginger snaps in recipes is often specified in number of pieces, like: 3 ginger snaps. In order to compute the nutritional facts, Shop’NCook needs to know the weight of the cookies. This information is input in the top part of the nutritional editor window. Click the Add button in the Unit information area to add Unit conversion information. Type the name of the unit and the corresponding weight. For no unit, type “each” or leave empty. Click then OK to save the unit.

In the same way, you can input the weight of one cup of crumbs. Note that it is enough to add the weight of one volume unit (like cup). Shop’NCook will deduct from it the weight of all the other volume units.

Here is below the completed nutrition editor window:

Click then on Save to save the nutritional information.

The new ingredient can now be correctly included in the nutritional analysis and costing of the recipes. Here is a recipe as example to conclude this post:

GINGER SNAP PIE CRUST

Yield: 8  servings  of 1/8 of 9 inch pie crust
Total food cost: USD2.24
Food cost per portion: USD0.28

1 1/2 c.    ginger snaps crumbs
2 tbsp.    sugar
1/4 c.    butter, melted

Combine ginger snaps and sugar in a small bowl. Add butter, mix well. Press mixture into bottom and sides of a lightly greased 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool. Yield: one 9 inch pie crust.

Nutritional facts per serving (daily value): Calories 163kcal; Protein 1g (3%); Total Fat 8g (12%)(Sat. 4g (18%)); Chol. 15mg (5%); Carb. 22g (7%); Fiber 1g (2%); Sugars 8g; Calcium 20mg (2%); Iron 2mg (9%); Folate 21µg; Vit. B12 0µg (0%); Trans fat 0g
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Exported from Shop’NCook Pro 3.4.3

Combining recipes is a powerful feature of Shop’NCook software that makes it easy to reuse recipes by combining them with other recipes, like recipes for sauce or dough that may be common to several preparations. Combining recipes makes it easier to manage your collection, as you only have to make changes in one place to update all the recipes using this preparation.

A recipe that includes other recipes looks as follows:

The ingredient “hollandaise sauce” is underlined to show that it links to a recipe.

If you click on Hollandaise sauce, the following recipe opens, correctly scaled to the required quantity:

Also, the nutritional analysis of the Brussels sprouts recipe, the list of ingredients to add to the shopping list, as well as the cost estimate include the ingredients of Hollandaise sauce.

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Shop’NCook Pro lets you estimate the cost of your recipes in a mostly automatic way, but you may need to some adjustments to get an accurate costing. I will show you how in this post.

Adding cost data

To cost out recipes, you have to make sure first to input cost data for the ingredients in the database. The first time you start Shop’NCook Pro, you have the possibility to import a cost database. If you skipped this step, don’t panic! You can still import it by selecting “Import cost data” in the Costing menu of the Shopping List manager tab. The cost database is there to help you get a quick start with the costing functions. For accurate costing, you will have to input your own cost data from your suppliers. Staple prices greatly vary depending on the region and the season!

Inputting your own cost data

To add your own data, click on the Edit button of the Shopping List manager tab. This will open the database editor. Select “Extended list” in the Tools menu to display all the 2000 items of the database. The cost data is input in the three columns on the right: quantity, cost unit and cost.

For example: quantity: 1, cost unit: quart, cost: 2.59, i.e. the cost of one quart of the ingredient.

Tip: you are not limited to the choice displayed in the pull down menu of the cost unit, but can type any unit of your choice in the field.

Automatic cost estimate

Once the software knows the cost data, it is able to compute automatically the cost of your recipes. Here is how the costing window may look initially:

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This is last minute, but… If you haven’t yet planned your Christmas day menu, are expecting visitors, don’t know what to make and how… This could be a life saver.

There is a hidden Christmas menu in Shop’NCook Menu and Pro.

Click on the Library tab of the Calendar, select “Example of complete menu” and display the Menu manager. Just set the number of servings, add the ingredients to the shopping list, print the menu and the recipes… and you are good to go!

Merry Christmas to all!

 

Have you noticed the new software boxes on Shop’NCook website for a few days? Aren’t they pretty? A very talented designer made them for me. I had done the previous ones myself. Here they are:

Before:

After:

It is easy to see why it is not my artistic talents that make Shop’NCook such a great software…

Anyway, here is the holiday special:

Order before December 20 Shop’NCook Home, Menu or Pro with a back-up CD in a sleeve (it costs just $10 more than the version for download), and receive instead the CD in a DVD box with the pretty new covers. Plus, the shipping is on me! Wouldn’t Shop’NCook make a great gift for Christmas?

Note: according to USPS holiday guidelines, packages shipped in the US by priority mail before or on December 20 should reach you by December 25.

This video explains why ingredients are sometimes converted to shopping units when adding from recipes - and sometimes not. It also shows how to change the preferred shopping units to any units of your choice.

You can watch below three new features of the recipe editor in action. They are small improvements which should improve the usability and user experience of the editor. Do not miss the previous post on how to import a recipe in less than 20 seconds.

This video shows how a recipe can be imported into Shop’NCook in less than 20 seconds.

Note: The recipe costing is in the Pro edition and the meal planner in Menu and Pro editions only.

I have just uploaded the new release 3.4.3 of Shop’NCook Home, Shop’NCook Menu and Shop’NCook Pro. You can download it now here.

Registered users of version 3.4 can update to version 3.4.3 for free and do not need a new registration number. To install or update, just run the installer on top of your current installation. Like usual, it is always a good idea to make a back-up of your data before installing a new version.

The Mac release is again compatible with Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3. At the same time, all the small quirks on Leopard have been fixed. The Windows release is now signed, meaning that XP and Vista users will not see all the time these annoying “Security warning” message and can confirm they have the original copy of the software.

The new features include:

• a much awaited Paste button in the wizard;
• supports drag & drop of recipes - just drop the whole recipe text onto the recipe panel to import it;
• supports drag & drop of pictures - just drop a picture onto a recipe to add it;
• new Toggle button in the recipe editor to transform conveniently a line of instructions into an ingredient line and vice versa;
• On Mac, supports now the pict image format that is used in particular by FireFox and Internet Explorer browsers.

In coming posts, I will show some of the new features in action.