Whether cooking with young children or structuring a high school FACS cooking unit, the apps store has free apps which will be useful. For cooking with young people, Big Fork, Little Fork from Kraft Foods offers recipes, nutrition information, tips for healthy eating, and conversation starters to inspire family dinners.
My friends and I often say either the basic Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Garden Cookbook is the staple on the cookbook shelf so I was happy to see the free Betty Crocker Cookbook app and downloaded it immediately. If connected to the Internet, view photos of the recipes; if not connected, view the text of the recipes and keep cooking. This cookbook app would be helpful for menu planning or cooking in a Foods class or, really, any kitchen. The growing interest in growing and cooking local foods makes the Recipes from Harvest to Heat app provides recipes for every course in a formal meal and a focus on the farmer. A great component for an “eat local” unit.
Our school’s Foods class has an international unit. The 365 World Recipes, Thai Cooking for iPad, Best of French Cuisine and Italian Cookbook HD Lite would all be helpful sources for recipe ideas. If working on unique courses, the Tapas! Cookbook Lite (5 recipes), the vegetarian Wraps & Rolls (39 recipes), and the Sweet Cookbook Lite (5 recipes) would be great for some unique tapas, wrap sandwiches and dessert ideas. If looking for some recipes that fit well with spring, the Outdoor! Cookbook Lite offers five recipes and video demos on how to make them.
Looking for kitchen fun? The Nibbly-Bits app offers artistic renditions of recipes for any course with a new artistic rendition and recipe each week (Guacamole is especially fun to look at and tasty too). On food games, the Tiny Chef puts the user in the role of restaurateur and Stand-O-Food has a free version which is fun (though I became addicted and had to purchase the full version which looks like it’s price is reduced until March 21, just in case you get addicted too ;)).
Happy cooking, be it real or virtual!
No Time to Sleep 