Top 5 Foodie Apps

Now, I don't know if I've convinced any of your to become foodies, though I have definitely pointed you in the direction toward some great recipes and a better lifestyle in general, that being cooking your own food, preferably from scratch, without sacrificing time and money.

Here are some iPhone apps (they work on iPod Touch, too) that aren't just good for gourmands but can provide a framework for the less advanced cook to build on.

1. Ratio.
This app is based on the book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Cooking Everyday Food.

2. How To Cook Everything
Here is another app based on Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, another book on my wishlist (are you listening, Mike?). This app contains all thousands of recipes featured in the book. The great thing about Mark Bittman's recipes is that he views them as more of a guideline and then gives you notes for variations and ideas for experimentation, which is great for a cook, who like myself, who finds his or herself veering far off the course of the original recipe.

3. CookIt
This app allows you to time the preparation and cooking time for a meal. You can keep track of each dish individually, which is a nice feature . I don't see myself using this, personally, but it is great for those of you who judge your productivity based on the amount of time appropriated to a specific task.

4. Epicurious Recipes and Shopping List
Epicurious.com is one of my favorite recipe and food blogging sites and they have managed to up their degree of awesomeness by coming out ith a free app that puts all of their great recipes right at your finger tips. I hardly use the shopping list function of the application, but I feel that as I get better about planning out menus for a week, and even two, in advance, the handiness of being able to pick out recipes from this application and have the ingredients aggregated for me will be fully appreciated.

5. GroceryiQ
This app has been my grocery list application of choice. There is also the ability to add your value cards from grocery stores onto you iPod and scan them from there, as well as clip coupons directly onto the iPod to be used t the grocery store. I haven't tried out this functionality yet, but as I cook my grocery shopping into geer, this could become an even better app.

Honorable Mention
Locavore
With the advent of mega-supermarkets, people have forgotten that produce is seasonal, and the things that you are buying in the grocery store happen to be there because Chile is nice enough to import mangoes and strawberries and oranges to us in our off season. So, I've been thinking more and more about buying fruit and vegetables when they are in season, to be able to buy American (USA! USA!), but even more so to ensure that I'm getting the freshest and least corrupted harvest (they must be less corrupted when they are being harvested at the part of the year that nature originally dictated). This app could very easily point me in the right direction next time I decide to brave a farmers' market in Dupont Circle or the new Safeway in Georgetown.

So here are a few of my favorite foodie apps. Let me know if you decide to try one or if there is a good one that I didn't think to mention.