Return to Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software 4.1 on CD - Full Version
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  16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
 
The Perfect Recipe Software September 8, 2008
Reviewer: K. Rodgers  
(From Amazon review found here.)
I am creating a family cookbook, and I have found this software to be exactly what I was looking for! I started with recipes from parents and grandparents, but I am having just as much fun getting recipes from my kids. My sister and I are putting this book together to give to our children this Christmas, and I am sure it will be a hit.

The software is very easy to use, yet it allows for many creative options. One of the neatest options is the ability to include pictures with each recipe. I have retrieved old pictures, going back several generations, and combined them with pictures taken just last week with the newest addition to the family. There is always room (as much as you need or want) to include stories that relate to each recipe. The cookbook then becomes a family history in recipes.

Another really important feature is that you keep the data on your own computer. That allows you to make changes if you need to (no matter how many times you proofread, someone will always find a mistake somewhere.) You can then rerun a page whenever needed. You can also add to the cookbook anytime a new family favorite recipe pops up.

The website for this software also has many ideas and examples. A really nice feature is a blog for questions and ideas. The creators of this software will respond to your questions and concerns quickly, and I really appreciated that!

I highly recommend this software!!

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  7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 
Great Cookbook Software September 8, 2008
Reviewer: Marian R. Richards from Littleton, CO USA  
(From Amazon review found here.)
I was looking for software to compile a cookbook for a school music group. I didn't want one that already had 500 recipes in it; just something easy-to-use to make my job easier! This is the one to get. The customer service people are quick to respond and great to work with.

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  7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 
ease of use? - TERRIFIC September 8, 2008
Reviewer: Sandie from Westmoreland, TN United States  
(From Amazon review found here.)
First of all, I love this product! My hubby gave it to me for Christmas, and I am having a great time playing with it.

My usual method of keeping up with my recipes was keying into a word processing program, printing them out and placing in a three-ring binder in sheet protectors (to keep them clean!). I was looking for something to key into, and maybe compile them into a cookbook for others to use, and this seems to fit the bill! With this software, I can print individual recipes for my binder as I go, and still have the recipes together for use later. Nifty, huh?

And it's so simple to use, no complicated ingredient lists, etc. I am using "cut and paste" to move my recipes from the word processing program to this program; very simple, and quick too! I can also pick up new recipes from the internet using the same method. Once I paste, then I can clean up the formatting to suit myself. Easy, easy, EASY!

I like the section for "authors" of the recipes. A short biography of each person is entered, then you can "give credit where credit is due" for those wonderful recipes that have passed down through the generations. Also, the "types" (i.e., dessert, main dish, etc.) of recipes can be selected anyway I want them, then changed later if I need to expand or delete.

They have a message board, for general chit-chat as well as where problems are addressed. Also, suggestions are accepted from users to help upgrade future editions to better meet the needs of the end-users. Great suggestions are being offered, and it really makes me feel like they are trying their best to make a good product better!

If you are looking for an easy "electronic" recipe box, this may be just the product for you. I know it's working for me!


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  33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
 
Creating a Family Heirloom Cookbook September 8, 2008
Reviewer: Deidre A. Penrod "(Ah-Dee)" from Austin, Texas  
(From Amazon review found here.)
All of you that know me know that I am committed to preserving recipes and cookbooks of the past. This includes personal collections of recipes, family heirloom recipes, older cookbooks from previous centuries, and recipes from our current times. That is why I want to tell all of you about a totally new and wonderful software that I have discovered recently that will help you to put a cookbook together to share or keep within your own family. These are the reasons I am telling you about this product, and I am not affiliated in any other way with them except to be a consumer. This is a relatively new company, and you may not have heard about it yet.

http://www.cookbookpeople.com/index.htm

Have you ever had anyone suggest to you that you should write a cookbook? I have, usually whenever I bring a recipe to a covered dish luncheon, entertained at home, or whenever I share a recipe. All of us that cook have learned through the years what works with what, and how to take shortcuts with what we use in our culinary expertise.

There may be many reasons why you want to put together a group of your personal recipes. You might want to gather up a loved ones favorite recipes to save them for future generations, or you might want to put together a special collection of your own recipes to share them with various other members of your family and a select group of friends, or you might just want to keep a "special" batch of recipes handy in one place for the holiday cooking we all do. Whatever the reason, push comes to shove, it is difficult to actually make a cookbook actually happen.

After compiling a pile of recipes, then what do you do? By then, the project seems to overwhelm you and it seems like too much work to finish it, so it seems easier to just print out the recipes and hope you do not lose them for the next time you need to refer to them. After taking off the headers from whatever recipe program you are using, going over the recipes again and again, changing your mind about what to add or not...it hardly seems worth the bother, what with all of the commitments we all have in day to day life.

Here is where "Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software" comes to the rescue. It is an extremely easy and versatile software product to use to gather up those old index cards, newspaper clippings, recipes from the back of used envelopes, hints and ideas you have been saving for years, etc. With this software you will be able to organize all of your recipes in a short period of time. Before I purchased a copy, I found out that "Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software" is the best selling Cooking and Health software on Amazon, and is always in the top 3 under Genealogy Software.

Using it is simple. First you pick out a cover page, using any of the already 27 templates in the program, or design one of your own using a custom made template. Add your own photo, and any text you want to the cover. The software also features six half-page templates, which far more people than you'd think are looking for. You can also mix and match the templates to use for each the sections in your cookbook, or you can have all of them the same background. But if you decide to change your mind before you are finished, you can change the background pages again with no harm to your recipes.

After you have made your decisions on your cover and background pages, then just start adding in your recipes. If you have already been storing your recipe collection in one of the recipe software products available, you will find that getting them into actual cookbook format will be simple, and you will not have to type in and recipe at all to use the product. Just use a simple cut and paste method.

As you enter each recipe into "Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook", you simply put the recipe into one of the categories that is already in the program, or add your own unique category name. You can add as much information as you want with the recipe, all of your notes, and personal changes you have made, etc. Every recipe can also have its own photo added. The nice thing about this feature is that if you are working on a heritage or family cookbook, you can add a photo of the person or relative who gave you the recipe, or a photo of the family eating around the table, or a photo of the food itself. The choice of photos is up to you and you are unlimited in what you want to add. It is YOUR cookbook.

As your add your recipes, they also are automatically going into a Table Of Contents, with each category, so you are able to check on your progress. The table of contents will also show the photos you have attached to the recipes, or you can tell the program not to show them. My choice is to keep the photos with the contents, so you can take a quick glance at the recipes listed and see what you are searching for quickly, but it YOUR choice. If you are entering a lot of recipes, then you may not want to have the photos show up in the contents to have more text on the pages, but the photos will still show up in the recipes themselves.

The spell checker that is included with the program is a very good one, similar to the one in WORD. You can add words that may be missing to the dictionary, or see different variants of the spelling you are using.

There is also a section of biographies for whomever you want to include in your family cookbook. In this section you can put in a genealogical note regarding family members and friends of the family who contributed the recipes. Photos again are included in this section to add.

In the Contributor area, names and addresses are added in order for family members to keep track of each other. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses can also be included in the address book. This is a wonderful section to use later for holiday mailings, and family reunions. A birthday section keeps track of birthdays and is arranged by month to help you remember to send birthday greetings. The address book and the birthday page do not have to have information added separately, as it only has to be added once to the contributor section, and that is only if you want it to show up in the finished version of the book. Plus, since it is in a cookbook that will be used again and again, if you should need any information from these sections, you will probably be able to get your hands on it quickly.

Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software will allow you to make small cookbooks for family and friends, larger cookbooks for family reunions and other purposes, yet you can also make a huge cookbook for a church or school fundraiser. The choices are unlimited as to size.

When you are completely satisfied that you are finished with your cookbook, you can then put it into PDF format and keep a copy, bring it to a copier such as Kinko's, and then either you or they can print it off, or you can send it to the CookBook People and have them print it for you. You choices are unlimited! And it is YOUR cookbook, and reflects YOU, not what anyone else thinks you should have done.

Go to the software site for more information and examples of what the software can do for YOU. If you have been putting off compiling your cookbook, believe me, now is the time to start. With this software, you will be finished quicker then you can imagine, and if you are like me, you will be already planning your future cookbooks. The other thing that I can appreciate about the software, is that if you should change your mind about the recipes, or need to add more recipes later on in time, it is a very simple matter to do that. YOUR cookbook is never "set into stone", so to speak.

Deidre-Anne Penrod


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  12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
 
Great Software September 8, 2008
Reviewer: Kathryn M. Carriere from Houston, Texas USA  
(From Amazon review found here.)
Like one of the other reviewrs, I had tried not only a couple of other cookbook programs, but many. I was beginning to become very frustrated because either I couldn't find what I was looking for in a product or the product wasn't what it was advertised as or just didn't work. I was about to give up in finding "that product." I did one last search on the internet and found this product by accident. I ordered it and after a few attempts at loading onto my computer (needless to say, my computer was having an attitude problem), I finally got the program loaded and fell in love with the product. I don't know how I managed before I found it. I am a published author of one cookbook that really didn't come out well because of the other programs that I was using. Now, with this program, my cookbooks will be so much better. Thank you so much Cookbook People.


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  12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
 
Best Recipe Software EVER! September 8, 2008
Reviewer: B. Matheson from Salt Lake City, UT USA  
(From Amazon review found here.)
I have been using Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software for several months now. I absolutely love it! It is the easiest software I have ever used and I have used a couple trying to find the right one. The only thing I do not like about this software is that many of the pages are in color and do not transfer to black and white very well when copied. I have found the help at customer service to be more than adequate. You won't be disappointed if you purchase this. Very easy to maintain and fun to use.


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  20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
 
Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software March 8, 2008
Reviewer: Lana Olson from Albany, Western Australia Australia  
I have been looking for a program like this for a long time. It is so simple to use, all you have to do is type up your recipes and pick out covers/format, add some personal information which is optional and the program does the rest for you, even adding photo's is easy. I had a small problem (caused by myself) and the support and help I got from "The Cookbook People" was amazing. They did everything they could to help me fix my problem (besides fly out to Australia) and we got it sorted.  So thank you Pam and your family for this great program which I love, I am constanly adding new recipes but at least I can print a new book every time I want it updated and if someone wants a recipe I just have to print it out for them.
I dont have 100's of recipes on single sheets of paper anymore, my cookbook looks so professional now and I am proud of it.

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