Apps We Love – Food & Drink
This month’s Apps We Love takes us into the holiday season with favorite apps that focus on food and drink. We surveyed members of the CPA Practice Advisor community along with scouring the Internet to learn which apps you can rely on to keep the social planning headaches at bay. Here’s what we found out.
Let’s start classy with Modern Classics of the Cocktail Renaissance (iOS only – and it costs $9.99). Yes, there’s a charge for this app, but if you want to wow your party attendees with the finest cocktail recipes of the ages, compiled by New York Times drinks writer Robert Simonson, you can’t get more authoritative than this. The app is searchable by cocktail or by spirit (indicate what you’ve got in your cabinet and the app will find you the drinks you can make), you can annotate with your own thoughts and experiences, and the app syncs to other food and drink apps operated by Martin Doudoroff, one of the leaders of the classic cocktail renaissance.
Turning to food, when looking for anything food related, Christine Boeckel, deputy editorial director for state tax at Bloomberg Tax, turns first to Wegmans via their mobile/tablet-friendly website or their app. “I love that Wegmans has beautiful and delicious recipes that are focused on nutrition. Their seasonal recipes and a wealth of other recipes are easily accessed and breathe new life into traditional dishes. All food products and recipes include nutritional information, a shopping list, and easy-to-follow directions for preparation.” Note also that you can click on an ingredient in any recipe and you will have the opportunity to add that item to your shopping list. Even if you don’t have a Wegman’s store near you, you can use the list anywhere.
Kacee Johnson, founder/CEO of Blue Ocean Principles, recommends Paprika ($2.99) to manager her food and drink recipes. Not to be confused with the Paprika payment app, Paprika for Food and Drink, “allows me to pull in any website or Pinterest recipe and OCRs the data to be in a better cooking format as well as categorizes recipes for me.”
Mark Brooks, associate director of innovation and strategic partnerships at the AICPA, has three recommendations for us. “OurGroceries is a super easy grocery shopping list that synchronizes with other devices. I use this with my wife to maintain one universal grocery list for our family. Vivino is a wine app that helps keep track of favorites. A nifty feature is that it can scan a restaurant menu to help you pick a great wine! And StreetFoodFinder – If you love food trucks, this app helps find where and when your favorites are open locally.”
Several members of our community turn to OpenTable when they’re heading out for a dining experience. “I like the brief info and ability to look at multiple choices, and ability to feel comfortable about last minute reservations,” said Will Hill, manager, training consulting & implementation services, Thomson Reuters.
Matt Donaldson, head of channel sales at Expensify, is also a fan of OpenTable. “Living in San Francisco means I will probably never be able to try all of the various options for food. I use OpenTable to make reservations and try to do it at a new place each time.”
“I’m a huge fan of OpenTable for making reservations and Yelp for reading reviews. For nutrition I usually stick to MyFitnessPal for calories and estimates at restaurants,” said Melisa Galasso, director in the audit professional practices group at Cherry Bekaert LLP and owner of Galasso Learning Solutions.
Damien Greathead, vice president – global accountants’ programs at Receipt Bank, also likes MyFitnessPal – “Because it helps me make better decisions before I bite into that 1,000+ calorie salad.” In addition, he recommends Joule: Sous Vide, “For perfect medium rare steak guaranteed,” and Vivino, “To keep track of great bottles of wine so I can order from the wine shop later.”
Sandra Wiley, president of Boomer Consulting, recommends OpenTable, the WW – Weight Watchers app, (“It’s a killer app!”), and Eat This, Not That! – the gaming app. “It’s a fun game that teaches you about smart choices.”
Richard Roppa, intellectual handyman at Quasar Cowboy Consulting, told us, “As a self-proclaimed idiot in the kitchen, and who has recently taken on a more natural approach to eating (I am eating nothing I cannot pronounce, and trying very hard to stick to only organic options), I have found BigOven to be extremely helpful in the creation of exciting dishes that leave people amazed at my new found love of cooking. What I really love more than that is the easy organizational flow. I can file recipes, work with a leftover tool (aka “what the heck can I make with these things I found in the fridge?”), and manage my grocery lists. I am so happy to have found this app and recommend it highly. Almost immediately I paid the premium membership of $20 which extended my ability to sort recipes by dietary restrictions and, more important, dietary favorites.”
Finally, Jackie Meyer, CPA, owner of Meyer Tax Consulting, recommends Find Me GF. “Even if I’m not on an official gluten free diet, it helps to see what restaurants around me offer those items and presumably healthier stuff.”
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Tags: Firm Management, Technology
