In case you missed the Google Doodle this week, the icon is featuring a typical American Thanksgiving meal with a link to six recipes from cookbook author and TV chef Ina Garten for the big day.
In 2010, though, going online to find recipes seems almost quaint, given the number of apps available and their accompanying features such as shopping lists, measurement conversions and substitute suggestions. As readers prep for Thanksgiving, following are some apps that can help with last minute meal planning.
Epicurious Recipes
An iPhone app, it, as the name suggests offers recipes for almost any meal and themed holiday, with Thanksgiving a big focus. Users can search for recipes by main ingredient or cuisine or occasion.
Whole Foods App
If you like the dishes Whole Foods serves up then this is the app for you. Also available in iTunes, this app does have some limitations, according to a review on About.com: there's no Twitter or Facebook integration. Also, the ingredient totals and instructions are on separate pages, which means you have to move back and forth. But, About.com points out, the app also has a feature called the "On Hand" tab in which the user can find recipes based on the ingredients already on hand.
CHOW's Thanksgiving Dinner Coach
For beginners there is CHOW's Thanksgiving Dinner Coach. It gives directions on everything a beginning cook needs to know for T-Day, along with recipes for nine traditional Thanksgiving Day dishes. The app also creates a shopping list, along with necessary tools and equipment as the recipes are selected.
An Oldie But Goodie
For the very old school there is the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, which fields most of its requests and questions by phone. On Thanksgiving Day it will receive about 10,000 calls and 5,000 emails, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune. It doesn't have the sex appeal of a haute cuisine iPhone app, but in any chef's hour of need, a live voice is often preferred. "The fact that you can call a hot line and talk to an expert who knows how to make the perfect bird is so valuable to the consumer who's feeling so stressed," said Marie Chen, a senior consultant at EffectiveBrands, in the Tribune article.
