Daily Recipe – Review

Our rating:

By: Derek Ting

Version #: 1.0.0

Date Released: 2008-08-13

Developer:

Price: 0.99

User Rating:

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"I’m sick of the usual", "The choices are overwhelming", "I don’t have time to sift through websites and books"

If you’ve ever uttered any of the aforementioned phrases, in the midst of the "what’s for dinner" conversation du jour, this app may be for you. 

Daily Recipe "Provides a new healthy recipe every day", so says Derek Ting, its developer. 

I don’t know that I would really classify "Italian Lemon Butter Chicken" (recipe on the screen shot in the iTunes store) as healthy (with its saturated-fat laden CUP of butter and 5 tablespoons of HEAVY cream), although I suppose it’s certainly better than a recipe containing hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup! 

Appealing to the "give it to me simple and straight-forward" type personality AND dietary restriction-free, open-minded individual, this application eliminates the countless menu options available and never-ending anxiety about what to prepare for dinner (or other meal of your choosing). 

The program does two things:

1) provides you with ONE easy, new recipe, every day

2) gives you the ability to save that recipe (and, consequently, delete it at a later date, if you wish). 

Yes, that’s ALL it does.  Its "meant-to-look-like-your natural-handwriting" font on a yellow legal pad, screen shots are a folksy touch to an otherwise graphics-absent presentation.

I have two problems with the app. 

The first is incomplete instructions- recipe writing 101 folks!  I downloaded four recipes in as many days.  The second, "Chicken Piccata" only included procedural "Directions" up to #3.  What do I do with the last five ingredients?  What happens after I brown the chicken cutlets?  How do I make the sauce and serve the dish? (Ok, I can "wing it", but not everyone knows how.)  Come on.  Is it really too much to ask that the ONE recipe provided to us, on a daily basis, be thoroughly reviewed and tested?   I’ll let that one slide, assuming it just "fell through the cracks", since I had better luck with "Thai Noodles" (with chicken), "Artichoke Chicken" and "Chicken Pesto". 

My second (and perhaps obvious) gripe with the app is the lack of variety- FOUR chicken recipes, THREE of which are Italian "inspired", in just FOUR days (not to mention the sample recipe in the app store).  I think someone at Ting! Interactive Design is a lover of tryptophan (turkey’s not the only food rich in it) and Naples.  The app name is DAILY Recipe, NOT Daily MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN Recipe.  Some of us only eat fish and love middle-eastern flavors.  And what about the vegetarians, many of whom are life-long fans of Indian cuisine?  It seems to me that a broad assortment of proteins (inclusion of steak, beans and tofu, just to name a few), with ethnically-diverse cooking styles (German, Latin, Spanish, etc.), would add substantial heft to this very basic app.

 

QUICK TAKE

Value: GOOD at just $.99
Would I buy it again:  ONLY if we see an improvement in recipe selection and FULL instructions are given for each one
Learning Curve: Zero
Who is it for: Non-picky, allergy-free, no-nonsense types without the inclination, imagination or time to conjure up fresh ideas for a meal
What we like:  Ease and lack of options
What we don’t like:  Lack of options and protein choices, missing procedures,
Bottom Line:  Worth a look