Tips for Using The Cooks Palate

We are often asked about the features included in The Cook's Palate. This page is intended to review some of the Cooks Palate features in detail.

Symbols
We have found that many users aren't aware of the symbol feature. For example to display "350 degrees" as 350º. To try it out:
1. Open a recipe and place the cursor in the instruction window
2. Depress the insert key on the keyboard
3. Select a symbol from the pop-up window
4. Close the window and the selected symbol will be placed where the cursor was

"Cloning" an ingredient
Sometimes an ingredient name is not listed the way you want in a recipe. Here is a quick and simple way to fix that problem.
1. Open a recipe and select add an ingredient
2. Search for "minced cilantro" (it isn't there)
3. Search for "chopped, fresh cilantro"
4. Click on the duplicate button at the top right
5. Edit the name to "minced cilantro" and save
 
Training your database
Once you have added "minced cilantro" (see above), you will always have it. Therefore, as you add and duplicate ingredients your database will get "smarter" and it will become less likely that you will need to add new ingredients.

"Cloning" a recipe
Many recipes are similar and have only small variations in ingredients and preparation. It is often faster to make a few edits in an existing recipe than to enter a new one from scratch. A good example may be Beef Burgundy or Beef Bourguignon. If you were to find a new twist on this great recipe you could quickly add it to your collection using duplication. Here's how.
1. Open the recipe "Beef Burgundy"
2. Click on the duplication key at the top right of the screen
3. You will get a recipe named "copy of Beef Burgundy"
4. Give it a new name and edit the changes
5. Save and you have a brand new twist on Beef Burgundy. Cabernet Beef?????

Emailing Recipes
The Cooks Palate has made it easy to share recipes with your friends. You can email recipes, groups of recipes, and even entire cookbooks.

To email a single recipe:
1. Click on a recipe to select it
2. Click on the email icon at the top right
3. Enter the recipient's email.
4. Click on send

To email multiple recipes:
1. On the recipe chapter page, select Print
2. In the window, select recipes by pressing the <Ctrl> key and clicking on your selections. Press OK
3. In the print preview window select the email icon
4. Enter the recipients name and click on send

To email an entire cookbook:
1. Go to the "Publish" tab
2. Select a cookbook
3. Click on the email icon
4. Enter the recipient's name
5. Click on send.

To link a recipe to a Master recipe
While creating the Master recipe, add the recipe required for its completion as an ingredient; For example, if Grilled Swordfish with Apple Salsa is the Master Recipe and Apple Salsa is the recipe linked to the Master recipe, Apple Salsa would have to be selected from the Select Recipes screen.

1. Select the recipe that will be the Master recipe
2. Click on the Add Ingredient button to open the Ingredient window
3. Click on the recipe option at the top of the window. From the recipe list, select the recipe to be linked to the master recipe
4. Click on the update to recipe button and click on the Instructions field to add instructions about using the linked recipe
5. Click on the Show button on the recipe card to view the linked recipe in the popup window
6. Click on Save to save the Master recipe

Tip
Remember to scale the linked recipe so that it serves the appropriate number of people for the Master recipe. If you plan to use the linked recipe feature extensively you may wish to save variations of the same recipe, each with a slightly different name and number of servings. This will ensure that the linked recipe is always "in context" with the Master recipe and the nutritional summary will be accurate.

We hope these tips will make The Cooks Palate more useful and more fun to use.