There's an App for That....

I've been a proud iPhone owner for over a year. In that year, I got my husband to switch from a Blackberry to an iPhone and even got my sister hooked on the handy gadget. In my year+, I've also purchased (and deleted) my fair share of apps.

In case you're like my mother and you're not particularly tech savvy, an "app" is an application (or, as my mom said, all those colorful little buttons on my screen) that provides specific information, games, etc. And there are a ton of apps for foodies.

Here are three of my favorites. If you're a cook, an eater, or all-around food lover and you have an iPhone, check these out. There are a ton of other apps I haven't even brushed on, so if YOUR favorite isn't on this list, let me know--leave me a comment. I always love discovering new things!

• Martha's Everyday Food (.99): This app features a highlighted dinner recipe each night (called Dinner Tonight) and a searchable database of recipes from Everyday Food. You can save favorite recipes, email them to friends, and even send the recipe to your shopping list. With help from the website ZipList, doing this generates a shopping list which is super handy. For a buck you can't ask for much more--as Martha would say: it's a good thing.

• All Recipes (free): This is a bit less sophisticated than the Martha Stewart app (of course!) but it features a fun, handy Dinner Spinner. You just select options from a handful of categories, tell it to "spin" and a bunch of recipes fitting your criteria are displayed. This app includes a lot of user feedback and the recipes are easy and good for everyday dinners. Recipes come from the All Recipes website and, like Martha's app, you can save your favorites.
  
  
• Epicurious (free): Epicurious.com's website (the site that tied in with now-defunct Gourmet magazine) is one of my favorite food sites. Their app is decent. You can search their database of recipes and save favorites. You can also use the site to make your shopping list. Like the Epicurious site, there are a lot of user comments for each recipe, and these comments can be very helpful in suggesting substitutions and simplifications.