A newer version of Living Cookbook 2005 is available.
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- Average user rating: stars out of 85 votes Back to product review
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User reviews
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
5 stars
Version: Living Cookbook 2005 1.5
"The best Cookibook Software around"
Summary: I checked out other cookbook software and settled on Living Cookbook. The cost is very reasonable. Have been using for 18 months now & am not disappointed. There are many more features than I need. There are a few improvement I would like to see ... read more
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
5 stars
Version: Living Cookbook 2005 1.5
"This is hands-down the best cooking software out there!"
Pros: This product is so easy to use, and is very flexible. Aside from the great basic functions (entering and organizing recipes) and getting nutrition on any recipe, those micro-managers out there will have loads of fun using the pantry (they call it "inventory") features. I have a ball organizing everything into store aisles and entering the cost of each item for each different store. Also, I love that you can modify the display. I have mine setup with a pink background, red letters and a fancy font, but the beauty of it is that each person can decide for themselves how they want it to look (or they can leave it as is, if they don't care).
All that said, there are so many things I love about Living Cookbook that I can't write them all, but at $30 it's a screaming deal. Especially compared to other software that costs often much more and pales in comparison.
By the way, I was reading some of the other reviews and I think each person should try the software for themselves first. There is some information there that is DEFINITELY INCORRECT (like the licensing/invasion of privacy stuff...they don't do that) and I think these reviews were posted by users of a competitor's product, as I saw a post on their forum that seemed to encourage this. Then "coincidentally", all these bad reviews popped up at the same time as that post. Just thought you should know in the interest of fairness...
Cons: It's not really a "con" to me, but you do have to have a license for each computer you put the program on. So if you're used to using software that you buy on multiple computers (which is usually illegal, by the way), you might think twice because this one won't let you. But at less than $30, it costs about the same as one dinner for two at a standard chain restaurant, and if you can afford to own more than one computer I think you should be able to afford to pay for legal licenses on each one. Especially for great, well-made software. Just my 2 cents...
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5 stars
Version: Living Cookbook 2005 1.5
Pros: This software beats out any other recipe software out there! I even use it to organize other things, like gardening, crafts and anything else you want. Just start a cookbook on whatever subject desired and fill with whatever you like about the subject. For example, I started a cookbook titled "crafts." In the cookbook I have chapters, "everyday crafts," "Christmas Crafts," "Easter Crafts," and more. So far I have 23 cookbooks going. Other cookbooks I have are soap & cosmetics making, song lyrics, gardening, canning & preserving and more, along with the normal food cookbooks. The best part is, I copy and paste the recipes/instructions and with a few clicks organize by ingredient, process, or whatever. You can add pictures, a main picture and step by step pictures if you like. Whoever says this software is confusing or not worth the time, they are either not cooks, don't like to organize files or are just out of their freakin minds!
Cons: I haven't found anything I dislike about it and I've had it and used it regularly for several years now. Most of the time when I download software, I use it a few times and forget about it. This one, I use daily!
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3 stars
Version: Living Cookbook 2005 1.5
"Excellent feature sent with draconian license terms"
Pros: Featurewise, there is a lot to like about Living Cookbook. I like the Cookbook and chapter design, it really allows you to organize your recipes well. The program is very feature rich as well, more so than most other cookbooks out there. It can be intimidating at first, but it's worth it to take the time to familiarize yourself with the program.
Technical support is excellent, there is a very active userbase on the forums, and the moderators do an excellent job following up on questions. Also, although I haven't seen any incremental updates since I purchased Living Cookbook, it is being developed on so you don't have to worry about being abandoned by the vendor. Upgrades aren't free, but are reasonably priced.
Cons: As good as the program is, it's not without it's faults. The ingrediant list doesn't offer an extra field for notes, which means you have to add them to the ingrediant itself which causes lots of extra "linking" ingrediants to the master list. While not a huge deal, it's a little time consuming especially if you are putting a lot of recipes in.
The biggest drawback by far is the licensing scheme though. The license is tied to your computer, which is unfortunate since I like to enter and organize my recipes on my PC but take my laptop down to the kitchen in order to actually make the recipe. An extra license would need to be purchased for this, and they don't even offer a discount for additional ones. Licenses also have to be activated online, so if you reinstall your computer be prepared to go to the companies forums and plead for a license reset. And a final note regarding the licensing, it's not automatically produced by the system so you have to wait up to 5 days for them to get one to you. I feel that is pretty ridiculous in this day and age, and it's the only software that I've purchased in the last 2 years not to get me my license within the first hour. Make sure you make your way to Radium's forums and check out their license area before purchasing.
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5 stars
Version: Living Cookbook 2005 1.5
"Its about time someone got it down!!"
Pros: I was writing my next book and self publishing this one. Without a "professional" editor it was getting tricky.While downloading some others gave this a try and I love it! This will with teaching my students
Books, Web, everything.
The best is Spell check
Cons: One or two little advanced chef stuff I'd like to see yet not a con
I have already recomended it to others they love it too.
If anyone would like to ask me how a Certified Proffesional Chef please feel free to contact me at amusedfoods.com
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