Evernote (free software) (402 views)

Beth and all,
Sorry. I've been trying to get back to this subject but things keep getting in my way. As it is, I should be in bed, so I think I'll have to post about this subject in pieces.

First, for me, Evernote doesn't replace Mastercook. The bulk of my recipes (20+ years worth) are kept in Mastercook. I keep my own cookbooks and recipes there, and people and groups I belong to send me them also, so I have thousands of 'cookbooks' -- some real cookbooks and mags, some accumulations of recipes I've put together from recipe groups I belong to. Both MC and Evernote have neato, what I call online "grab" tools. I use Evernotes for quick grabs...using EN as a holding place before things go into MC, perhaps. I used EverNote to grab whole threads when CL told us they were shutting down.

SO, Evernote! Why am I raving about it here? Well, for one thing, I thought of it for members here who perhaps have NO computer recipe management system... OR for folks like me who might want to do the types of things I use Evernote for. I just cannot rave enough about the FREE program. (I did buy the middle level account...I think it was about $40 a year...but I'm not sure I needed all that space. Someday I'll take a look and see if I really needed to buy. It's a bargain, I think...no matter what. A REAL BARGAIN. The more I use it, the more I love it. But I am using it for more than just recipes. So, here is a photo I took of mine: (wish me luck trying to add it)

I will probably have to go bed and come back tomorrow and try to explain what's in it. But this is open to my 'recipes' section to show some of how Evernote can be used to store recipes, or webpage grabs of recipes, or attachments of recipes...and even PDF's. IF I want to put some of my Mastercook'd recipes in there, I can. The FREE account lets you have it on two devices...so if I had a smart phone, I suppose I could take it to the market and look at recipes as I shop. I *could* even upload a shopping list to it. (MC has some of these same features...can make shopping list and take to store on a device.) But anyway, for some folks, Evernote may be useful.

Notice that I use it for all kinds of things. I am insane about it for grabbing stuff (it has a grab tool that I adore)... I grab my vet's webpage with phone number, for instance and store it in Cat folder (at left). You name it, I can grab it and immediately store it. Now, when I want info, I just go to my Evernote account. (I can SHARE pages of it, too!) More later. (PS: There is a Microsoft program some folks might use that has some similar features: OneNote. I have it, too...but so far, Evernote seems to fit me better. I don't fight with it as much...but some folks love their OneNote...so it's what works for each of us.) See you tomorrow.   PS: Viewing Evernote is actually better than this photo shows...I've squished it so you can see various areas at once. The left side is my folders, the center is a list of what's in one folder, the area to the right is the content of one of the things in the list. All can be modified to be viewed differently. I find this 'set' of views to be useful to me...but can change layout super easily...by clicking on another choice of layout.

I suppose I should mention: Evernote (optionally) gives you icon of an elephant that sits at top of your browser. When you run across a webpage you want to save or any section of it, or etc...click the elephant. You can also just highlight a recipe and choose "selection" and it will grab only that...and it's instantly file into your designated folder.  It's unreal!!!!!!! PPS: Yes, my Tags are not perfect. I have lots of changes to make on them. It's best, they say, to plan them out ahead of time because tags are awesome...and unlike folders in Evernote, they can go more than one level deep. (Long story.) So, you learn as you go and I need to get my tags unform and sensible. Tags are a whole 'nother subject and make Evernote even MORE super-duper. Some folks completely rely on them and don't even use folders! (I like folders.)