I've got a couple of older Pocket PCs laying around and decided to set one of them up to use in the kitchen to help me organize household tasks and as a "recipe box."  This article discusses how I am using PhatNotes and Adobe Reader to organize recipes, menu plans, kitchen tips & tricks and user documentation on my Pocket PC.

Pocket PC as Recipe Box

Instead of writing recipes down on index cards, I'm typing my recipes into PhatNotes. PhatNotes provides a simple user interface which makes it really easy to create and organize recipe cards (notes), and it also includes some great options that enhance its usage as a recipe box.  PhatNotes lets me:

• Schedule and post recipes or menus to Outlook
• Set timers to fire when recipes are finished cooking
• Create and and save menus
• Search for names, ingredients or any other text that is keyed into a recipe card (note) 

Create & Organize Recipes on a Pocket PC

I've got PhatNotes installed on my computer and on my Pocket PC.  I've created a Recipes Database, where I've set up a few categories which are also color coded:  Recipes (Yellow), Tips & Tricks (Green), and Menus (Blue).

Schedule & Post Recipes or Menus to Outlook

PhatNotes helps me plan my meals for the week.  I can assign recipes or menus directly to my Outlook Calendar by selecting a recipe or menu, then tapping Insert > Appointment.  To facilitate this, I've set up the icons that run along the bottom to include the Calendar icon (see the last icon on the right hand side in the above screenshot on the right). 

Recipe or Menu titles show up as appointments in the daily calendar with an assigned category of "Recipes" or "Menu" (the PhatNote category).

Set Timers to Fire

After I've prepared a recipe and put it into the oven to cook, I can set a reminder to fire when the food is done by tapping Insert > Reminder.  To facilitate this, I've included the timer icon in the icons that run along the bottom of the screen (see the 4th icon from the right in the above screenshot on the right).

Create & Save Meal Plans & Menus

If I put together a really nice meal or plan a party, I like to save my menus for future reference.  I have scraps of paper tucked in recipe books and kitchen drawers that I am now organizing into PhatNotes.  Because I've already input the recipes into PhatNotes, I can create links to the individual recipes by tapping Insert > Link > scroll through the recipes to highlight a specific recipe > then tap the link icon on the lower edge of the screen.

Now when I am ready to prepare my Thanksgiving meal or that next party, I won't have to spend any time looking up recipes.

In addition to my PhatNotes Recipe Box, I'm also using PhatNotes to keep track of Kitchen Tips & Tricks and to organize my various appliance user guides.

Maintain Tips & Tricks

I've set up a category in my Recipe Box called "Tips & Tricks" where I am logging all kinds of information that I refer to regularly, ranging from topics such as the best way to clean my drip coffee maker to the proper way to use the temperature probe in my Convection Oven.

Organize Appliance Manuals & User Documentation

Most appliances come with some kind of paper manual, but if you look around the internet, you can usually find electronic copies of manuals and appliance guides (usually in PDF format).  So instead of keeping all my appliance guides stashed in my kitchen junk drawer, I've gathered together PDF versions of the guides and copied them over to my Pocket PC (for backup purposes, I also maintain copies of these documents on my computer). 

I've installed Adobe Reader for Pocket PC on the device and I've set up a "Household" database in PhatNotes with a "Manual" category.  Within my Household database I've created index cards for each appliance user guide and posted links on the cards to the PDF files. (Tap Insert > File > navigate to the folder on the device where the user guide is stored and select the guide).

Tapping the link opens the PDF file in Adobe Reader:

Now instead of digging through a pile of user guides (and other junk), I can quickly and easily find the guide I need to consult right on my Pocket PC.

As a precautionary measure, whenever I use my Pocket PC in the kitchen, I'll put it inside a ziplock baggy to keep it clean and dry.

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