Oooh, do you mind sharing what is this "great app for recipes" that you have and like ? :)

I'm having a desk put in my new kitchen. It is our favorite spot for using the computer and we frequently use it to look up recipes. I saw a link on this website to a collection of desk pictures. Maybe someone will remember it.

decided to spend the money on better stove and granite...so we took our hutch that was in the dining room and it had a garage door type area...had hubby drill hole in there and put surge suppressor. It also has a pull out serving tray...you know the bottom shelf pulls out for company...anyway when I'm on the laptop I pull up a stool and work, when I want to hide it I shove it in teh garage. It also charges phone, ipods, etc.

Trish

Do you have a flat screen tv in the kitchen? You could network it so the computer screen comes up on the tv screen. Then your recipe would be nice and big.

My son did that in his small partment. He has a projector tv in the living room area where his desk is, a flat screen in the corner behind the sink and another flatscree in the bathroom.

He can pull whatever he wants up so it is on all the tv's.

I have a small desk at the end of my hutch for my laptop, and a small flat screen TV at the end of my peninsula.

This is the only picture i had on my computer.. The desk has since been completed with granite top and a built in cork board on the wall (something I never asked for but the cabinet maker did for me anyway- still deciding how I feel about that).. We are moving in on Wed. and that is where my lap-top will go. the cab. to the left is a single wall oven and mw.

My teen daughter has this cool laptop that swivels.
Kind of like this one but hers is a neon green color.

My older sister has a shelf like this because she can not
be away from her laptop for a second. Constantly busy with
work. Laptop or cell. She needs to go on vacation : )

I love these idea.....

I used to have a cutting board like this in my last house.
Cute pc idea.

I could imagine this in a fancy European Kitchen

This from the web called unplugged images

this can be mounted on a wall but I would hope it comes
in other colors or could be painted. From Furniture for
small spaces

another creative solution from instructables

Here is a link that might be useful: computer furniture

Most of the time we have our laptop located on our raised peninsula (also have an island which we eat at most days). Since we are wireless, it can be moved anywhere if necessary. At the end of the peninsula we have a file cabinet and a space for our wireless printer. When we want to hide the laptop, it easily fits into the cabinet with the printer.

Oohh! I can't wait! I installed a flat-panel LCD display in my kitchen and have been planning to add a MacMini to it (but haven't bought the MacMini yet) and a wireless membrane keyboard (so I can spill stuff on it). Since it's both an HDMI and VGA display, I just have to switch inputs on the TV's remote to choose whether to watch TV or see my computer's display. Here's the display I'll be using:

{{!gwi}}

Philips 19" LCD flat panel HDMI/VGA display (above cooktop).

Great feedback thanks everyone. I have included the link for the Recipe Application. They are a private home-grown company and ask for feedback from customers and have great customer service. I only have my recipes online, so haven't tried the book print out but it looks awesome. You can make a beautiful book with great personalized covers and pages with recipe and family pictures, etc. I am not the best cook, so when I find something that works for me, I drop it in my computer. I searched through a lot of different applications and this one was the best one (I thought). Let me know what you think? I had no problems downloading and even bought extra CDs to share with friends.
~Marlene~

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe Software

Regarding an earlier post, you wouldn't have to "network" the display to the computer, you would just need to supply an additional HDMI or VGA output to feed any secondary display. Both HDMI and VGA splitters are available from monoprice.com, and are pretty reasonably priced. Note that you would also need a wireless keyboard and mouse with enough range to the source PC.

A bit pricier (about $200), but pretty neat is their "VGA Extender" (also known as a "balun") which can extend any VGA signal for up to 600' over plain old CAT5 network cable (you would still need a splitter if sourcing from a computer with a primary display). Also, wall-mounting either an "all-in-one" PC or an iMac would work great for any kitchen (note that Apple VESA adapters are NOT available for 20" iMacs).

Just thought I would also mention that the Cookbook People have a message board too...not real active, but they will answer your questions there.

Good technical advice for everyone...THANX, studio460.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cook Book Application (message board)

Thanks Boxerpups and everyone else. This thread is a great example of the generosity of members of gw. People spent some time searching and posting of good ideas for computers in kitchens. AAAAAnd, gave us some technical details as well as general ideas. I want a tv and computer in my planned kitchen. Just don't have the details worked out yet. Thanks to all.

Responding to sonaliagrawal question. There was a good discussion of recipe storage on the cooking forum recently. Google docs is excellent for recipes.

Here is a link that might be useful: How do you keep track of recipes?

Ideally, a database application would be the most flexible, most powerful application for creating your own recipe database. I have the developer edition of Filemaker Pro which allows you to author custom, turnkey database applications (called "standalone runtime" applications) where the end-user doesn't even need to own a copy of Filemaker (or a license) to install and use it. For most, Filemaker's Bento 3 for OS X would be a great choice.

For Mac OS X users:

Bento 3 $49.95 (user-friendly, recipe template available free from Filemaker site).
Filemaker Pro 10 $299 (extremely powerful, still pretty easy to use, but perhaps not for novices).
Filemaker Pro 10 Advanced $499 (allows creation of standalone, license-free runtime applications, plus "menu-less" kiosk applications).

studio460...thanks for all the info..My husband and I have been disagreeing over having a TV or a MAC in the kitchen and now I guess we can have both!

I just ordered the HP TouchSmart for our remodel - an all-in-one flat scfreen computer with a TV tuner. It happens to come with software Recipe Box that can be used to organize recipes - or can run other Windows based software.

cawfeegirl:

Yes, Cawfeegirl, you can have your cake and eat it too! You'll need either a miniDVI-to-HDMI adapter ($6.94), or a DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter ($8.55), both available from monoprice.com, depending on which model Mac you have (older iMacs have miniDVI ports; new MacMinis have both; newest iMacs have DisplayPort only). With the proper adapter, you can connect a MacMini to any HDMI-capable display or TV.

I actually misspoke in my earlier post--the preference would be to have a TV with two HDMI inputs and use one for your MacMini, and one for your CATV set-top box. Although a VGA input would also work (with the appropriate adapter), HDMI is capable of addressing higher resolutions than VGA, and is therefore preferred. When connected via HDMI, Macs typically automatically scale their display output to your TV's native aspect ratio and resolution (everything will look "right" without any hassle).

dcwesley:

Congrats! Many PC manufacturers are now making compact, all-in-one computers these days, some, even with touchscreens (which Apple does not yet offer). Many all-in-one, Windows-based PCs also offer significant savings over their pricier Apple counterparts.

OK...thanks for all the pictures, you have helped me solve this dilemma. I have decided to empty out a junk drawer that is within eye shot of the island and store it there. Then it won't clutter the counter and all I will have to do is pull it out of the drawer and use it anywhere in the kitchen.

Looks like many folks have even more lofty ideas than mine for media in their kitchen. Lot's of good advice here. :-)

For Mac users looking for a recipe program: I really like MacGourmet. In addition to a nice layout & easy entry, it has a Chef view option that displays your recipe in extra large type, perfect for viewing at a distance (or without glasses!). MacGourmet now has an iPhone version, so I can sync my recipes, useful when shopping or away from home & we want to make a favorite.

As far as Macs being pricier, it's not the computer price alone that makes one computer a better value than another. Macs don't need all the virus & spybot protection that Windows machines do, so this needs to be added in. Macs come with awesome iLife software for photo libraries, slideshows, photo books & cards, movies, making DVDs, playing music, creating music, and making a webpage. The built-in screensaver can be a collection of your favorite photos.

Great ideas. I am book marking this for future reference. (hopefully-not too distant)
Thank you!

gizmonike:

Yes, there are also some super-cool grocery list apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch I've been meaning to download. Hmmm . . . MacGourmet looks super-neat! I like that it has an iPhone/iPod Touch grocery-list app counterpart. This is perfect for the GF or wife (or whoever does the shopping)! Can't wait to download it, try it out and install it on her iPod Touch! She LOVES to go grocery shopping! (I can't stand it!)

I didn't want to start a Mac vs. PC thread, but yes, I agree, no virus issues with OS X. I converted the whole house to iMacs last year, and I finally convinced both my mom and dad (who live apart) to make the switch as well. What I try to tell people--is that, the operating system (OS) is the computer, and Apple's Unix-based, OS X is incredibly robust. But we'll save this argument for another forum . . .