Food meets MicroSoft

[BuzzDraft]

Why use Excel to create what is nothing more than a static schedule table? There isn't a single math formula in it, which is what Excel does.

I could see using Excel to summarize shopping lists due to scaling for the number of people attending, or selected weekly menus using macros, but this? You could do just as well using word or powerpoint in the MS domain - or just a ruler, pencil, and piece of paper and sticking it on your refrigerator with a bunny magnet.

Where's the value-add using a math tool like Excel for such a routine everyday task?

[Eden]

Well for one thing (though I love Word in general) the table function in Word is clunky as hell. Excel is just easier to use when it comes to manipulating individual cells of a table, and especially when moving data around within a table. I hear the next edition of Word will be better for this, but for now I'll stick with my spreadsheet.

For another I like the tabbed worksheets in Excel for sorting different aspects of a project. I grant you could just have several different tables in one Word doc, but the tabs are quick & easy to navigate.

Mostly it's just a matter of what software you feel comfortable working with. My mom is an accountant & she used to use Excel to write letters - drove me up a freakin' wall to watch her do it, but it worked for her...

Oh and when I'm doing a meal of 20 plus dishes the spreadsheet gets pretty damn huge and the bunny magnets just aren't that strong

[marinade]

Love Excel. I know I'm coming on late to this but I used Excel extensively as a data set when revising my last cookbook:Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures, and Glazes The revision would have been a logistical nightmare if I hadn’t figured out a way to track it. I took the approach that some folks do when they’re renovating their kitchen, that is, gutting, and installing new fixtures (chapters). Since I needed floor space to create space for new ones I had to drop recipes that had a redundancy of overlapping ingredients or convert others to variations. I also needed to convert the old recipes from one house style to Ten Speed’s. I was also doing subtle tweaks to some of the older recipes by converting citrus measurements from 1/4 cup lemon juice to using the whole fruit in order to make the recipes more intuitive. Needless to say the old and new recipes had to be editorially consistent. I had to be able to sort them by chapter and category (even when I was moving and creating chapters) Most importantly, I had to keep on track. I was dealing with over 500 recipes.

When I was packing out data bases at my last job I used Excel to manipulate my data and them I would roll it back into the data set. I used the same approach here. I created fields across the top of the page to track the status of the recipes. I know the screenshots are microscopic.

I also used the fields to also track my recipe timelines.

I had found a shareware program calledPrintFolders that would print the contents of folders in either text or hyperlink format. I modified the recipe titles and loaded them into Excel and the hyperlinks held. Now all of the recipes were hyperlinked to their corresponding MS Word doc. Once I checked their status, I could go directly to work on them without going from folder to folder wondering if I got the right version.

Once it hit the Word doc, I used some VBA techniques to create a series of drop down menus for reoccurring instructions and measurements.

One of the biggest advantages of Excel is its Auto Filter. I was able to drill down on certain chapters or recipe groups and go to work on them. If I needed to spot check how many glazes I had in my Asian chapter and their stages of completion, again I could see it in a glance.

Currently I’ve added modules to track recipes that are using in columns, articles, food demos, and cooking classes. It’s more of a who, when, where, and how often.

I also use spread sheets for market orders. Across the top I’ll list my recipes and use the rows as my ingredient lines. Column “B” has my summary formulas. I’ll do this even whan I’m doing multiple recipes at home.

While this might look too high tech it really freed me up to do what I really wanted to do - cook and write. I wrote the last edition with a full time gig while in the Graphic Arts. Make no mistake about it, writing a book is a full time gig in itself and some of it can be routine and clerical. Any tool I could use to free up my time I’m going to roll with it. These tools are eminently adaptable to any author, chef/restaurant, web site, or publication recipe set.

Jim

[Anna N]

Love Excel. I know I'm coming on late to this but I used Excel extensively as a data set when revising my last cookbook:Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures, and Glazes

. . .

Jim

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Jim, I am impressed beyond words. Thanks for sharing this.