Dear Mr. Oaks,

I’ve had an idea for something I would like to have for myself for several years (ever since I started using the computer for recipe information).

I started putting my recipes into a database (unfortunately not yours as I didn’t know it existed at the time), but quit when I realized what a nuisance it was to actually USE the recipes once they were stored. I ended up printing them out to use in my kitchen (what a waste of paper) because my computer is not in my kitchen.

We discussed moving the computer, but realized that we didn’t really want to have the computer/screen that close to the “cooking mess”.

My idea is to have a device – kind of a combination PalmPilot and undercounter flip-down tv. This way, I could store/update my recipe database on an SD card, carry it into the kitchen, and plug it into “the device”. When I need a recipe, I would flip down the screen (like 5x7 inches or so), and then access the recipes. The screen would be out of the way (vs. laying a Palm Pilot on the counter in the line of fire), and I would be able to see the recipe. All of the bells and whistles of your software would be icing on the cake, adjusting recipe amounts etc.

If it was really “in sync”, your software could also “upload” the grocery list to my Palm Pilot’s Handyshopper program or whatever program is best, so that I could take it to the store with me. Does this “device” already exist? If so, let me know – I would love to have it! This is the “missing link” to making recipe databases functional in the kitchen. Well, it seems so to me anyway.

Thanks for taking time to review my idea!

Katja Sias