Using iPad in the Kitchen

In October of 2009 I posted that all I wanted for Christmas was an ebook reader. Well that didn't happen, mainly because I wasn't sold on the Kindle or the Nook. A lot has changed in 18 months! Two Apple tablets have been unleashed on the world, and as it turns out, it wasn't an ebook reader that I wanted at all. Yes, my iPad does serve as one, and I do use it to read books and magazines now and then, but it is so much more than that for me!

One of the places I most enjoy using the iPad is in the kitchen. Sometimes I use it to display recipes - from cooking apps, from the web, from magazine photos, from my own collection - and sometimes I use it as a portable tv for distraction while washing dishes and cleaning up post-dinner. Here are some great accessories and tips for iPad kitchen use.

1. The "handiest" iPad case ever

After buying my iPad, the first accessory I had to get was a decent case. I needed one that was going to be durable and versatile for the many uses I knew I would have. I scoured the web and found not only the best and most adaptable case for me, but for only $35 with free shipping. Anyone who has searched for iPad cases can attest that most good cases cost upwards of $50. So what makes the Sleeve 360 such an awesome iPad holder?

The sturdy, adjustable handstrap! Just slide your hand in, adjust the velcro strap as needed, and you have a comfortable way to carry your iPad. The strap connector also rotates so it's easy to swivel iPad around to portrait mode from landscape without removing your hand. It also has a built-in stand so you can stand your iPad on the counter vertically or horizontally while you cook:

In addition, you can slide the strap connector off altogether and flip out two little feet for typing on a slightly raised angle. Perfect for editing a recipe on the fly, or for typing up a blog post like this one.

2. Towel bar and hanging metal basket

I bought this towel bar/basket combo from Ikea last fall, never realizing just how much it would improve my dishwashing experience until I bought my iPad and Sleeve 360 case. Remember that handy strap I mentioned before? When it's time to wash a large load of dishes, I set my iPad in this metal basket, and hook the Velcro strap of the case securely around the towel bar. Now I can watch a tv show or podcast while I scrub and doing dishes isn't such a chore anymore.

3. Apps for cooking

There are a ton of great recipe apps out there - Epicurious, Betty Crocker, AllRecipes, and Big Oven, to name a few - but there are also some other-use apps that work great as recipe savers as well. As a compulsive recipe hoarder, I have recipes everywhere: in magazines and physical cookbooks, scribbled on index cards, saved from the web to Google Reader, in my iOS notes, and on my cooking blog. I use one versatile app for saving any of these to my iPad and cataloguing them in one place: Evernote.

Evernote has become the catch-all for my recipes for a number of reasons: the ability to save text or photos as notes, the ability to group notes into "Notebooks" (I call them "Cookbooks"), tagging to sort recipes by ingredients, and syncing across multiple devices. If I'm using a dead-tree cookbook, I can snap a photo of the page and upload it as a note to Evernote, tag it, and save it to the appropriate cookbook. Next time I need that recipe, I can search by ingredients in Evernote and view it on my iPad instead of hunting through my 30 cookbooks, trying to remember which one is hiding it! If I'm reading the latest issue of Good Housekeeping on my Zinio app and I see a great recipe to try later, I just snap a screenshot and add to Evernote. If I'm searching the web and find a recipe, I can hit the Evernote button on my browser window and save it quickly that way. No matter where I find the recipe, there's a quick and easy way to add it to my digital cookbook library, and it's always with me.

4. Clear plastic wrap

I've been reading about the many ways people are finding to protect their iPads from kitchen spills and splashes, and of them I find clear plastic wrap to be the best choice for me. It's inexpensive, thin enough for effective swiping and scrolling, and doesn't soak through. Great for cooking or dishwash-video-viewing!

Well that's about it for my iPad kitchen tips. If I remember any more, I'll be sure to add them, and if you have any of your own, I'd love to hear them!