We would like to extend our warmest wishes and prayers to all those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We hope that the rebuilding of lives, homes and businesses goes as quickly and smoothly as possible.
ChefHelper to Help with Katrina Relief
We are more than just software; we care for our members and want to extend our help to our chefs down in New Orleans. I was sitting writing this newsletter trying to think of ways to help out.
First thing that came to mind is to see if our members wanted to join in…if you would like to donate your November dues to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund (for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita), please send me an email and let me know. I will collect all donated dues, along with some additional money on our part and send it over to the American Red Cross. At the end of November, I will tally up the donations and send them over – of course I will post the results and any receipts on our web site and email a copy to donors. (For more information about the Red Cross and their work, please visit www.redcross.org.)
Another idea. Maybe your clients would like to donate through you? What if you gave them the option to add addition money to your cookdate that will be sent directly to whatever charity you feel will be best? Caveat: be careful of charity scams…some even go through the trouble of copying official web-sites to collect your cash. This is why I am working directly with the American Red Cross.
One more…. I usually have left over food from my cookdates. From now on, I’ll simply drive over to our local soup kitchen on my way home and if they can accept the donation, and leave it for them. I know that this isn’t related to Katrina or Rita, but it’s a no-brainer.
I Love Fall in the North East…
I love the changing leaves, the evenings by the fire and the absolutely delicious fresh food that the fall harvest brings. We have a couple apple trees in our yard and I’ve been trying to find enough ways to use these beautiful empire apples up before they go bad! I’ve given bags to family and friends however; I have been cooking apples in every way from desserts to savory pork dishes to simple applesauce.
I have added the following fall recipes (note the apple theme) to the shared recipe section for your use in your cookdates and family meals. To find and use these recipes, make sure to click on the "Shared Recipe" button in the "Recipe" section. Danish Apple Cake (delicious with fresh bread crumbs and EASY to make) and Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions. There are a number of delicious apple-themed recipes in the shared area entered by our members. Make sure to check them out!
Latest ChefHelper Software Updates
We are listening! We would like to thank one of our members, Staci James, for the following suggestions in our software. We took her ideas seriously and incorporated them into this past weekend’s updates. (If you have a suggestion, comment or even complaint, we would love to hear from you too! Fill out our feedback form in the Contact Us area of Admin or simply email support@chefhelper.com.)
Below are Staci’s suggestions, which we have incorporated into the program:
1. Recipe rating system: As of now, you are able to rate your own recipes when you enter or edit them. We have a scale of 1-5; 1 being bad and 5 being delicious. We also added a difficulty level; 1 being easiest and 5 being hardest. These scales will help you when you select certain recipes for different clients or menus, to help make an easier cookdate, no matter what it is!!
Don’t forget, you are always able to fill in your personal recipe reviews or comments in the "Notes" section.
2. Additions to Recipe Categories and Grocery Categories: We added "Soup" and "Pre-Prep" to the recipe search categories. Now you can note which recipes would be good as a soup course or which recipes are great when made ahead. In the grocery category drop-down menu (within the recipe create/edit page), we’ve added "herbs".
3. Auto-Fill for Recipe Ingredients: We have added an optional auto-fill function in the Recipe Ingredient area. Simply click on the "Auto-Fill" button to turn it on. For ingredients that you use over and over, or have similar names, you have the option of simply typing in three letters and letting the computer fill in the rest for you. This should help speed up recipe entry times. This auto-fill also works for words like "teaspoons, cups", etc.
Right now, this only works for each recipe individually. Soon, we will be making this a program-wide auto-fill capability. Many computers, however, do have this function as part of their browser programs, so you may find that you computer can fill in commonly used words in forms already.
Refer-a-Chef and Get One Month Free!!
Until December 31st, we are running a referral special for our paying members. If you refer a chef to our service and they stay with us for one month past their free trial period, you will get a month of our service free!! (We will send you a $5.95 refund - equivalent to one month’s service). The more chefs you refer, the more free months you will have!!
IMPORTANT: Remember to tell us in an email sent to lisa@chefhelper.com which chefs you have referred so we can be sure to send you the correct refund amount!
