Since When Do I Need My Cell Phone to
                            Buy Groceries and Cook Dinner?

Wow, when did it happen? Cell phones and PDAs have begun to rule our world. I suspected as much, but it was confirmed recently when my 13 yr old son dropped his cell phone recently and the screen went black. He was in a state of panic as I told him not to worry it will still work for incoming and outgoing calls. He looked at me as if I had lost my mind and wailed, but I can’t see to take pictures, text or download; silly me, I thought it was to make phone calls. 

In other words he was lost, out of touch. Why does a 13 year old need a phone anyway I asked myself? Hmm… I seem to remember something about a traffic jam, not getting to the school in time and having to call another mother whose son did have a phone to call her son to find my son and tell him I would be late. Oh bother, I think it is my fault.

Anywho, cell phones have become indispensible in our everyday lives, as my son so dramatically illustrated. They are no longer merely a tool to keep in touch they can practically bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. There are cell phone programs that can locate a recipe, make a grocery list, give you driving directions to the closest store that has what you need, tell you what isle the item is on, message a relative with a question, and take a photo of the finished product for your facebook page so your friends can wish they had been invited over for dinner. It is even possible to type in a UPC code to find out if a product is environmentally friendly.

Recently, Coupons Inc. acquired an iPhone application called GroceryIQ that can match up user shopping lists with Coupons.com coupons and let buyers redeem some coupons right from their cell phones. GroceryIQ has been the number one downloaded application in the Lifestyle category of iTunes since its release. Also for the iPhone and iPod Touch, BeerBrands puts information about 7800 different brands of beer at your fingertips.

Another iPhone application is called Eggy. It is an egg timer that acts as a glorified early warning device that you can put in your pocket. It will warn you that the time to remove the egg from the water is approaching and you need to get back to the kitchen and find a spoon. It solves the age old problem of not hearing the timer go off.

There are other useful programs available for cell phones and PDA’s. A program called cookbook 1.0 will store your recipe database and Handyshopper 2.9c can manage your grocery list. The Mobile Wine Guide will help you select the best wine to complement your meal and The Food Network offers mobilefoodnetwork.com where you can find recipes, photos and videos to help answer the “What’s for dinner Question”.

Buying your ingredients, sharing recipes and working in the kitchen used to be low tech. Not anymore, software designers, food companies and internet entrepreneurs are racing to claim real estate on your phone. Quite successfully too, I might add.

Is the cell phone going to eventually replace the cookbook, paper grocery list and Sunday paper coupons? Maybe not for everyone, but techo foodies are jumping on the bandwagon in droves to make meal planning, shopping and cooking as efficient as possible in today’s fast paced world. Not only that, it is fun to have the latest cell phone with all the coolest features. Just ask my son, he wants a new one.

About the Author: Stacy Estep is a staff writer for SpicesInc.com and has more than 20 years of hands on experience in a variety of kitchens. She is also one of our premier Master Cooks and if she isn’t busy testing one of our recent recipe additions she’s busy researching, concocting or testing one of our new spice seasoning blends before we roll it out to our taste testers. You can reach Stacy at customerservice@SpicesInc.com.

Resources and related articles:

http://www.apptism.com/apps/7800-beer-brands-free http://www.clickapps.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=8808&r=dway
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/iFood.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/features/more/iphone.aspx
http://www.groceryiq.com/groceryiq/index.html
http://www.download.com/BigOven-iPhone-/3000-18553_4-207638.html?tag=mncol
http://www.download.com/Cookbook/3000-18495_4-31143.html?tag=mncol
http://www.download.com/HandyShopper/3000-2056_4-10021512.html?tag=mncol