Announcements

Looking for Android Beta Testers

stevemur — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:56:08 GMT

Do you have an Android-OS powered mobile phone? If so, and you'd like to beta test a free 170,000+ BigOven Recipe App on your phone, please jot us a note at support @ bigoven.com.

It's not quite ready but should be soon. Thanks, and happy cooking!

New for iPhone - Rate Recipes!

stevemur — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:34:25 GMT

One of the top-requested features on the iPhone is now here: Rate recipes from your mobile device!

More ratings make BigOven better for everyone. As long as they are helpful and polite, we want as many recipe ratings / comments as possible.

One of the top-requested feature from over 2 million iPhone dowloads has been "I'd like to rate this recipe from my iPhone". Well, now it's here! Simply tap the "Rate" button at the bottom of the screen and you can contribute your ratings to the site.

Notice how the rating shows up with a little phone icon (on both the website and mobile device):

BigOven.com and BigOven 170,000+ Recipes - iPhone Now Do Metric (New!)

stevemur — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:28:33 GMT

We're a US-based site, and the vast majority of the recipes posted on BigOven.com contain US-measures, like cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc. We've always known, though, that the world is much, much bigger than the US, but we haven't had time to implement auto-conversion to metric on the site and iPhone... until now.

NEW (beta): BigOven now does metric! On both the iPhone and the website, there's a "Metric/US" link. Click it to toggle back and forth between the metric and originally-posted (usually US-based) view of the recipe. You'll find that cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc. are converted to mils, pounds to kg, ounces to grams, etc.

Where to look:

On the website, you'll find this link just below the recipe summary panel and before the recipe starts
On the iPhone App, you'll find this Metric/US button toward the bottom of the recipe page.

(Note -- Instant display of metric is not yet available in BigOven for Windows, but you have always been able to do a 1-click import and then click the conversion button to convert to metric.)

If you have beta feedback on this feature, please drop by our Feedback Forum at www.bigoven.com/cs/forums. Thanks and happy cooking!

Congratulations, promfh, you've won Best Food Photo, October 2009!

stevemur — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:16:31 GMT

Congratulations promfh, you've won $100 in Amazon.com Gift Certificates in our Monthly Photo Contest! It's on its way to you via email.

You won for the photo:

Molasses Ginger Cookies

We loved everything about this photo, from its superb food styling -- creative arrangement, great lighting depth, focus, color and even a few bonus points for whimsy.

Each month, we give away a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card to the person who submitted the best photo for the month. (That person is ineligible to win the following month, but may win again the month afterward.)

BigOven gets better and better the more photos are added to the site. We, and all the BigOven.com users, appreciate you helping make the site better! More details on the Monthly Food Photo Contest are here: http://www.bigoven.com/cs/forums/t/4698.aspx

Happy cooking!

Congratulations, sgrishka, you've won $100 for Best Food Photo, September 2009!

stevemur — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:12:35 GMT

Congratulations sgrishka, you've won $100 in Amazon.com Gift Certificates in our Monthly Photo Contest! It's on its way to you via email.

You won for the photo:

Grilled Chili-Rubbed Flank Steak

We loved this photo for its lighting, color balance, photo, and flavor, which jumps on the screen. Each month, we give away a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card to the person who submitted the best photo for the month. (That person is ineligible to win the following month, but may win again the month afterward.)

Happy cooking!

Recipes in the Cloud: BigOven Announces API

stevemur — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:41:40 GMT

170,000+ Recipes and Grocery Lists In the Cloud: BigOven.com Launches API

First-ever REST-based API from a major cooking site gives developers easy access to 170,000+ recipes, and Grocery List services in the cloud

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) November 9, 2009 -- BigOven.com, the social network about food that makes you a better cook, announces the beta launch of the BigOven Application Programming Interface (API). This intuitive REST-based API lets any developer build applications featuring 170,000+ recipes, tens of thousands of photos and reviews. Broad uses include new cooking applications for mobile devices (such as Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile devices and more), "mashups" with existing web platforms (such as Facebook or Twitter), recipe/cooking enhancements to existing websites, and data for home automation "kitchen of the future" systems. Developers can register for the invitation-only beta at http://api.bigoven.com.

"BigOven is the first cooking website to open up our platform in this way to developers. We're excited to see what creative and useful applications emerge. We're interested in seeing BigOven services available on any device," said Steve Murch, CEO of BigOven.com.

Based on initial signups, BigOven.com predicts at least four major classes of applications benefit from this new API: (a) apps for the various mobile platforms, such as Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, (b) apps for new in-home systems (e.g., home automation touchscreens, TiVO, XBox, Windows Media Center, the new tablet devices, Microsoft Surface, etc.), (c) integrated enhancements to existing websites with recipe and grocery list content (e.g. grocery stores might want to show recipes that consumers can make with their freshest ingredients), and (d) new interconnections ("mashups") with existing API's such as those from Facebook, Twitter, Amazon.com, Google and Microsoft.

With version 1.0 the BigOven API, developers can build applications that let users:

Search 170,000+ recipes by title, keyword and more
Display the recipes, including ingredients, instructions, and photos where applicable
Get, display and post tens of thousands of recipe reviews and ratings from BigOven members
Get public BigOven profile information
Add to and edit grocery lists

During the beta period, use of the API is free for commercial and non-commercial use. Pricing is not yet finalized, but a modest and fair transaction-based license fee will be introduced at the end of the beta period to offset server hosting costs. Other details of the Terms of Use, Branding Guidelines and Documentation are available at http://api.bigoven.com.

About BigOven.com
BigOven.com is the social network about food that makes you a better cook. BigOven.com serves millions of unique users each month via its website and highly popular iPhone app. BigOven.com has over 600,000 registered members from around the world, with more than 1,000 new cooks joining each day. The highly popular BigOven.com iPhone App has been downloaded more than 2 million times in its first year of availability, and is used by tens of thousands of cooks every day to help decide what to put on the dinner table. BigOven.com lets people share recipes, reviews, photos and videos, and access them from anywhere. With innovative features like the Leftover Wizard(tm), "What's for Dinner?" foodie updates, a personal "Try Soon Queue" and Chef Medals, BigOven is a great place to discover and share the joy of cooking.

About Lakefront Software, Inc.
Lakefront Software Inc., makers of BigOven (http://www.bigoven.com), is focused building the leading social network in the food category and is headquartered in Seattle, WA. Founded by Steve Murch, a veteran technology executive from Microsoft, Expedia, and VacationSpot.com, Lakefront Software Inc. is profitable, and passionate about making great consumer software and services.

# # #

New 170,000+ Recipe iPhone App Available (It's still free!)

stevemur — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:25:58 GMT

We're delighted to announce an upgrade to the hugely popular BigOven iPhone app.

Over the past year, BigOven for the iPhone has been downloaded over 2 million times. (It's amazing that this makes BigOven about one out of every 1,000 downloads in the iTunes Store overall.) We've just shipped an upgrade of this app that includes:

Simpler, more beautiful and streamlined interface
Leftover Wizard -- enter 3 ingredients in your fridge or pantry, and BigOven will tell you what you can make!
Easy access to the "What's for Dinner?" section -- get ideas from other cooks around the world!
BigOven will now load the last-viewed recipe if you were looking at a recipe when, say, a phonecall came in
Access to your Favorites and Try Soon Queue, plus access to over 170,000+ recipes

Best of all, this app is still free.

More details, screenshots a demo video and download link are available here:

http://www.bigoven.com/doc.aspx?id=iphone3g.htm

Thanks and happy cooking!

Giving BigOven as a Gift

stevemur — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:01:10 GMT

Giving BigOven as a Gift

Know someone who likes to cook or collect recipes?

We've already started to hear from some of you who want to give BigOven for Windows to friends or family members during the holiday season. As many of you know, we primarily license our product as a download-only, in part to keep our prices extremely low. We also offer a CD-ROM copy of the product, which usually arrives within 10-20 business days after purchase. These CD's can be purchased by you and then gifted -- all you need to pass along is the software and the serial number.

Want to give BigOven for Windows as a gift?

We've created an easy Instant Gift Certificate for you to use. This lets your recipient enjoy the product right away, from any computer. BigOven is a terrific gift or stocking stuffer for the foodie, organizer, dieter, or cook in your life.

Here's all you need to do:

1) Download our Gift Certificate PDF. Save it to your PC, and print it, ideally on a color printer with nice quality paper.

2) Next, visit our online store to purchase a serial number for BigOven. You'll use your credit card and email address to actually purchase, but don't worry -- all you need to give them is their serial number.

3) Once you've purchased, you'll be instantly emailed a serial number. Simply write that serial number in the space provided on the gift certificate. (Note -- to avoid confusion, please note that BigOven serial numbers never have any letter O's, only zeroes.)

That's it! The recipient simply downloads the software from www.bigoven.com and enters the serial number to enable the full product. Makes a great gift for any foodie or recipe collector.

(If you'd like the physical product, you can download "bigoven1.exe" from our download center -- that's the trial deluxe edition -- and copy that onto a CD-ROM to include in your gift, or pre-order a copy with the backup CD-ROM option to be mailed to you.)

Congratulations, ellie36, you've won $100! (August 2009)

stevemur — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:26:55 GMT

Congratulations, ellie36, you've won $100!

Your photo for "Bread Cones" was judged Best Photo Submitted, August 2009 by BigOven's founder & CEO.

Everything is right -- no, exceptional in this photo: the creative subject matter, perfect preparation, the food styling, focus, lighting, and presentation. Simply a great photo that would feel right at home in a gourmet food magazine.

Bread Cones

An Amazon.com $100 Gift Card is on its way to you today via email.

Winners in a given month are ineligible to win in the immediately following month, but other than that, may win multiple times per year. Relatives, immediate friends and family of Lakefront Software employees are ineligible to win. There is no cost to enter and multiple entries are encouraged.

You too can win $100 -- just submit the best food photo for the month! See this post for more details on the BigOven Food Photo Contest. Happy cooking!

Congratulations, swibirun, you've won $100!

stevemur — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:15:45 GMT

Congratulations swibirun, you've won $100 for the "Best Photo Submitted", July 2009.

Your photo, below, was judged Best Photo Submitted for July 2009, as judged by BigOven's CEO. We were particularly struck by the sharp image, the color balance and lighting. You can almost taste the flavors!

Sesame Pork Tenderloin

Terrific composition, focus, color balance, lighting, rhythm, and subject matter. Another great job.

Your $100 Amazon.com Gift Card is being emailed to you today.

Review: "Creating Virtual Recipe Boxes Can be a Snap"

stevemur — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:22:35 GMT

Deborah Yao of the Associated Press just did a nice review on recipe programs and chose BigOven as her favorite.

“It's about time I organized my recipes and BigOven makes it inexpensive, easy and engaging.”

“I must confess that I got hooked on the "import" button. I find a recipe and click on "import" and — bam! — it magically saves to my recipe box.”

Thanks Deborah!

Full article is here: “Review: Creating virtual recipe box can be a snap”

Are you getting the most out of BigOven? Find out here!

stevemur — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:18:12 GMT

Get The Most Out of BigOven

There's a lot you can do with BigOven to make your cooking more easy and enjoyable, way beyond just looking up recipes. Sometimes it's not easy to keep track of it all. Are you getting the most out of BigOven? We'll be happy to analyze it for you.

Visit http://www.bigoven.com/next-steps.aspx and we'll be happy to calculate your "BigOven Experience Index", and suggest things that you might want to try, to get better suggestions from friends or solve cooking dilemmas:

Exclude or Include Ingredients in Search with "More Options" (NEW)

stevemur — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:37:13 GMT

Now in beta -- Advanced Search Options

One of the most popular feature requests has been to improve searching to explicitly include or exclude ingredients. We're pleased to announce that a beta version of this is now live, on www.bigoven.com.

Simply issue any search on BigOven.com the way you normally would, and click the '[more options]' link that you'll see on the search results page. That lets you further customize your search, adding ingredient keywords for explicit inclusion or exclusion.

Want to only see salads with feta cheese and tomatoes? Easy.

Or, do you have an aversion to cauliflower? Allergic to peanuts? No problem.

Just enter the keyword text you'd like to explicitly include or eliminate, and click "Search BigOven!". Those terms will be used to further refine your search.

NOTE: Currently, BigOven does text searches based on what you enter into those textboxes. This means that if you're allergic to wheat, you should probably enter things like "wheat" in one box and "flour" in another box and maybe even "breadcrumbs" in another box, and then carefully examine the recipe itself to see if it meets your criteria. Additionally, pay close attention to the singular and plural forms of the word(s) you're looking to include or exclude -- at this writing, excluding the team "anchovies" from your search might still return a recipe if it's got 1 and only "anchovy" (because the word "anchovy" is not the same as "anchovies"). Make sense?

We agree it's not perfect, but it's a pretty handy tool that can helpyou zero in on the recipes that are just right for you.

Happy cooking!

Congratulations, Ellie36, You've Won $100

stevemur — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:58:17 GMT

Congratulations (again) Ellie36, you've won $100 for the "Best Photo Submitted", June 2009. Your photo, below, was judged Best Photo Submitted, as judged by BigOven's CEO.

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Beggar's Purse

Terrific composition, focus, color balance, lighting, rhythm, and subject matter. Another great job.

(Yes, ellie36 has won this more than once before! We judge every photo submitted on its own, and do so blind to who submits it. If you win in one month you are not eligible to win in the next following month, but are again elegible the month thereafter. Immediate personal friends and family members of Lakefront Software, Inc. employees are ineligible.)

Your $100 Amazon.com Gift Card is being emailed to you today.

You too can win $100 in a Amazon.com Gift Certificate -- it's completely free to enter. See our contest rules here.

Thanks to all you great food photographers who keep making BigOven.com more and more useful for all of us every day!

Happy Cooking from us in Seattle.

NEW: Share your dinner idea, and get inspired by others around the world!

stevemur — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:42:54 GMT

Foodie Status Updates (NEW!)

One of our long-term goals here at BigOven is to help get you unstuck for dinner with great and personalized inspiration, every night.

We think that the large worldwide community of over 500,000 BigOven users can help. As part of this thinking, today, we went live with a beta version of our "What's for dinner?" box.

Key idea: Think of a Facebook or Twitter update, but for food.

Why it's useful: Help others (including yourself) get unstuck and inspired. Jot a note to yourself and the world about what you're next making in the kitchen. It needs to be short (200 chars or less, please, and no HTML.) You can see people's ideas by clicking the "see" link, which you'll find in your profile box or toward the bottom of several pages, right after the list of recent searches. In the future, we'll let you see just those update for your "foodie friends", all users, users of the same cooking skill level, users near you, etc. You can also update this via the BigOven for Windows application, once you've logged in.

Here's something kind of cool -- in the future, we can remind you exactly what you were making this time of year. In this way, it's kind of like a very short, spontaneous food journal. Remember, everything you write on that status update is public, and goes onto your member profile page.

Enter it here...

See it here...

And here...

You can see the latest status update for a user on their memberpage, toward the top, e.g.:

http://www.bigoven.com/~admin

Hope you find this useful. We'll be building more and more on top of this in the future to help get you unstuck and inspired in the kitchen. Happy cooking!

NEW: BigOven Grocery List -- Add Recipes, Items, Email Grocery List

stevemur — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:20:02 GMT

Ever want to make a grocery list on one computer, and access it on another (say, a web-based cellphone)? Or, make a grocery list out of one or more recipes on BigOven.com*? Well now you can!

Introducing the BigOven Grocery List... now in beta, at http://www.bigoven.com/grocery.

Features

Add a recipe right from the recipe page -- instead of saying "2 cloves garlic, 1 can anchovies", etc., you simply add the Caesar Salad recipe to your grocery list!
Add an arbitrary item to your grocery list... BigOven will guess the aisle for it. You can enter common food items, or even personal care or household items like "toothpaste".
Easily add items with a single text line the way you'd write it on a paper shopping list. e.g., enter "1 1/2 lb Chicken Breast; Boneless" and BigOven will figure out what the item is (Chicken Breast), the quantity (1 1/2 lbs), notes (Boneless), and Department/Aisle (Poultry).
Sorting it by aisle helps you get through the grocery store quicker, and with fewer chances of mistakes.
Print your grocery list
or, perhaps best of all -- delegate it to someone else! You can email it to a family member or yourself for easy access on the go! (Remember, most cellphones can receive email as well.)

Not yet implemented, but planned for the future:

Easily access your grocery list from BigOven for the iPhone and BigOven Mobile Web for Blackberry and other cellphones (reachable at bigoven.com slash m)
Scale recipes up or down before adding them to the list
Save shopping lists and retrieve them in the future
Publish shopping list(s) from BigOven for Windows to your online list
Allow other household members that you approve (who have BigOven logins) to read and/or modify your lists

This service is in beta testing.

It's not yet perfect, but we're finding it pretty useful here, so we wanted to get it to you for feedback today.

NOTE: This is currently free for all users, but we do not guarantee it will be free forever. We reserve the right to bundle this in with a low-cost subscription offering we are planning for the future that'll provide a number of "extra" services such as this one. (You will of course have the option in the future if you'd like to pay for it; of course we won't charge anyone without positive "opt-in" and and express permission -- so test away!)

Here are a couple screenshots.

It's available at www.bigoven.com/grocery and by clicking on a link (coming soon) on your profile box while logged in.

Please test it out and let us know what you think!

Thanks, and happy cooking.

*Users of the BigOven for Windows desktop software have been able to do this for years, but we're now adding this feature to the website!

Cast Your Vote in Lifehacker's "Best Recipe Software" Roundup!

stevemur — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:50:46 GMT

The folks at LifeHacker.com have done a quick roundup of 5 candidates for "Best Recipe Software", and BigOven's among them. Take a minute to cast your vote -- thanks!

http://lifehacker.com/5289792/five-best-recipe-managers

Congratulations, GuitarMom, you've won $100 for Best Recipe Photo, May 2009

stevemur — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:31:28 GMT

Congratulations, GuitarMom, you've won $100 in an Amazon.com gift certificate (being emailed to you now), for submitting the best recipe photo of May 2009!

Chicken Flautas From Serrano's Cafe

Every month, we give away $100 for the Best Recipe Photo Submitted.

See this post for more details on our Monthly Food Photography Contest.

Thanks for all your contributions -- great photos make the site much better and more enjoyable for everyone!

NEW: Link your Facebook and BigOven Accounts with Facebook Connect

stevemur — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:42:22 GMT

Today, we launched Facebook Connect for BigOven.com.

You can now link your BigOven.com account and your Facebook account, and:

Save time: with a single (Facebook) login, you’re ready to go with both sites.
Share a common profile: Your Facebook avatar carries over to BigOven.com. Whenever you change it on Facebook, it automatically changes on BigOven.com.
Easily share recipes with Facebook friends: When you link your Facebook and BigOven.com accounts, you can easily post recipes to your Facebook wall, and share them with friends.
Make your chef page more personal: When you link your account, other members can go right to your facebook profile page.

Now that Facebook and BigOven are technically connected, the "hard part" is behind us, and we'll be adding much more in the future.

As always, we adhere to the Privacy Policy on our website. Among other things, we of course do not have any visibility into your Facebook login; that’s between you and Facebook.

NEW: Email recipes, send product suggestions from the iPhone App

stevemur — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:33:42 GMT

We've just added two new features to the free iPhone App:

You can now email any recipe to up to 5 people (including yourself) at a time
You can now email feedback or product suggestions to us

Happy cooking!

Congratulations, ellie36, you've won "Best Photo Submitted, April 2009"

stevemur — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:29:39 GMT

Congratulations, ellie36, your photo of "Berry Napoleon" won "Best Photo, April 2009", and we're sending you a $100 Amazon.com Gift Certificate via email today.

Want to win $100? Simply submit the best recipe photo for the month and we'll send it to you! There's no cost to enter. (Photos must be original.) More details are here.

Food Bloggers -- Get Visitors and Exposure from BigOven.com!

stevemur — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:34:36 GMT

Are you a Food Blogger? Want more traffic to your food blog?

NEW: BigOven now offers automatic Linkbacks, on every recipe and Food Glossary page.

Simply by grabbing a short piece of HTML from BigOven and placing it on your blog, your food-blog post will automatically be reciprocally linked from the appropriate page on BigOven.com, and you’ll gain more traffic.

For instance, if you're writing about a dish that uses rice, and want your readers to know about rice, visit the BigOven Food Glossary entry on Rice, and grab the linking code, and place it on your post.

BigOven will notice it right away, and, once an editor here reviews your blog post and ensures its relevant to the topic at hand, we’ll link back to you.

The same holds true for recipes.

How Might You Use It?

Let’s say you’ve got a blog on easy, budget cooking, and you’re writing about the start of the grilling season. You want to highlight a couple easy grilled chicken recipes for your readers. If you’ve discovered the “Easy Grilled Chicken Marinade” recipe, you might find that an appropriate one to include in your blog post.

Simply visit that recipe’s page on BigOven, scroll to the “Bloggers, have you written about ‘Easy Grilled Chicken?” callout (at this writing, you’ll find it about three quarters down the page), and click on the “Add Your Link” section. Then, choose which Linkback Badge you’d like, and place the HTML on your page.

That’s it! In a day or so, BigOven will start linking back to your blog, driving traffic to you, and increasing your search engine presence. (BigOven serves millions of unique users each month.)

Calling all techies - Interested in an API?

stevemur — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:56:53 GMT

Developers -- are you interested in an application programming interface (API) for BigOven.com? If so, please register your interest and intended use(s) with us.

We're nowhere near prepared to delve into the specifics, timing, etc. of our plans here just yet, but we do expect over time to open up the BigOven.com archive to third-party applications via an easy-to-use, REST-based API.

Interested? Please drop by our form (link above) and register with us, and we'll do our best to keep you in the loop as this evolves. Thanks, and happy cooking!

Congratulations, kistina -- you've won $100 for Best March Photo

stevemur — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:21:04 GMT

Congratulations, kistina! You've won a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card, being emailed to you today, for submitting the best food photo for March, 2009.

Stuffed Strawberries:

Submit the best original food photo of the month and you too could win $100 to spend on Amazon.com any way you'd like! More information on our Food Photo Contest is here.

Free Search Plug-Ins for Firefox, IE, Chrome. Search BigOven.com from your Web Toolbar

stevemur — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:22:05 GMT

Do you use Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or another OpenSearch-supporting browser?

If so, you can have instant recipe search from your web browser's toolbar! Now, no matter where you are on the web, you can easily look up recipes.

You'll find a link to it on our "Free Stuff" page.

Happy cooking!