Managing an electronic cookbook

• US 6,975,910 B1
• Filed: 04/28/2000
• Issued: 12/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Paolini, Michael A., Brown, Michael Wayne, Lawrence, Kelvin Roderick
• Primary Examiner(s): Von Buhr, Maria N.
• Application Number:
  US09/560,386
• Time in Patent Office: 2,055 Days
• Field of Search: 700/90, 600407-480, 601 2- 4, 351200-247, 128/915, 128/916, 128920-925, 705/15, 705 26- 29, 707/1, 707/10, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 700/90
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

According to the present invention, dietary needs designated for a particular user are received in a common transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein the data processing system has access to multiple electronic recipes. The dietary needs designated for the particular user are compared with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at the particular home base from among the multiple accessible electronic recipes. At least one meal plan is designated from among the selection of electronic recipes that satisfies the dietary needs of the particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at a particular home base according to dietary needs of a particular user.

Claims

1. A method for managing an electronic cookbook, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes;

designating at least one meal plan of recipes from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user; and

in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan, updating a kitchen budget according to cost of cooking related supplies utilized for said meal plan selection.

2. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving said dietary needs in an extensible mark-up language data format.

3. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving said dietary needs from a portable data processing system associated with said particular user, wherein said plurality of dietary needs are stored at said portable data processing system.

4. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving said dietary needs from a personal storage device proffered by said particular user at said data processing system.

5. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving said dietary needs from a universally accessible server system according to a particular universal identifier associated with said particular user.

6. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving a dietary health plan for said particular user in said dietary needs.

7. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving intake indicators for said particular user in said dietary needs, wherein said intake indicators include food, liquid and medication intake by said particular user within a particular time period.

8. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving exercise indicators for said particular user in said dietary needs, wherein said exercise indicators indicate fitness levels for said particular user within a particular time period.

9. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising the step of:

receiving environmental exposure indicators for said particular user in said dietary needs, wherein said environmental exposure indicators indicate recorded environmental exposure of said particular user within a particular period of time.

10. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes, further comprising the step of:

accessing said plurality of electronic recipes from a network accessible server system comprising a plurality of electronic recipes.

11. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said method further comprising the step of:

storing said dietary needs for said particular user at said data processing system in accordance with an user status of said particular user.

12. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said method further comprising the step of:

controlling output of said at least one designated meal plan from said data processing system to an output interface according to user-designated output preferences.

13. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising the step of:

comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a user-designated selection of electronic recipes from among said plurality of electronic recipes.

14. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said method further comprising the step of:

designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to ingredients that are currently available at said home base.

15. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said method further comprising the step of:

designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to the lifetime of ingredients that are currently available at said home base.

16. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising the step of:

designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to estimated preparation and cooking times that satisfy designated meal preparation time constraints.

17. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising the step of:

designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to preselected food preferences for said home base.

18. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising the step of:

designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to a designated event.

19. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising the step of:

designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to a food budget for said particular home base.

20. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base Her comprising the step of:

comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user and dietary needs for additional users with said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base.

21. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising the step of:

adjusting a plurality of accessible electronic recipes to utilize ingredients currently available at said home base.

22. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising the step of:

adjusting said selection of electronic recipes to substitute ingredients indicated in said dietary needs to be eliminated with alternative ingredients.

23. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said step of receiving said dietary needs designated for said particular user further comprising the step of:

receiving current medication usage for said particular user in said transmittable data format at said data processing system.

24. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 23, said method further comprising the steps of:

comparing ingredients utilized in said at least one designated weal plan and medication usage for said particular user with medication summaries for said current medication usage; and

alerting said particular user of any food and medication conflicts between said at least one designated meal plan and said medication usage.

25. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said method further comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of cooking related purchases for said particular home base at said data processing system; and

storing said plurality of cooking related purchases in a database of available cooking related items at said particular home base.

26. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said method further comprising the step of:

recommending additional cooking related purchases to supplement currently available ingredients and equipment.

27. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 1, said method further comprising the step of:

in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan, updating a data storage medium storing said dietary needs for said particular user with said meal plan selection.

28. A method for managing an electronic cookbook, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes;

designating at least one meal plan of recipes from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user; and

designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to kitchen equipment necessary to prepare said electronic recipes available at said home base.

29. A method for managing an electronic cookbook, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes;

designating at least one meal plan of recipes from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular users such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user; and

adding events to a schedule according to a meal plan selection, in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan.

30. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 29, said method further comprising the step of:

adding events to a schedule for purchasing cooking related supplies for preparing said meal plan selection.

31. The method for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 29, said method further comprising the step of:

adding events to a schedule for preparation and cooking time for said particular meal plan selection.

32. A system for managing an electronic cookbook, said system comprising:

means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes; and

means for designating at least one meal plan from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user;

means for, in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan, updating a kitchen budget according to cost of cooking related supplies utilized for said meal plan selection.

33. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving said dietary needs in an extensible mark-up language data format.

34. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving said dietary needs from a portable data processing system associated with said particular user, wherein said plurality of dietary needs are stored at said portable data processing system.

35. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving said dietary needs from a personal storage device proffered by said particular user at said data processing system.

36. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving said dietary needs from a universally accessible server system according to a particular universal identifier associated with said particular user.

37. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving a dietary health plan for said particular user in said dietary needs.

38. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving intake indicators for said particular user in said dietary needs, wherein said intake indicators include food, liquid and medication intake by said particular user within a particular time period.

39. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving exercise indicators for said particular user in said dietary needs, wherein said exercise indicators indicate fitness levels for said particular user within a particular time period.

40. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in said transmittable data format further comprising:

means for receiving environmental exposure indicators for said particular user in said dietary needs, wherein said environmental exposure indicators indicate recorded environmental exposure of said particular user within a particular period of time.

41. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes, further comprising:

means for accessing said plurality of electronic recipes from a network accessible server system comprising a plurality of electronic recipes.

42. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said system further comprising:

means for storing said dietary needs for said particular user at said data processing system in accordance with an user status of said particular user.

43. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said system further comprising:

means for controlling output of said at least one designated meal plan from said data processing system to an output interface according to user-designated output preferences.

44. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a user-designated selection of electronic recipes from among said plurality of electronic recipes.

45. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to ingredients that are currently available at said home base.

46. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to the lifetime of ingredients that are currently available at said home base.

47. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to estimated preparation and cooking times that satisfy designated meal preparation time constraints.

48. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to preselected food preferences for said home base.

49. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to a designated event.

50. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to a food budget for said particular home base.

51. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user and dietary needs for additional users with said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base.

52. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for adjusting a plurality of accessible electronic recipes to utilize ingredients currently available at said home base.

53. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base further comprising:

means for adjusting said selection of electronic recipes to substitute ingredients indicated in said dietary needs to be eliminated with alternative ingredients.

54. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said means for receiving said dietary needs designated for said particular user further comprising:

means for receiving current medication usage for said particular user in said transmittable data format at said data processing system.

55. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 54, said system further:

means for comparing ingredients utilized in said at least one designated meal plan and medication usage for said particular user with medication summaries for said current medication usage; and

means for alerting said particular user of any food and medication conflicts between said at least one designated meal plan and said medication usage.

56. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said system further comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of cooking related purchases for said particular home base at said data processing system; and

means for storing said plurality of cooking related purchases in a database of available cooking related items at said particular home base.

57. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said system further comprising:

means for recommending additional cooking related purchases to supplement currently available ingredients and equipment.

58. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 32, said system further comprising:

means for in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan, updating a data storage medium storing said dietary needs for said particular user with said meal plan selection.

59. A system for managing an electronic cookbook, said system comprising:

means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes;

means for designating at least one meal plan from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meat plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user; and

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to kitchen equipment necessary to prepare said electronic recipes available at said home base.

60. A system for managing an electronic cookbook, said system comprising:

means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes; and

means for designating at least one meal plan from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user;

means for adding events to a schedule according to a meal plan selection, in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan.

61. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 60, said system further comprising:

means for adding events to a schedule for purchasing cooking related supplies for preparing said meal plan selection.

62. The system for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 60, said system further comprising:

means for adding events to a schedule for preparation and cooking time for said particular meal plan selection.

63. A program for managing an electronic cookbook, residing on a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means, said program comprising:

means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes;

means for designating at least one meal plan from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user; and

means for, in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan, updating a kitchen budget according to cost of cooking related supplies utilized for said meal plan selection.

64. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for receiving said dietary needs in an extensible mark-up language data format.

65. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for accessing said plurality of electronic recipes from a network accessible server system comprising a plurality of electronic recipes.

66. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for storing said dietary needs for said particular user at said data processing system in accordance with an user status of said particular user.

67. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for controlling output of said at least one designated meal plan from said data processing system to an output interface according to user-designated output preferences.

68. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a user-designated selection of electronic recipes from among said plurality of electronic recipes.

69. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to ingredients that are currently available at said home base.

70. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to the lifetime of ingredients that are currently available at said home base.

71. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to estimated preparation and cooking times that satisfy designated meal preparation time constraints.

72. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to preselected food preferences for said home base.

73. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to a designated event.

74. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to a food budget for said particular home base.

75. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user and dietary needs for additional users with said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base.

76. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for adjusting a plurality of accessible electronic recipes to utilize ingredients currently available at said home base.

77. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for adjusting said selection of electronic recipes to substitute ingredients indicated in said dietary needs to be eliminated with alternative ingredients.

78. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for receiving current medication usage for said particular user in said transmittable data format at said data processing system.

79. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further:

means for comparing ingredients utilized in said at least one designated meal plan and medication usage for said particular user with medication summaries for said current medication usage; and

means for alerting said particular user of any food and medication conflicts between said at least one designated meal plan and said medication usage.

80. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of cooking related purchases for said particular home base at said data processing system; and

means for storing said plurality of cooking related purchases in a database of available cooking related items at said particular home base.

81. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 63, said program further comprising:

means for recommending additional cooking related purchases to supplement currently available ingredients and equipment.

82. A program for managing an electronic cookbook, residing on a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means, said program comprising:

means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes;

means for designating at least one meal plan from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user; and

means for designating said selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base according to kitchen equipment necessary to prepare said electronic recipes available at said home base.

83. A program for managing an electronic cookbook, residing on a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means, said program comprising:

means for receiving dietary needs designated for a particular user in a particular transmittable data format at a data processing system associated with a particular home base, wherein said data processing system has access to a plurality of electronic recipes;

means for comparing said dietary needs designated for said particular user with a selection of electronic recipes that are preparable at said particular home base from among said plurality of electronic recipes;

means for designating at least one meal plan from among said selection of electronic recipes that satisfies said dietary needs for said particular user, such that an electronic meal plan is specified on said data processing system for preparation at said particular home base according to said dietary needs of said particular user; and

means for adding events to a schedule according to a meal plan selection, in response to receiving a meal plan selection from among said at least one meal plan.

84. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 83, said program further comprising:

means for adding events to a schedule for purchasing cooking related supplies for preparing said meal plan selection.

85. The program for managing an electronic cookbook according to claim 83, said program further comprising:

means for adding events to a schedule for preparation and cooking time for said particular meal plan selection.

86. A method for managing recipe selections within an electronic cookbook, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving access to a plurality of electronic recipes via a plurality of diverse data storage medium at an electronic cookbook controller; and

filtering said plurality of electronic recipes at said electronic cookbook controller according to specifications for a particular household and according to kitchen equipment accessible at said particular household, such that only a selection of said plurality of electronic recipes that are preparable according to said specifications for said particular household and said kitchen equipment accessible at said particular household are accessible at said electronic cookbook controller.

87. The method for managing recipe selections within an electronic cookbook according to claim 86, said step of receiving access to a plurality of electronic recipes via a plurality of diverse data storage medium, further comprising the step of:

accessing said plurality of electronic recipes via a network connection to a plurality of servers each comprising electronic recipes.

88. The method for managing recipe selections within an electronic cookbook according to claim 86, said step of filtering said plurality of electronic recipes at said electronic recipe controller according to specifications for a particular household, further comprising the step of:

filtering said plurality of electronic recipes according to available preparation and cooking times scheduled for said particular household.

89. The method for managing recipe selections within an electronic cookbook according to claim 86, said step of filtering said plurality of electronic recipes at said electronic recipe controller according to specifications for a particular household, further comprising the step of:

filtering said plurality of electronic recipes according to a designated food-related event scheduled for said particular household.

90. The method for managing recipe selections within an electronic cookbook according to claim 86, said method further comprising the step of:

determining additional cooking related purchases to supplement currently available ingredients and equipment at said electronic cookbook controller.

91. A method for managing recipe selections within an electronic cookbook, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving access to a plurality of electronic recipes via a plurality of diverse data storage medium at an electronic cookbook controller;

filtering said plurality of electronic recipes at said electronic cookbook controller according to specifications for a particular household, such that only a selection of said plurality of electronic recipes that are preparable according to said specifications for said particular household are accessible at said electronic cookbook controller, and further according to kitchen equipment accessible at said particular household;

filtering said plurality of electronic recipes at said electronic cookbook controller according to specifications for a particular household, such that only a selection of said plurality of electronic recipes that at preparable according to said specifications for said particular household are accessible at said electronic cookbook controller; and

adding events to a schedule according to a selection from among said filtered plurality of recipes.