<p>The holiday cooking season is here, and if you happen to use a Windows 8.1 laptop or tablet, the MSN Food & Drink app serves as a recipe database, meal planner, shopping-list generator and cooking tutor. The app is free from the online Windows Store if it is not already installed on your system.<br /><br /></p>.<p>For those who like to cook with the computer in the kitchen, the app features hundreds of recipes in easy-to-read type arranged on step-by-step screens that can be advanced by tapping arrow keys in the screen or keyboard. If you would rather keep sticky fingers off the hardware, though, MSN Food & Drink also includes a hands-free mode that turns the device’s webcam into a basic motion sensor.<br /><br />To use the hands-free feature, open a recipe from the Food & Drink app and select the Hands-Free Mode icon at the bottom of the screen. <br /><br />When you have completed the steps on the first recipe screen, move to the next screen by waving your hand in front of the webcam; you can go back a step by waving your hand in the other direction.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>The holiday cooking season is here, and if you happen to use a Windows 8.1 laptop or tablet, the MSN Food & Drink app serves as a recipe database, meal planner, shopping-list generator and cooking tutor. The app is free from the online Windows Store if it is not already installed on your system.<br /><br /></p>.<p>For those who like to cook with the computer in the kitchen, the app features hundreds of recipes in easy-to-read type arranged on step-by-step screens that can be advanced by tapping arrow keys in the screen or keyboard. If you would rather keep sticky fingers off the hardware, though, MSN Food & Drink also includes a hands-free mode that turns the device’s webcam into a basic motion sensor.<br /><br />To use the hands-free feature, open a recipe from the Food & Drink app and select the Hands-Free Mode icon at the bottom of the screen. <br /><br />When you have completed the steps on the first recipe screen, move to the next screen by waving your hand in front of the webcam; you can go back a step by waving your hand in the other direction.<br /><br /><br /></p>