Hmm... If you think all it needs is a visual makeover and some marketing, how about I give you the source code and remove my version from the app store, and you can make it over and see how you go? If you have some success, all i want is for you to give me some marketing tips, let me know what you did that worked. Anyone up for this? My email's on my blog.
A good app should be easily discoverable. Like if I plug in grocery list, dinner, automatic, or some combination thereof it should pop up everywhere.
Execution doesn't mean just coding something out and deliverying it. Execution means marketing, sales, business process, documentation, team building, and on and on.
Just like an idea is about vision, dream, purpose.
The execution that would make the idea successful though is not just getting the app written and posted to the app store — contact someone who makes cooking books and do some cross-promotion / integration, a supermarket, etc. — that part is hard, but also necessary if you want to really succeed, and that’s why many say ideas are worthless and execution is everything.
Adding to promotion is of course making sure the application is easy to use, appealing, comes with recipes I actually will like, are easy to follow, use ingredients available from the normal store, etc. — that’s another part of execution.
I am a programmer like you, but if I can come up with some ideas for a cohesive strategy for your product, I'll shoot you a note!