Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Recipe Organization - My Way

When I first got married, long, long ago, I received my first Betty Crocker Cookbook and another recipe book that has become very dear to me over the years. The woman who gave it to me, those thirty plus years ago, also gave me a sugar cookie recipe that I use to this day.
 
However, as time went on and I acquired more and more recipes, my poor little book had to be rubber banded closed to keep stuff from falling out. That's when I "upgraded" to the recipe file.
Truth be known, I only switched to this a few years ago and it didn't hold up very well. The fuller it got (which was more so than you see here), the more it tore.
 
So in a burst of inspiration, with a nice dose of dreaming, I decided I was going to get organized.
 
HAAAAA, HAAAA, HAAAA!!!!!!
 
Yes, being organized has always been a dream of mine. I have yet to achieve a state of organization, but I'm working on it. Small steps, you know. Starting with my recipes.
 
To get this ball rolling, I needed some cool stuff to inspire me. And how wonderful that it happened when they were bringing out all those wonderful back-to-school supplies. Oh, how I love that time of year. And it's not just the prospect of a quieter house. It all those school supplies. Colored pens, cool folders and binders, colored pens, notebooks, colored pens.... Okay, so you get the point.
 
I already had my trusty label maker, so all I needed was a colorful binder, some pocket dividers with tabs (I went for the 8 pack), and some sheet protectors (very cheap this time of year).
 
I put my dividers in first, then made nice little labels for each one. As you can see, this is still a work in progress. And my bread label needs to be straightened. :)
 
Then, in each category, I sorted my recipes. Alphabetical overall, but I also grouped them by like items. Holiday stuff, Mexican, Italian... Oh, and the pockets on the dividers came in handy for small cut-out recipes that I don't use very often.
 
Each recipe went into a sheet protector. As you can see from my beloved pumpkin bread recipe, this will save them from any further damage. I can goober the pages all I want, then simply wipe them clean. (No, goobering is not something I make a habit of, but hey...sometimes the pumpkin flies)
 
And for those small recipes that I use frequently, I taped those to a plain sheet of copy paper, usually more than one per page, then slide that page into the sheet protector.
See, both appetizers that would go great with a Mexican-themed meal.
 
I can't wait to finish this project, but I've still been able reap the fruits of my labor a time or two. I love it. It lays flat when I open it and I can even mark on the page with a dry erase marker, should I so desire. (Hey, any excuse to use those colorful pens)
 
Oh, and I can't wait to add a cool cover to the front of the binder. Just imagine the possibilities.
 
What do you do with your recipes?


16 comments:

  1. I have a drawer full of cookbooks, but there are only two I use regularly -- one is the Purity Flour cookbook my Mom gave me when I got married (and we've passed our 50th wedding anniversary by a couple years, so you know how old it is). No, you're not allowed to stop and figure out how old I am!!!!

    The other favourite is one that my youngest daughter created long before she married, and contains her version of all the family favourite recipes, neatly run off on punched pages and indexed in a small ring binder. It's wonderful! She made me a copy when she got married and was taking her copy away with her, and since then has made copies for each of her siblings and for her nieces and nephews when they married. Because it's also in a file on my computer I can add new recipes whenever I want. Mind you, I keep stuffing new ones inside the back cover so now the book is held closed with a fat elastic band much like yours was. Guess it's time to key them into the computer so they can be properly included. Your book has the advantage of plastic page protectors so will undoubtedly outlast mine. I'm a little on the messy side when I cook. Then again, all the smudges and spatters aren't necessarily mine. I like it when the children help cook, despite the mess.

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    1. I love this story, Carol. I love what your daughter did and that she did it for everyone in your family. They will always cherish that. Thank goodness for rubber bands, huh?

      Like you, I have an entire collection of cookbooks, but there are only a couple I really use. So why don't I part with the others? Who knows. Actually, I have weeded out a few that I never used, but that still left more than a dozen!

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    2. What a wonderful idea to keep traditions going, Carol!

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  2. Oooohhh - the organizing librarian in me is just itching to do this! I have a recipe cupboard above the fridge. My recipe books are there and then I have this lovely wicker basket that has all the loose recipe sheets, printouts from the internet and yellowing pages from cookbooks that haven't survived the test of time. :-) So every time I want to make something I have pull out the wicker basket and rifle through everything to find the recipe I'm looking for. So very unlibrarianlike. Sigh. I need to adopt your plan and ditch the wicker. :-)

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    1. Kav, your wicker basket sounds much prettier than what I used before I went to the file--a large Ziploc bag. Like you, I'd have to rifle through all of the recipes to find the one I wanted. Same with the file. The binder is much easier. And I know the librarian in you would have loads of fun. I can just see you cross-referencing recipes. :)

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  3. I'm impressed.

    My current state of organization consists of "whatever was used most recently is at the top of the pile". And it's going to stay that way for now.

    But someday!!!! Someday I'll be organized!!!!

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    1. Yep, the faves are always at the top. Jan, I'll let you in on a little secret. Shh...don't tell anyone.

      I started this project back in August and I'm not even half way through yet. Thanksgiving is my goal. Well, actually before Thanksgiving so I'll have everything at my fingertips on turkey day!

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  4. mine are everywhere esp the ones I print out. I have a notebook with those page protectors and some favorites are in there but most from online I copied and pasted in email to myself and stored in an email folder 'recipes'. not a lot o fhelp since my printer is nearly always out of ink.

    mastercooks I think is one that was raved about several years ago on weight watchers recipe review forum- people save them there or scan them and save then print out...sounds great but while I've gone ebook out of necessity for my reading I still like to have an actual book or recipe in my hot little hands...my mom and I and her mom used to read these like books (I still do sometimes!) planning imaginary perfect dinners...sigh...

    Susanna

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    1. Imaginary perfect dinners? That's a new one on me. Then again, I suppose every time I plan some big shindig I imagine it to be perfect. And reality rarely matches my dreams. But as long as it tastes good, I'm happy.

      I print a lot of recipes, too. They fit nicely in those page protectors:) I've print them from here as well as the Food Network. Don't you love our "printer friendly" feature? That is, when you have ink. Susanna, you need to go buy some ink. Ink up, girl. Ink up. :)

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  5. Well, where have I been all day? Sorry I'm so late chiming in here. Guess I was so engrossed in revisions, I lost all track of time. Not to mention forgot what day it was. My bad. Sorry, y'all.

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  6. All mine are stuffed in a corner of the kitchen counter--in notebooks, in recipe files, loose and stacked, and even in one of my kids' shoe boxes (baby Keds!). :) The shoe box was perfect for note cards. :)

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    1. Good thing about the kitchen counter, Missy, is that they're easily accessible. :)

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  7. I have a lot of old cookbooks but had to start one of my own what with adapting so many recipes.

    I'm blessed to have my mother's recipe cards. In her handwriting.

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    1. Aren't those old recipe cards fun, Julie. I have my mom's as well as an old notebook handwritten by my grandmother with recipes she got from her mother. We're pretty sure she did this right before/after she got married. And I just know there's a story in there somewhere. :)

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  8. You know what I do? I send them all in to a company and they made a cookbook out of them. I invited all my cousins to participate and aunts and other family members. I did this about 15 years ago and now am gearing up to do it again as we have a new generation. Thing about using this company this time www.morriscookbooks.com. And yes there is an initial outlay of money, but you charge your family to buy them when they come in.

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    1. Great idea, Tina. I may have to consider that someday for my girls. Their grandmother did that several years back with a bunch of her and her mother's recipes. I have one too and I love having those special recipes.

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