How do you organize your favorite recipes?
Do you have an old skool index card box? Stuff on your computer? Bookmarks in books?? I'm kind of a mess - I have a binder with printouts from the web, and I started organizing them into various categories but I kind of gave up. I also have little pieces of paper stuck into cookbooks. But those fall out and get lost. :-( At least I have a shelf in the kitchen for all the books and papers!
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14 Comments:
I keep mine organized in a gmail account. If I find a recipe online, I can easily copy and email it, or use the site's built in email function. I tag each recipe (chicken, breakfast, crock pot, etc.) and the ones I want to try soon are tagged "to try". Once I've made something, I'll reply to myself with notes (e.g., substituted asparagus for broccoli) and then tag it "tried". If it's really good, I can star it as well. And the not so good ones can be deleted.
It's easy to access my recipes whether I'm at work, home or a friend's house, and a snap to send to someone else if they request one. Plus, it's easy to search the recipes by ingredient or method using the built-in search in gmail.
It helps that I have a laptop and a wireless network at home, so I can pull up my gmail account and don't have to worry about printing the recipes out.
LindaD at 1:58PM on 02/26/07
Folders with pockets, index cards, boxes. I try to put Post-Its on recipes I've liked in cookbooks, but I've got more than 10 shelves of cookbooks...so it's really not that helpful. Also some recipes stored on line, via Epicurious and Times Select. None of it helps all that much, really. What I am proud of is that I write down what we had for dinner every day. That way, I remember what we've enjoyed (or loathed).
Barbara Hanson at 3:53PM on 02/26/07
Organized...what's that? ;-)
I have a little bit of everything. I do have the binders with web printouts..except now I have a full pile of printouts that are almost as big as the binder that haven't made it in yet! :-(
I also bookmark the pages in magazines, and what I've been doing is putting the ones I really want to try into my cookbook stand on my kitchen island...except when the cookbook stand gets too full it tips over. I do make sure that I throw away a recipe if I've tried it and we don't like it...it does help keep the clutter down just alittle! lol
mepolo at 4:37PM on 02/26/07
I use a Moleskin Address book.
I carry in my back pocket at work. It is my organizer and savior...and keeper of the deepest darkest secrets, ok, not really, but you get the idea. Moleskin address books rule.
No, I don't work for them. But, buy buy.
angrywayne at 9:50PM on 02/26/07
i use two binders with plastic sleeve inserts. i also write any changes to recipes in the margins of my cookbooks; i get made fun of all the time for doing this, but i would otherwise never remember what changes i made to the recipe and if i even liked the recipe or not.
usually when i find somehting on the web, i'll print it out right away and bring it home. i have print outs on every vertical surface of the house, waiting for the day when i punch holes in them and put them in the binder. mental note to remind myself to do this when i get home tonight.
french tart at 7:37AM on 02/27/07
i meant to write "horizontal surface" , not vertical. methinks i need more coffee.
french tart at 7:38AM on 02/27/07
I use a piece of software called BigOven (http://www.bigoven.com). I am a very satisfied user!
vogelap at 8:28AM on 02/27/07
What seems to work best for me is to organize my recipes by season. I keep winter recipes, eg; soups, winter vegetables, braises in one binder. In another I keep grilling recipes (summer) and in another I keep summer fruits and vegetables. I also keep a holiday binder so I can find that recipe for butternut squash the week before Thanksgiving. Hope this helps.
Cookie at 9:15AM on 02/27/07
I use YUM! on a Mac to organize my recipes (http://www.nixanz.com). After much research I settled on this package because it had all the features I wanted, and none of the useless bells and whistles that clutter other applications.
YUM! supports drag & drop parsing of ingredient lists, you can scale recipes, control the unit of measure, edit the text & directions in a built in word processer, embed photos, e-mail the recipe automatically & even edit the ingredients list which prepopulates if you are typing.
I can scan, drag, drop, edit and save a recipe from saveur (complete with photos) in about 5 minutes.
But....I also have binders of tear pages, handwritten recipe cards from mom, grandma & friends, & many collected scraps of paper & packaging with battle scars from past successes and failures. There are some recipes that are more than just ingredients and directions, they are a piece of my history and so even when I "organize" them, I feel the need to keep the original.
2qrs at 3:40PM on 02/27/07
wow, so many great strategies. I really like the idea of actually writing down next to the recipe whether you even liked it or not, and making notes if the recipe needed any adjustments. There are those recipes that sound good in theory and then you try them and they're not so great...but a couple of months go by and you forget that you had tried making it in the past, and it sounds good, and then you do again with the same so-so results. sigh.
and i'll definitely start tossing the recipes from printouts that i didn't like to keep the clutter down! Saving recipes on the computer sounds fabulous but I'd still have to print everything out, since I don't have a laptop to put in the kitchen.
ambienttra at 10:20AM on 02/28/07
I have a 2 drawer fle cabinet. I also have a file in my computer. The things that I make the most are in my head. Old family favorites and my precious pasta sauce are all in my head.
JerzeeTomato at 10:44AM on 03/03/07
My mom was complaining about her old school recipes, that have been passed down from generation to generation, falling apart. Not wanting to have to re-write them every few years, I decided to make her an online recipe organizer to keep her recipes.
While figuring out how to make it/what features I should implement, I decided to make it so that anyone can register a user and upload their recipes as well.
I invite anyone who is having the same problems to go to
http://recipe.gauzza.com
and make a user to back up your recipes and be able to access them anywhere with an internet connection.
Also you can view other recipes users have uploaded to get new idea's and add new recipes to your cooking repertoire.
Organize - Print - Email
gauzzastrip at 12:51PM on 01/02/08
I am far from what you'd call organized with recipes. Which is kind of funny, because I'm normally a big organizer. I think I have so much stuff that I find getting started a bit intimidating.
But, I do have a file "bucket" -- one of those folders that's closed on three sides -- into which I slip notes, scraps, magazine pages, internet printouts and recipes others have written out for me. I know they're there, and they can't fall out, so it's somewhat functional, though quite stopgap.
I also have things I use regularly slipped into the back of Joy of Cooking. And I write directly in my cookbooks (with pencil) when I make permanent modifications to a recipe.
The back covers of my cookbooks are also covered with notes and recipes. Always in pencil so I can change them or completely remove the if necessary.
But I've got big plans to compile all of the best of it into a cookbook for friends and family. Someday?
LoCo at 2:29PM on 01/02/08
I copy any recipes I find online into an online recipe site called One tsp. -- which allows me to later access them from a web browser, or from my iPhone.
mikebrittain at 6:32PM on 08/15/08