Organizing all those recipes
I've managed to amass a ridiculous amount of recipes from various sources (magazines, blogs, emails, bookmarked sites, etc). The old fashioned recipe card box seems more than a tad out of date. How do you keep all of your recipes organized so you can access them easily regardless of what form they are in?
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19 Comments:
I enter all my recipes on RecipeZaar (www.recipezaar.com) and then add them to my online cookbook on RecipeZaar.
savvy at 8:49AM on 03/31/07
I organize them in a 4x6 photo album with removable pages via a ring binder system that I divide in sections. Whenever I run out of space, I just buy more refills from the local photo shop or buy another album. I use 4x6 index cards to write or paste the recipes onto which I then slide into the photo sleeve. The plastic sleeve also acts as protective barrier so the recipes don't get dirty. My mom uses a similar system but uses a regular 3 ring binder and plastic sheets from an office supply store.
spaghetti at 10:33AM on 03/31/07
I use a giant stack of papers, clippings, printouts and other junk that is slowly taking over a corner of my kitchen.
bylime at 11:40AM on 03/31/07
If they are online, I just use http://del.icio.us/ ;; and tag them recipes (or Thai_Recipe; Viet_Recipes; etc)
NSW at 11:45AM on 03/31/07
What is this "organization" you speak of? Here let me find that recipe that was so good. I think it's on my ........desk...no..Oh yes that Notebook thingy I boug..........no ..not there ...oh oh oh ....top of the fridge I am sure...no not there ....darn ... WAIT ...the bathroo.....no... well I am sure I can just print again from the website ...what was that again ...Ummm Serious E...no....Amatu.....no...Recipez...no...Simpl.....Darn ummm (typing furiously) www.google.com....search ...ah there it...well it's ONE of these ...I think!
Sindy at 3:05PM on 03/31/07
I use bylime's method, but have improved upon it by using *two*corners, one of which is filled with folders filled with recipes. And if anyone knows where I put the Stilton Fritters with Orange-Cranberry Relish recipe, please let me know. I promised to make it this Thursday.
Barbara Hanson at 5:18PM on 03/31/07
I keep 2 types. The first are simple .txt files of recipes and kept on the laptop. I also have a large 3 ring binder with clear folder sheets where I can put recipes of any size in the sleeves. I only put recipes that I have made and like in the binder, but as far as the computer... anything and everything.
jonfoxx at 8:57PM on 03/31/07
I cut out the recipes, I glue them on a big notebook and then I index them.
I understand it's not the best method, and I'm not telling you it really works...
For the magazines I keep, I use a little notebook where I write down all the recipes I would like to make from that particular issue... This too it's not really working aimless, but it sure works better than memory!!!
Sara - Piperita at 3:57AM on 04/01/07
I must admit that I've gotten better about putting recipes on my computer. When I read a food mag and find a recipe I like, I fold down the corner of the page, then go to that mag's web site and download the recipe. Of course, I still have the folders/piles of papers from years past...LOL!
Curlz at 10:49AM on 04/01/07
One huge honkin' file cabinet. Not kidding. Once in a while I purge, once in a while I change tabs, re-arrange files. This file goes back to 1969. But I can't find the recipe for a fresh strawberry, real cream, angel food cake, gelatin dessert I want to make this Easter. I think I purged it before one of the tours of duty in Germany. Anybody have it? It was in a magazine from a whipping cream or dairy ad from about 1978.
dksbook at 11:01AM on 04/01/07
Does anyone know of good recipe software?
grubgirl at 9:02PM on 04/01/07
I highly recommend creating a gmail account specifically for recipe storage. With some silly name like bob.jones.recipes@gmail.com
I paste the link for the recipe I'm saving + the recipe itself into an email, make the subject line the title of the recipe, and send it to myself. Then I can tag it with as many tags as I want, like "to try" "brunch" "dessert" "Thai" "holiday", etc.
Best system ever. And then you can search through the text of all emails for any ingredient you have on hand, and find recipes to go with it in about 3 seconds. This method of recipe saving has been convenience x 100.
veggiesattva at 12:39AM on 04/02/07
Veggie, all your recipes are on line? No pages torn from magazines? No tatty index cards? Wow!
Barbara Hanson at 8:33AM on 04/02/07
BaHa - the ones that are not online, like those I have inherited on index cards from my grandmother, I simply type into the body of an email and send to myself. Easy! Many magazine recipes are also available online at the 'zine's website, so no typing needed. One way or the other, I make sure the text of the recipe is always in the email (as well as the link), in case the link goes dead someday.
Then I can reply to myself later with any comments on the recipe, and change the tag from "to try" to "tried". I love this gmail thing!
For the record, I am 22 and just started cooking for myself on a regular basis this year, so I was only collecting recipes for about 5 months before I started this system. Much easier than if you have 10, 20, 30 years worth of collected recipes. But you could always use the internet for recipes you collect from today forward!
veggiesattva at 10:37AM on 04/02/07
that gmail account is a great idea! I think I'll do that...
wickedlady at 11:28AM on 04/02/07
I LOVE BigOven (www.bigoven.com) -- it's one of the best, most full-featured recipe management solutions I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. I use BigOven to manage my recipe collection of over 23,000 recipes and it works like a champ.
vogelap at 2:04PM on 04/02/07
I'm a need-to-be-organized-in-files type of person, so I have file folders for categories and the cut/torn out recipes sorted into those. If I were to start over now, I'd definitely move it all online! It's so much easier to reference!
recipegrl at 3:23PM on 04/03/07
Try http://recipe.gauzza.com - free, and works pretty well/easy to use, and you can access your recipes anywhere with an internet connection.
gauzzastrip at 11:25AM on 01/03/08
Also worth a shot is http//onetsp.com - a new site I've been building over the last few weeks. It's meant to be incredibly simple for you to collect and manage all of your recipes in one place.
An added benefit is that you can access your recipes from your mobile phone as well (http://onetsp.mobi). Sign up and give it a shot!
mikebrittain at 10:20PM on 07/26/08