Handwritten Recipes

[bjcotton]

I keep all of my recipes on the computer [actually 2 computers in case one dies] and I keep a paper copy. On the computer I keep three cookbooks going. One I import or type new recipes into; then when I have time I do a serious review of those and if I really want to try them they go into cookbook #2. Once I've tried a recipe it is either deleted or copied into cookbook #3 which is my Tried & True Cookbook. I have began inputting notes for each time I make a recipe and do something different with it. I put the notes of what I did even if I don't like the results...that prevents me from doing it again.

[FryBoy]

We have a series of three 5-inch by 8-inch 3-ring loose-leaf binders, one for sweets, one for main courses, and one labeled "Etc."

We also have my mother's similar 3-ring binder, and two metal boxes that hold 3-inch by 5-inch cards, one from my mother and one from my mother-in-law.

More recently, I've been keeping some on the computer in both wordPerfect and PDF format, which makes them easy to share with others.

[Dina]

Get a bigger index card box! I have a large box with dividers that was handed down to me by my sister. She also let me have all of her hand written recipes from her homemaking classes in high school. You could also get a thick 3-ring binder and begin organizing them in sheet protectors. That works wonders since the sheet protectors keeps the recipes clean.

[Claire]

I,too have an index on the computer for my favorite recipes. it tells me if the recipe is hand-written in a binder or box, in a certain old issue of Gourmet, or in which cookbook.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Claire

I,too have an index on the computer for my favorite recipes. it tells me if the recipe is hand-written in a binder or box, in a certain old issue of Gourmet, or in which cookbook.

So, if you're looking for a recipe, you go to the computer to look up its location the go there and look up the recipe? It must have been a lot of work to create that index!

[Katie E]

It would be very difficult for me to explain my "system" but suffice it to say it works for me and I have 4 plastic shoebox-like boxes with my 3x5 recipe cards filed according to appropriate food categories. Example: appetizers, breads, cakes, cookies, fish/seafood, etc. You get the idea. I have it divided and subdivided into about 53 categories. I have a separate category for cheesecake (love the stuff) as well as meatloaf. My fish/seafood section is broken down into various kinds of same.

I don't know how many recipes are in those 4 boxes, but I've made them all. Many of them multiple times. I've been cooking and collecting recipes since I was 10-years-old.

I keep a written calendar of our menus and usually have my menus outlined for about 2 months in advance. Most evenings for dinner we have a new untried main dish. One month out of the year, each evening meal is a review of TNT dishes.