Recipe organization?

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chelli

Assistant Cook
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
23
Anyone want to let me in on how they keep their recipes on order? recipes you've collected over the years that were passed down, written down, printed out, or just torn out of magazines? My small collection is in a stack stuck to the fridge
 
I bought an index card file box. If it is torn from a mag or paper, I make it and if it's a keeper I'll copy it onto a card and file it. Same with printed ones. I have them organized by category in the box, appys, drinks, veggies, main dish, dessert etc.
 
About 95% of my recipes are typed in MS Word documents and filed on my computer in folders by category as you might see them in a cookbook - meats, soups, stews, Asian, sauces, etc.

Within each folder is another folder labeled 'Cookbook' which contains recipes I've made and use regularly. They are also in a three-ring binder in the kitchen. Untried recipes are in the main folders.

If I change a recipe as I am making it, I mark the page then make the changes on the computer and print a new page for the cookbook.
 
i have graduated to SEVERAL binders. i split up desserts and baked goods, for example. it got too crazy otherwise. and i use the kiddie dividers for soup, sauces, etc.

i also keep an accordian file for recipes that i've used but haven't refiled yet.
 
I do like Andy does and keep my recipes in my word processor on the computer. I have a main folder called recipes and sub folders for individual types like meat , veggies, cakes and the like.

I also have a loose-leaf binder with the recipes I use regularly with hard copies of the recipes saved in plastic covers.

I just recently bought one of those little flash drive USB sticks for 12 bucks and store a back up copy of all my important folders in it to protect against a computer crash.

Another alternative that appeals to folks is the computer program called MasterCook. It is less that $20 and lots of folks swear by it. Personally, I find it a little cumbersome to use as compared to just storing the recipes in MSWORD; but it does have some features that some folks might find to be very useful.
 
hmm, how do you guys use the recipes while you cook? Do you have a computer near the kitchen? I am a fairly low level cook, so i often find myself walking back and forth from the kitchen and the computer as i often forget the steps or the less obvious ingredients.
 
hmm, how do you guys use the recipes while you cook? Do you have a computer near the kitchen? I am a fairly low level cook, so i often find myself walking back and forth from the kitchen and the computer as i often forget the steps or the less obvious ingredients.

I use the paper copy of the recipe from the three-rung binder of recipes I keep in the kitchen. If it gets soiled or marked up, I just print up a new sheet. I choose not to use the plastic sheet covers as they take up a great deal of space in the binder and are a lot more expensive than occasionally reprinting a recipe.
 
I use macgourmet and I love it. I do bring my laptop into the kitchen (or rather on a surface between my kitchen and dining room) when I cook. It's amazingly awesome.
 
I'm in the process of converting over to Living Cookbook. So far, I love it! Much more sophisticated than my last system. It allows me to store photos of both the final dish AND of the technique steps, right along side the instruction.

If you put your grocery receipts in each week, it will cost all of your recipes for you. And of course, like all of these programs, it give you nutritional info and WW Points.

I cost a$35, and comes with an online support forum. I can tell you from experience, they really do help you right away.

I've been printing them and putting the recipes in plastic sleeves in a 3-ring binder because I liked the idea of being able to wipe them off. But the binder is getting very fat, very quickly! After reading Andy's comment, I may give up on the plastic sleeves.
 
Text on the computer. This is compact, searchable, portable and easy to load to phones for remote use/access.
 
I have most of my important recipes, along with recipes I'd like to try, on Word, in folders like Andy's. I also have binders and recipe boxes here, there and yonder.
 
Totally unorganized pile in a kitchen drawer. Small notes, large print outs, magazines, all of'em. UN-OR-GAN-IZED. :) But I know what's in there, somewhere.
 
I tried the computer thing once but found it awfully time consuming typing in recipes. I can whip up an index card much quicker. I know it's "old-fashioned" but that's the way I learned to cook and many of my cards are in Mom's and Grandma's handwriting. That always brings a smile to my face when I use them since they are both gone now.
 
I have a good amount on the computer in a program my husband designed for me, and I also have my share of binders with clipped out recipes in as well as a number of cookbooks and recipe cards. Any new ones I've found I've got in a text file and after I try them they'll either be added to my collection or deleted.
 
my mom does this and now I do it too. Glue all your recipes on a piece of paper slip the paper in a plastic sleeve and put them in a 3 ring binder. If you use a glue stick it takes no time at all. have fun
 
i see everyone is split between the of having hard copies, or using programs. I will most probably go with digital library and bring my laptop into the kitchen. Thanks for all the useful programs.
 
We had another thread about this subject recently, How Do You Store/Save Your Recipes? that might give you some more ideas.

I store mine pretty much like Andy M. - I would never take my laptop into the kitchen and set it on the counter where I am working (I put my laptop into harms way enough having it on the coffee table with a cup of coffee when my 5-yo grandson is running around the house chasing the dogs) ... I put my recipes in plastic sleeves where they will not get messed up while I'm cooking, I have a hook on a cabinet door so I can hang the recipe up in front of me out of the way, and put them back into the notebooks when I'm done. I also have an under cabinet book rack that my son made for me that I can pull down to hold cookbooks if I need to, and it has a sheet of clear plexiglass to protect the pages.

I have looked at several recipe software programs but was never really satisfied with any of them.
 
Hard copy mostly for me. I can tell how good the recipe is from the stains all over it. There are lots of printed recipes from DC in my files and many magazines. I have a recipe box that has my old standbys and my favorite cookbooks open to the relevant pages. I don't EVER take my laptop to the kitchen. Far too likely to spill on it. (See the aforementioned stained recipe pages!) Be careful if you do that chelli.
 
I like the idea of using plexi or a transparent surface to protect the cook book.

I also have an under cabinet book rack that my son made for me that I can pull down to hold cookbooks if I need to, and it has a sheet of clear plexiglass to protect the pages.
 
Two thoughts - first, bringing recipes into a software program (whatever it is) is a pain when you first get started, no doubt. But there are ways to ameliorate that. First, you can choose a program that lets you automatically download recipes from top recipe sites. Second, you can enter recipes as you make them, rather than try to sit down and do them all at once.

Second, about the safety of using the laptop in the kitchen. You definitely want to think this through and take precautions. In my kitchen, there is an opening between the kitchen and the dining room. There is a ledge wide enough to support my computer, but it is not used or designed for food prep, and it is not near the stove, sink, or even a countertop used for prep. It is as safe there as it is anywhere. I'm thinking about the kitchens of other people I know - and I can actually see safe places for laptops in most of them. A little bit of counter that's not used for prep and isn't adjacent to a sink or stove would be just fine, as long as that counter wasn't also being used for prep or too close to a prep area that it's susceptible to spills, splashes, etc. My software has something called "chef view" that brings up a very plain, high contrast window with huge type that I can see from across the room. I bring this up only because this doesn't have to be a deal breaker for someone thinking about using their computer to store recipes, provided they think out a safe location for their laptop.
 
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