recipe box

a couple of weeks ago i started the process of RE-organizing my recipes. note the emphasis on RE! this is something that i have had to do for years.

1. because i have these friends that cook this amazing stuff and i have to have the recipe for these things.

2. because i subscribe to some of the best magazines with these mouth watering recipes with these lovely pictures.

3. because i am how i am. i can't help myself. it has to at least look orderly. i THINK, again note the emphasis on THINK i have finally found a system that works for me. not sayin it will for you, but it might, just sayin.

so here has been the issue for the past 11 years or so, since i actually started caring about food, how it looked, tasted, was prepared, etc. i love, love, love a recipe box and recipe cards. especially ones that have been loved with worn corners and tons of love dripped all over but what was i to do with all of the magazine recipes and the online recipes because i don't like loose sheets floating around in my recipe box.

btw...it used to really bug me that all of my recipe cards did not match. sometimes i would even re-write them if someone gave me one. however along the way i really have learned to love when i get a different card that has different writing than mine. it is special. i am reminded of the person who gave me the recipe and it usually makes me smile while i am making the creation.

unless something goes totally remiss with the creation and then i get a little resentful of the person and their superior culinary abilities. just being honest, trying to work on my pride issues. admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

so here is a brief overview of how i have combined the mismatched cards, Internet and magazine recipes all into one neat little box.

• all recipes are grouped by category. i like this method better than alphabetically because then i can just shove the card into the box under a category instead of rooting through each and every card.
• i fold the magazine and Internet recipes so they will fit on one of the recipe cards. i tape them to the card and then trim the recipe in such a way that i can unfold the recipe without removing it from the card. i also write the recipe name at the top of the card so i do not have to pull it out and look at the article. you can see how i cut the recipes in the above picture. this also makes the recipes sturdier and they seem to last longer. i attach them to the card with a piece of tape.

i am sure that you all are running to your kitchens to get started on organizing your recipe boxes. if you do get around to it soon send me some pictures. also a great rule of thumb for recipe boxes and recipes in general, unless it is a family recipe, if you haven't made it in the last 5 years...you probably won't. pass it on or trash it.

~type to you soon~