Best Way to Organize Favorite Recipes?

[Anonymous]

I have 20 years' worth of index cards, post-it noted cook books, recipe pages pulled out of magazines, and things bookmarked on the internet. What's a good way to organize them all in one place?

[Anonymous]

Get a couple of binders, clear sleeves and dividers. They even have clear sleeves for index cards. Print off the internet recipes and start stuffing them into the sleeves and organizing into binders. I've actually got 3 going right now ... one has main courses, the second has apps, side dishes and desserts and the third is my "healthy" binder b/c I've learned that when planning a weekly menu I have a tendency to want to make the fattening dishes instead of the healthy one and it limits temptation. A more long term solution would be to make a cookbook using one of the online publishers but that is VERY time consuming. I just did one for my brother for his wedding and it took months. At least I've got a start for when I decide to make my own!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Those are great ideas! Where do you make your own cookbook online? I did a quick search and found several websites. Do you recommend any particular one? (This could be an awesome gift for people).

[Anonymous]

I use an accordian file folder with matching manila folders (I think Borders or Barnes & Noble sells them). Each folder is labeled for a category (chicken, meat, seafood, pasta, dessert, etc). With open folders in an accordian file, it is easy to drop recipes in the folder without dealing with plastic sleeves. If I want a chicken dish, I pull out the whole folder and look for something.

For on-line stuff, I also created folders (also not as many as the paper ones, just entree, appetizer, dessert). I realized it was getting out of hand, so if I tried a recipe and liked it, I copied and pasted it into word and saved it and deleted it from the on-line bookmark. So if I feel like trying something new, I know to just look at my bookmarked folders.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the binder and clear sleeves idea. Works like a charm and if you have it open when you are cooking and get stuff on it..you can wipe it right off.

[Anonymous]

I'm the one who made the cookbook. The most amazing site (in my humble opinion) is TasteBook (www.tastebook.com). Amazing concept, easy to use and you can even insert your own pictures into each recipe. I found old family pics and used those instead of food pics which seemed kind of boring. Have fun!

[Anonymous]

WOW! Thanks so much for posting tastebook.com. It looks terrific!

[Anonymous]

To the person who's made a cookbook on tastebook.com: Does the epicurious logo appear on your version?

[Anonymous]

Tastebooker here (no, they don't pay me but I wish they would!) .. no epicurious logo appeared except in recipes I specifically chose from there. I'm assuming for copyright reasons they have to give the source and you can't delete but if you don't want it then just input the recipe yourself. I cut and pasted from some online sites just so I could get my own picture in there.

[Anonymous]

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I print them out and laminate them (I"m betting sleeves are cheaper). But then I can pull them out and use them in our small kitchen without fear of being ruined.

[Anonymous]

I use Google Docs. That way my favorite recipes--or ones I've found online and want to try--are available from any computer. Useful when we are cooking on vacation.