organization of recipes, ideas, ect

I try to put all my recipes on index cards, print them and file in an index card box. I have a recipe folder and many many sub directories to be able to get to things quickly.

I'll do the same with magazine/newspaper recipes. If there are pictures I want to save, I'll put them in a folder I have in the kitchen. I should say had; I haven't seen it since the move.

If I find interesting articles on the net, I'll copy and paste into Word and print them. They are kept in yet another folder with the paper clipping I want to keep. All the folders were kept in a nice looking box in the kitchen. Another thing I haven't seen in a while.

Forgot one thing Isaac, it might not be practical for you but who knows. I set up my kitchen so I have all my baking equipment in the cupboards above my work space. This weekend I thought it would be a good idea to buy some cork sheet and glue them inside the cupboards door so I can put up notes and recipes I may need while baking.

[ September 09, 2001: Message edited by: Iza ]

I keep my recipes in 2 places, in case somethiong happens to them. I have a computer program called Accuchef, which can scale a recipe up or down as I need it, and I also have them written, and organized in a 3 ring notebook, with page protectors.

I keep talking about putting my recipes into a computor program but as of yet, I haven't. The whole process looks a little overwhelming considering how many recipes I to enter.


Right now I have three large rubber maid file boxes, there about 1' squared in size, with handles. I have one that I work out of daily and kept it at work most of the time. The other 2 file boxes contain less used recipes, ideas, photos of other peoples work etc...

Then I have folders for each holiday and each club event. For each holiday I keep recipes, scraps of info. I've found that relate ideas to that holiday and past menus with counts. I've found it very helpful to keep holiday info. seperate from my everyday files so I don't have to sort thru everything each time I'm preparing a menu.

I also make notes in my good cookbooks (this drives my husband crazy). I buy them as tools and use them as tools. If I come across something I really like from a book I photocopy it and place it in my file or I make a note and place it in the correct file so I can remember my source/reference.


I'm always ripping apart magazine articles and finding recipes on line that I add to my file. Every year it gets too full where I can't fit any more into it, so I go thru the whole thing and sort it out. That's been a step I actually enjoy, it lets me re-focus.

I should use my down time NOW and get my recipes together and stop talking about wanting to! Momoreg aprox. how much was your program and are you happy with it...would you get the same program again? Thanks.

I use the computer and copy my cooking directory on a CD (it's practical because I have everything available at all times, even at work).

I also use 3 ring note books; my magazines are kept all together with a computerized index list. Plus some 30 + cassettes for videotaped shows.


:D

I keep all my untried recipes in a 3-ring binder and all tried, or worth while recipes in my special recipe computer program. What I like about my program is that I can also place actual photo of the cake I made along side the recipe. :D

I looked at the site you mentioned Momoreg, thanks. I have to admit I just don't understand enough about computors to really follow this site (and alot of other computor things).

I don't understand shareware, what is it really? Do you buy it only once? Can it be used off line too? Are there other costs? Is it something I can take with me into another computor and keep forever if I so choose? Or more like a web site, where you have your own storage area (so to speak) and you remain linked to them?

Sorry, I just don't get it.........

:confused:

Here's a link for accuchef. It was $20 to register (if I recall), and it took me over a month to enter my recipes, but I'm glad I did it. I had tried a different program before, and this one was much better. Still, it's not perfect; I would like it to do things that it can't do, but all in all, I like it. \

It can't, for example, print out several different size batches. It will only print out the main size batch, and if you want it to calculate up or down, it will only do that for you on the screen, but not on paper.

Also, the way it looks on screen is not necessarily the way your page format will be, which really irked me at first, but my husband managed to make it as close to the original as possible.

I believe you can try it out for free for a month. Play around with it. Here's the link:
http://www.accuchef.com/

My tried and true recipes I carry with we in a 4" ring binder with page protectors(which is getting to be too big and too heavy). I made my own recipe chart(with different sized batches), save it on my computer in blank form. When I type up my recipe I use this form and then print and save it, so I have 2 copies(just in case I ever lose my book). It's saved to my hard drive and then onto a floppy disc.
I have a binder with sheet protectors for wedding cake pictures from magazines and such. For interesting recipes from the web or magazines that I may someday want to try I file them in file folders separately with headings like "breads", "cakes", "cookies", etc. I wish I could get a good computer program too.