June 24th
2007
Are you are a well organized person? I am most definitely not. Although I do like things neat and clean, for some reason I have a hard time keeping certain areas that way. There are a couple of fields where I could clearly do better, browser bookmarks for instance or proper recipes organization.
Despite my affinity to the computer per se and as much as I appreciate the web as a vast inspirational resource, I simply cannot become friends with electronic recipe organization. Having tested various applications over the last years, not a single one managed to convince me to stick with it. Sure, the search functionalities are a huge plus, but the missing paper factor weighs much harder for me. Handwritten recipes develop their own personalities, may it be the aged paper from previous centuries, a beautiful handwriting (which I have not) or the stains and greasy marks, that tell a story of victory success (hopefully). Some of my most precious recipe notes date back to the 70s, were written by my mum or grandma and - more often than not - leave me a bit puzzled, because important information like actual title or "minor details" such as the baking time are missing... but it's tangible, you can hold it in your hands and feel it.
I use three different ways of keeping my recipes orderly:
1) Bookmarks: tempting recipes I come across online are tagged using recipe specific tags
Different social bookmarking tools provide great services (like delicious., ma.gnolia), fellow food blogger Elise wrote about the process in detail.
2) "To-try" recipes are sorted in an ordinary, multi-fragmented folder
My folder grows constantly but helps enormously to keep magazine rip-outs, newspaper clippings, prints-outs, copies and recipe cards organized. It is spiced up with colorful labels and has 12 sub-divisions:
*appetizers
*soups
*salads
*pasta & rice
*veggies
*meat
*fish
*dessert
*cakes
*breakfast
*bread
*preserves.
3) Successful, "to-keep" recipes are written down in a special notebook
Is it just me thinking that most food bloggers use the famous Moleskine notebook? Having tried other notebooks over the last years I still have a strong preference for them, mostly due to their silky paper quality and slim shape. My typical choice has always been the pocket-sized basic notebook with square pages, but when I finished my last one with a yummy tartlet recipe (soon to come), I somehow fell in love with the idea of creating a personal, customized Moleskine cookbook, using the larger format of 13 x 21 cm (5 x 8¼").
Here is how to turn your Moleskine notebook into a recipe book:
Decide which recipe sections you want to use for segmentation (I used the same as for my folder, see above) and how many pages you want to dedicate to each section.
Keep a few empty pages either in the front or back for other purposes, like general tips or information.
To separate the sections use self-adhesive tabs or design your own choosing a decorative font as well as different colors. If you're happy with my way of categorizing recipes you can download my tabs draft here » (PDF, 371 KB, print in 100%)
Stick a couple of Post-it notes on the inside of the cover to be able to easily and visibly comment previously written recipes.
Write down every keep-worthy recipe as detailed as possible - ingredients, instructions, yield, preparation time, tasting notes, ideas, tips, pitfalls, source, etc. - and try to develop a consistent style.
Mark your favorite recipes with color markers, little icons or stickers.
If you want to get the most out of your Moleskine besides making it a recipe book, check out these Moleskine hacks and the especially helpful instructions on how to adapt a pen holder to your notebook - probably the only thing I really miss on a Moleskine.
How do you organize your recipes?
This is a great post. If I kept all the cooking magazines I have I would not have any place to walk, and yet what to do to save the ones you'd like to keep? Great solution- I am going to start right now!
Non-online recipes get written down in my little Moleskine - amongst other things like travel notes or new vocabulary (still trying to improve my English). It's a weird mix but it always gives me a good impression about what was going on in my life at that time. However, no order whatsoever... Maybe I should your tabs, thanks for the download option!
I love Moleskines, I have two and I was thinking of turning one into a GTD notebook (thanks to another hack) but I think this is just as important! I actually have the last 3-5 pages in my Moleskine now dedicated to "recipe brainstorming" - an idea usually comes to me when I can't do anything about it but write it down! Thanks for your step-by-step!!
Indeed I have a Moleskine for my recipes. For proven recipes only. I take the Moleskine with me when I travel to have all the recipes I need - not for taking notes. At home I still use my "China-Kladde" dating from the mid eighties. It's kind of a recipe diary - you can even follow the evolution of my handwriting from the age of 13 (blue ink) up to now (black ink).
More practical is the rezkonv archive on my computer. But I still love Moleskine & co.
ooo well i feel very 'robot' now :) I store and keep everything in my MacGourmet recipe database. I find it utterly indispensable in terms of organization and searches for recipes based on ingredients. I also have paper folders of magazine clippings, but i convert them to digital whenever i get the chance :)
I keep them in a mac software called connoisseur. Much easyer to find sth. than in a analoge medium :)
Perhaps I'll switch over to Cookbook when it's ready.
I have a photo album that is meant to hold two 4x6 photos per page. I print 4x6 index cards with recipes to slide into the picture slots. I created a Word template to print the index cards. Once I blog about a recipe I can print a 4x6 picture and stick that in the album too, on the same page as the recipe. I also use the self-adhesive tabs to divide my album by categories. Works great - and my recipes don't get all grease stained, since they are protected by the plastic photo album pages....
I've built an Access-database to store my recipes. Over time I improved it so I can add pictures now and search on different keywords, courses and ingrediënts. I even add information where to find recipes in my cookbooks and magazines. I like to uses cookbooks, but I've some many i sometimes loose track of where to find a special recipe I like.
I'm keeping mine in the pc now. I still have lots in notes lying around.
I actually hand-write them in a yellowing hardcover notebook that my mum handed down to me. The pages are practically falling apart but I love it. I've tried keeping them on my computer, but like you, I much prefer the heft of paper.
i don't have a moleskin... i am a big fan of notebooks and buy beautifully coloured pads with multiple designs whenever i see one. this is the one i will keep on my kitchen counter to scribble down recipes as i cook them. at the moment, it is a jordi labanda spiral notebook. i have kept all my old ones as well and i should start putting dates against the recipes to remember. i also am increasingly lazy and sometimes resort to indexing cards and old empty envelopes picked from the recycling box when i've left my notepad somewhere else, so things are a bit messier than they need to be.
I don't think the tabs would work for me, though - my recipes will always be in chronological order rather than sorted by food group. however, any magazine clippings i find noteworthy, i put in a large filing case with about 20 different subsections! it was my original intent to add them to the large filing folders i also have, but i don't have time to fan around with plastic pockets at the moment, so coming to think of it, my recipes to try are really a bit all over the place... which doesn't trouble me, as more often than not, i actually don't have the time to browse anyway!!! (note to self: wait until the kids are older and get them to file recipes for me in return for pocket money!)
as for electronic versions, i've grown tired of bookmarking, especially since i use firefox and you can't have subfolders there... so i have resorted to copy/paste from webpage into an email i send myself, then move it into a folder with the label "recipes to try".
with a wireless network, i can take the laptop with me to the kitchen to browse recipes online, but i still think nothing beats a paper version!
Ohne Rezeptverwaltung auf dem PC wäre ich verloren. Alleine die Suchfunktion - nicht nur nach Titel, sondern auch nach Kategorien und Zutaten finde ich ungemein hilfreich. Ich habe dazu noch eine furchtbare Handschrift und finde Gedrucktes viel übersichtlicher.
Wie du weißt, nutze ich die RezkonvSuite. Sehr praktisch, wenn man die Macher persönlich kennt und die auch mal auf eigene Wünsche eingehen. Alleine in meinem "ausprobiert"-Kochbuch finden sich an die 2500 Rezepte. Die alle in ein Büchlein zu schreiben, wäre etwas schwierig - obwohl ich so auch mal angefangen habe (das Büchlein ist inzwischen völlig zerfleddert, aber noch vorhanden...)
Zum Kochen drucke ich mir die Rezepte aus und vermerke darauf dann gleich in der Küche Tipps, Änderungen oder auch Umrechnungen von amerikanischen Maßen. Das wird dann gleich wieder auf dem Computer ins Rezept übertragen.
Ein positiver Nebeneffekt: als Tochter Kathi zum Studium wegging, konnte ich ihr meine gesammelten Lieblingsrezepte ganz einfach mitgeben (und Frani wird sie nun im Herbst auch mitbekommen).
Als sehr persönliches Geschenk finde ich ein hübsches handgeschriebenes Kochbuch aber unschlagbar.
I was looking for a new cookbook to write down recipes. I got a commercial recipe notebook right now and I have not satisfied. Making your own with the Moleskine notebook is a great idea. I carry a small Moleskine agenda in my purse, so handy. For recipes, the larger size notebook will suit my needs. Thanks.
i keep 'em on a tiddlywiki file. it's got tagging, livesearch, it's all on a single file, runs pretty much everywhere there's a browser... i keep one copy on my webserver and another on my usb drive, it's easily updated.
I love my Recipe Organizer from Kikki K. I bought it in Sydney but apparently the company is Swedish so we should be able to get it in Europe (haven't seen any though). I prefer a folder over a book as it leaves you the freedon to put new things in the middle or take stuff out. I always thought they just don't look very nice until I came across this one.
They have great stuff like Recipe Sticky Notes as well!
Have a look here.
Hello! I've delurked again! I don't know why I never comment.
I've just started keeping a little notebook full of successful internet recipes (I have to admit that I'm lazy and find that it takes a long time to write out the whole recipe). I have no special organization system or anything. The very first thing I recorded in it was your recipe for Focaccia which I've made so many times that I know it by heart.
I know what you mean about old recipes. My mother and grandmother often didn't write down crucial details (ie. baking time, specific mixing instructions).
Pimp your Moleskine, lovely idea! I'm a heavy Moleskine user, but can not believe I don't own one dedicated to recipes. This will be my next weekend project!!
I love this post! I need to find a better way to organize recipes I want to make that I've either ripped out, seen online, or in cookbooks. Though with the online ones, I'm wary of bookmarking them to go back to later because I'm scared that the person who posted it might take it down for some reason, so I save them to my computer in a "recipes" folder (divided into sub-folders). I also love the idea of having a book with recipes that are keepers, but since I rarely come up with my own recipes, it would mostly be from other sources so I don't want to retype/write them out. Mind you it would still be good to have one place to go to for reliable recipes instead of searching through books and papers.
Sorry this was a long post! I've admired your blog and photos for a while. :)
Wow, Nicky, that is impressive and inspiring. And the Moles will be inspired too, expect your idea in their portfolio next year. But I would be happy if they put more space between their lines. And I am missing their pocket size flexies with washable cover.
Your system would be a great support for my system: I am giving my recipes to publishers to make a book out oft it so I can store them in my cupboard. Haha. But: You should do that. Really! We want it! And we are not the only ones.
Most of my recipes come from the web, so I cut and paste recipes into text files and put them into folders. That's about it. When I really like a recipe, I mark it as "important"; I don't think you can do that on a PC though.
For the longest time I was looking for a simple program to keep all my recipes organized, but they all involve spending hours inputting all my recipes by hand or doing other confusing things. I'd like to try a web-based application so I can share recipes with the rest of my family, but that hasn't happened either.
Great idea with the tabs! I have a pocket-sized mole skin that I carry around in my purse at all times... you just never know where you'll get cooking inspiration.
I really like this post. I´d love to organize my recipes but kind of felt overwhelmed because I have them all over my apartment - sorting through them would take a lot of time.
Question: where did you get the self-adhesive tabs from? I´ve never seen something like that around here (Austria). I´m a little perfectionist so hand-written ones would work for me.
Awesome site, btw!
Oh I love the Moleskin idea! I currently use a 3-ring binder (one for baking, one for cooking). They are tabbed with similar categories as yours. But I have a hard time keeping up with it. I'd love to create a favorite recipes book - and the Moleskin idea would be perfect for that.
This is so funny, because I was just looking at programs to keep my recipes on the computer, but realized my 3 ring binders really do suit me better. If there is a recipe online that I make, I always print it out anyway. I don't have a laptop, and I like to have the recipe printed out there in the kitchen with me. I like the 3 ring binders so I can add recipes easily and take them out if it ends up being a recipe that I don't like and would never use again.
I've been collecting recipes since the early 1960's and have plenty from my mother and grandmother that go back another fifty years. The oldest ones are on index cards, taped into the looseleaf binder system that I started in the late seventies and used until the mid-nineties when I became computer-savvy. Since then I've acquired a huge collection that is partly in a database I custom-designed in ECCO Pro 3.0, and, more recently in a freeform but easy to search program called Zoot. But a funny thing happens when you've been cooking for almost fifty years. You realilze that there are just a handful of recipes that you make over and over again. These I keep in a tiny handwritten notebook in a kitchen drawer. Really, they're all I need. The rest is fluff.
Fabulous idea! Thanks for inspiring me!
That was the kick I needed to start my own recipe journal! Thankx :)
I keep a notebook filled with clear sleeves for tear out recipes. This works great not only for a quick fix organization but because I am a messy cook -I can simply wipe the sleeves clean after a recipe has been tried.
Hi Nicky,
Thank you for the inspiration. If you have a moment can you tell me on what kind of paper you have printed your tabs? I bought write-on tabs but with those I have to hand write, then I tried with glossy paper but that is a bit thin.
Thanks in advance!
Duygu
great post! here's my system:
1 / i printout from the web, or photocopy, or hand write out recipes that i am interested in.
2 / i go to my recipe folders: plastic folders, pinched from the work stationary cupboard, that i can easily add pages into (in plastic sleeves or covers -- plastic is very practical in the kitchen).
i currently have folders for: chicken, meat + fish, vegies + "short order" , cakes, puddings, biscuits.
3 / each of these folders is divided into two sections: the front is all the recipes i have tried and want to keep; the second half is the new recipes i am yet to try.
i've found this system helps: for example when i think, "i want to make a chocolate cake": i can easily grab the cake folder and then decide if i want to make a tried and true recipe, or try a new one.
i also go thru this regularly and purge any new/untested recipes , if i have not tries them say after a year. sometimes looking back makes you think "was i really wanting to make this? no way!"
Thanks for the tips! I have all of my recipes in binders and my Cuban grandmother is making me a hand written book of all of her recipes. She says I can't have it until she dies though. Kinda morbid I guess.
[...]  Wink  Yahoo MyWeb   Delicious Days, a truly delicious blog, has a smart article on how to organize recipes. [...]
I use Google Docs to store my recipes and then I label them as such, e.g., recipes -> side dishes, recipes -> drinks, recipes -> desserts, etc., etc... I find that eletronically storing my recipes is the best way to find something specific because I can search. I used to store them in a big folder, but when you're searching for something, it's just too slow. I needed something electronic and computerized.
[...] tabbed one! I think one of the pocket info books would work wonders.Links: Moleskinerie, Delicious Days. These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web [...]
I love Moleskine notebooks and always have one in my bag to jot down things I don't want to forget. I never used it for recipes though. I'm a bit old-fashioned and use printed or written recipes protected in plastic sheets and filed in a large binder or bookmarks in my cookbooks. I like the Moleskine recipe book idea though and will try it soon.
Great post. I have four 3-ring binders where I keep my recipes. Back in the 80s I would copy most of my recipes from library books. Then I would jot down a few things that were going on in my life that week so it was kind of a recipe/diary book.
Lately I've been surfing the net for my recipes but if I actually use one, I print it off and keep it in the notebook. There's nothing better than getting up on a chilly morning, lighting a fire and settling down to a good browse through my recipe and cookbooks.
Guys- this is just lovely, thanks for the interesting notes on organizing recipes. I have a whole collection of my granny’s handwritten recipes penned in her perfect “school teacher” cursive. Brings back sweet memories of when I was a girl!
Thanks everyone for sharing your way of organizing recipes! It's good to know, that I'm not the only one struggling with staying on top of my recipe collection and your comprehensive comments are a helpful source of inspiration for how to cope with it :)
Duygu, I used bright-white inkjet paper (110 g), but cut out equally sized, little pieces of white index cards, which I glued to the backside of the tabs. Then I used a stripe of Scotch tape to add additional protection - that's it.
Audrey, Mine are self-made, but you can buy self-adhesive ones from Avery, which should be available in Austria - at least I would think so...
I totally love Moleskine notebooks. I take one around in my bag all the time!
- As for my recipe collections, I tend to write then in to my spiral-bound notebook from MUJI, which has different COLOUR pages. My tart recipes are on the red pages, sponge recipes on yellow, and so on. It's real easy to flip to the page you want! Only.., the pages are getting rather mucky, so I wish it was laminated somehow..
- Anyway, I just wanna thank you Nicky for linking to my blog! ;-) ;-)
Take care, Tamami.
I have 6 notebooks of the plastic sleeve-type, filled with recipes downloaded from the internet or clipped from magazines (mostly internet though). Each has been filled chronologically and most pages have more than one recipe on it; thus hundreds of recipes, falling into every conceivable category, not all of which I would ever make again, but a dud is not removeable if paired with a "winner". When I want to find a particular recipe, I can usually recall which binder it is in, but it is beginning to become a bit of a nightmare. Unless I begin again by typing and printing all of the "keepers" separately, I can't see any way out of this system!
I'm an organizing fiend, so this is right up my alley! I love stationery and moleskin, but I tend to be more digital with recipes.
We have a dedicated gmail account for recipes. From blogs and online sources, we copy the recipe into an email and send it to our "recipe box." For cookbooks and magazines, we put the title of the recipe in the subject line and its location in the body.
Whenever I'm looking for a recipe or need inspiration, I run a search on an ingredient or look through the labels (favorites, braising, baking, breads, to-try, italian, indian, summer, etc).
1813 recipes in the box and counting!
Thanks Nicky!
hi nicky
i just bought myself a pretty notebook at bookbinders design with the firm intention to start a new 'hit-recipes' cookbook
love
- fanny
What a great post! I have several ways to organize. Many years ago I put together a photo album with recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers and separated into sections. I also store recipes online, and I enjoy my cookbooks too, one of which is almost coming apart from use, which looks like it should, a well loved book!
Thank you Nicky for your answer. I think yours look AMAZING! I looked at the shops and did find AVERY stuff, just found nothing like the ones from your link. Maybe I´ll take another look when I´m in Vienna or something :)
I couldn't agree more, I love hand-written recipes!! Thanks for sharing your ideas. Great post!!
I never would've known that you're not a well-organized person by reading your blog and this post!
I keep my recipes in a ring binder with colored tabs separating each categories. When I find a recipe that's worth keeping, I type it up on Word using a format I developed, and then I file it in my binder. This way, I can keep expanding my recipe collection without having to worry about running out of pages and I can organize them in alphabetically order as well!
I admire your organizational skills! My recipes are everywhere. I write my own recipes down
in a notebook I've had forever. Printed recipes are stuffed in a 3-ring binder with pocket pages.
Even though I'm a geek, I've never found a software recipe organizer I like. Something about recipes requires that they be kept by hand, I think. Complete with grease stains and flour dust...
[...] and I certainly don’t want it in my food. Both recipes will most definitely make it into my recipe Moleskin, if ever I get around to organizing [...]
How damn cute! I think this would also make a great personalized gift for my Moleskine loving friend.
Hi Nicki,
Great post.
I just bought a Moleskine Large Squared Notebook and wondering how did you decide how many pages for what tabs?
Thanks a bunch!
AA, First I decided how many tabs I wanted to use and then I divided the number of Moleskine pages by this number of chapters. I adapted this average number to my own liking, e.g. I know I will try out more new pasta recipes than let's say preserves. That's it!
I actually use a three ring binder for my recipes. I find a number of benefits to this approach. First, I can use card stock instead of regular paper, which holds up better to spills and drippings. Second, it always opens up flat, making it easy to see the recipe as you're going. Third, it's easy to add pages to sections, to add sections, or to completely reorganize.
This is a great post... Long on my to do list has been to get my recipes organized. I have a favorite jambalaya recipe that I like so much I have given it to family and friends, but I am constantly loosing my own copy. I have called family twice (or maybe more) to have them read my own jambalaya recipe back to me. Apparently I write it down on something that was handy at the time, so handy that it looks like junk mail and ends up in the trash. It is a standing joke, my missing jambalaya recipe.
Lynn, I can totally relate to your jambalaya "problem"! It can get a bit embarrassing, if you have to ask people to return your original recipe... been there, done that ;)
That's one of the best posts I have read in a while. And I agree 100% - I will never be comfortable with a totally electronic recipe database. I do love the physicality of paper, and lacking space in my appalling little rented kitchen for a laptop, I need to print everything anyway.
I guess my "method" was inherited directly from my mom, who kept a large alphabetical index book into which she stuck loose recipes and wrote some by hand - I carted this behemoth back with me last time I visited my dad and it's probabyl my most favourite possession. When I moved out of home, I started my own alphabetical index which works... up to a point. For a start, I always fret about where to file something. Should "feta stuffed chicken breasts" go under f or under c for chicken? And then of course there's no way to separate starters from puddings and I often end up browsing the entire book to find inspiration for a dinner party dessert.
Also, with the advent of the web, I found that I was printing out more and more stuff on A4 paper but never sticking it into my book. So I started a global Word document with recipes to try, and then cutting & pasting web recipes into it, under headings like meat, fish, vegetables, desset, baking etc. This collection lives in a ring binder. Not pretty, but it works :) My favourites end up on my blog - easily accessible from anywhere.
I finally bought some software, and it works pretty good. It's called Cook'n. Right now they don't have a Mac version, but I've heard they're making an update soon.
Here's a link:
http://www.dvo.com/cookbooksoftware.html
They have a pretty good demo.
I hope that you see this comment, and that it is not too late to reply to this..but..
I am organizing my recipes now and am going to use the moleskine notebook idea..but I also want to know where you get this "munti fragmented folder" that you mention in #2. I really like what I see in the picture for it and now I really want one. Could you give me more info about it please?
Thanks
Amanda, These multi-fragmented folders are sold in almost every stationery shop here in Germany and I've seen similar ones in the US at the Container Store. Hope that helps.
I had to say thank you for this because it is utterly brilliant. I hate when I cook something and tweak it but then can't remember how I did so. I love this!
I've found similar frustration with electronic recipe storage, and ended up building my own website - http://www.metakitchen.com - to store recipes I find online. Give it a try if you're interested.
At the moment anything I print out from the internet is just sitting in a pile in the kitchen. I really need to put some of your suggestions into practice.
Hi I just found this while searching on the internet. What great ideas. I usually have just been saving online recipies on my hard drive on one big word file accoriding to what type it is .. and then printing out when i need it.. major waste of ink and time. I love the ideas I found here. By how would you suggest i get my recipies i have saved in my file organized in a paper format? I want them by type, but would you print one per page or several per page, etc...most are too long to print onto a index card,i would like to have alphabetized by title too, so i am very confused how to make the transfer...Thanks for any advice...
Bobbi Anne, 'Glad I could give you some inspiration. Being a master recipe collector myself, so far I haven't found the perfect solution for dealing with my digital recipes. Usually I only print the ones I'm cooking the same day and when they turn out good, I will transfer them to my Moleskine-cookbook.
Hello, I like the idea. Please could you tell me which font you used for your tabs? I like it, but I will need different sections since I don't need "meat" or "fish" at all... Thank you very much!
What a nifty idea, thank you, I'll put that to use!