filling recipes

[Rachel Byrd]

I am starting to collect/copy recipes right now (for when I'm married in the future...) from my mom, friends, etc. But I realized I have no particular idea of how to organize all of these recipes! So my question is, do any of you ladies have a special way you like organize your recipes??? (cards in a box, notebook, etc) And do you keep it alphabetized by title or by type of food (i.e. meats, desserts, breads...)

thanks so much!

[Dianna]

We do our "Misc." cookbook recipes in slip pages in a three ring binder. That way we can move them around, change them out, and they don't get ruined by splashes in the kitchen. Usually we break them down into Dessert, Main dishes, Bread, and Beverages. Then we can subdivide if we have a lot of recipes in that catagory (ie Dessert>Pies and Cakes>Fruit Pies).

[Sarah and Elizabeth]

For a birthday a few years ago some friends gave us each a binder with plastic pages filled with blank recipe cards. I have just started filling them with some of my favorite things and it is very handy. It is easy to pull a card out if you don't want the whole book, but if the book is lying on the counter, then the plastic keeps anything from getting all over the cards. I have the binder broken into three sections (each section has a different color of card): salads/appetizers, main dishes, desserts.

Mom uses her mother and grandmother's old recipe cards. She stores all of hers in a recipe card box. It is handy, because she pulls the cards out and sticks them on the cupboard handles (We have the kind that are curved and hollow in the middle, so the cars stick right up there!). She has little file cards with tabs dividing her recipes by salads, dressings, vegetables, meat/main dishes, desserts, misc. and other things that I don't recall at the moment.

Either of these methods is a good way to store the recipes, but I have to say that I really like having recipe cards. It is nice to have things in an easy-to-carry-around-the-kitchen form. Hope you enjoy your collecting!

[Sarah]

I like the binders as well, but I also like to categorize specifically.

Main dishes: (and then I also have sub categories)
Company, Quick, Crock Pot and Special Times

Baked Goods:
Yeast Breads/Rolls, Quick breads/Muffins, Cakes, Cookies and Misc

I also have a section for recipes I'd like to try, but don't know yet if they're keepers or not.

There are plenty more categories, but I hope this gives you the idea.

I like to set up this way so when I plan the menu with the calendar I know "this day I'll need to do a crock pot meal because we're busy with such and such" and I can just look under the category and find something quickly.

I have a few of the same recipes in a few different categories as well.

[Ashlie A.]

I'm so terrible! All I have is a pocket folder with printed or clipped recipes stuck inside. The ones we use often are toward the front. That's as organized as it gets!

[Rachel Byrd]

Thank you so much everyone for all of your great ideas, it certainly gives me a good starting point.