Since leaving for college, I’ve moved a lot. And along the way, I’m lucky to have collected a ton of recipes from friends and family, neighbors, and acquaintances. Looking through those recipes brings back memories and I always find something delicious that I had forgotten about. The problem? My recipes are a disorganized, cluttered, messy mess and when I want to find something specific, I can’t! Sound familiar to anyone else?
I love sharing and printing recipes from the Internet, but those printed pages are taking over my bookshelf. I have notebook paper with oil stains, and pages torn from magazines that are actually turning brown on the corners! I have stacks of hand-written recipes just waiting to be fished out of the pile. (You can see my and Cindy's before photos above.) Then, I saw this Personal Recipe File – the perfect solution (and timesaver) for me and all the other recipe hoarders out there. It’s similar to one Ina uses. Simple, with a lightweight plastic cover and a multi-fold spine that lies completely flat. The sleeves are top-loading clear pocket pages, so you can easily wipe off stray ingredients or spills. It’s designed to fit 8.5” x 11” paper and fits most standard size magazine pages as well. Even when filled with recipes they are still pretty slim and easy to slide in with my cookbooks.
I use more than one file, and organize the recipes by meals - one for breakfast, sides, entrees, etc. Cindy has recently jumped on board as well. She’s more organized than I am but she still finds the file useful because it allow her to organize recipes by food - pasta, chicken, dessert, etc. It’s also cool to have a file just for gluten-free or egg-free recipes. The file is also perfect for putting together a personalized family recipe book for a bride-to-be or as a collection of favorite recipes to give as a unique, personalized gift.
Now, when I look at my bookshelf I breath a sign of relief. Amazing how something so simple can be so helpful!
--Cassandra
4 comments
Hello SB! The recipe file holds a standard 8.5 × 11″ sheet of paper. You will be able to slip a tear sheet from a magazine or a standard printout from your printer right in without a problem. Hope this helps!
Question? I see the pic about the BC Recipe Journal, which you have stuffed with recipes from magazines, etc. It looks small, smaller than a standard sheet of paper, liked a junior size. Can you confirm? I do see the pic as well of the black recipe folder you have for sale – tempting.
Marilyn – On Ina’s Barefoot Contessa website she has a cookbook index.
https://barefootcontessa.com/cookbook-index
I think that link should get you there and help you search for your next delicious dish!
I have all of Ina’s cookbooks. I would like to have an index of all the recipes. I have to go through half the books before I find the recipe I am looking for.
Is this possible?