Your mom's drawings always make me smile, and Sunday afternoons are definitely not the same as Sunday evenings. Storing recipes: I use a recipe box, Jim uses a 3-ring binder. Recipe boxes remind me of my mom, and I have many of her handwritten and typed recipes that I store in a ziplock bag for the time being, as we don't use dairy or eggs. My husband wants to move all to his binder, but I like my recipe box, flipping through the tops to see what's there, sort of like a card catalog of yesteryear's libraries.
My recipes are all over the place, Amie! I have some folders, stuck in books, etc — it’s always a surprise when I find something and am like “oh, how nice…” 😂 Love your binder, love the Sunday supper illustration, too. xx
Recipe clippings are a guilty pleasure of mine. I grew up in a household where the kitchen table was littered with cut outs from community newspapers. When nesting myself, I kept my own under vinyl leafs...my version of "scrapbooking." Now, I cook mostly by improvisation, having built all my skills from these humble clippings. Yes, I "copy and paste" on occasion when something occasionally inspires, but, I'm still reaching for my stained and wrinkled favorites like this 2011 write up from Mark Bittman detailing how Ferran Adrià, preps mussels at home https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/marinara-style-mussels.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer
Such a great question!! I have cookbooks that I use and cookbooks that I "collect" in a very haphazard way: the old, the amusing, the highly readable. (Looking at you Laurie Colwin!)
For recipe storage, I have about 10 binders divided into categories that make sense to me ("All Things Veggie" or "Ethnic Bits & Pieces") so only I can really find things. In here, there are ancient photocopies, clippings etc.all in clear plastic sheets so I can keep adding.
I also have a NYT Cookery account (The Guardian, too!) and other online recipes bookmarked for future reference. Given all this, it's pretty hilarious that I am often still looking for inspiration at the witching hour of 5:45pm, after which time I'll most likely be checking to see if we still have any Fish Sticks in the freezer ...
I have a few favorite cookbooks, I have a kitchen drawer with a card file, printed some online ones, and I like to store them on my google drive. The drive ones are easy to access while shopping for ingredients.
My recipes are a mess and need to be organized. I have an expandable file with recipes organized by category. I have what are supposed to be magazine files with recipes printed from the internet and clipped from magazines and newspapers. I have the file box with recipes I copied in home ec class in seventh grade. I have the wooden recipe file box with family recipes that my great aunt gave my mom when mom got married in the 1950's. I have stacks of recipes stuffed on top of the cookbooks in the bookcase that holds all of the cookbooks. It is often hard to find the recipe I want, but at this point it feels to overwhelming to organize it all.
Oh, what a good question. My answer, sorry to say, is: terribly. Many are in composition notebooks, and are pretty much written in chicken scratch indecipherable to anyone but me, and sometimes to me. I have files and boxes of clippings that were my mom's that I can't bear to part with, plus files of my own from when I used to clip Molly O'Neill's recipe from the NYT Magazine. And early print outs, circa 1991, from my days as a feature writer at The Detroit News. And then there are all the recipes stored in files on my computer, another holy mess. Even the thought of trying to corral and organize them all gives me hives. I'd much rather think about a Sunday dinner composed of apples, good cheddar, and popcorn. What an excellent idea. Thank you!
My recipe collection is unorganized chaos right now, and next to it are recipe binders similar to the one you posted, kept by my mom. My goal is to get everything organized and out of bags, different binders, and in one spot.
I just finished a ‘winter project here in Pittsford NY (where it snowed every day for 42 days until just a few days ago!). I had ‘rippings’ and printouts jammed in an IKEA box. I sorted them into categories and put them in plastic envelopes (https://a.co/d/gan9dL6) and labeled them. In the process I purged lots. Amongst the piles are pages from Cook & Tell of my favs and ones still to try. My aunt gifted me a subscription for many years! I also have overflowing Pinterest boards, NYT Cooking app, cookbooks, etc, etc, etc. I did ponder a special notebook like yours of the ‘keepers’ or recipes I’ve made over and over. So, next winter, I’ll be ready to start that. 😁
What a story! I kept thinking your mom was finally going to open that bag of recipes or that maybe you would, but your mother’s piano playing (I remember that piano!) and popcorn making were probably far more interesting!
Your notebook reminds me of one my mother kept and that I still have and use when I can read the words of the faded and stained ink (and my mother’s handwriting, nowhere near as pretty as yours!) and crumbling newspaper clippings. I also have a box of 3 x 5 box of recipe cards from an aunt that I prize.
As for my own recipe collection, I’m ashamed to say it’s pretty disorganized, mostly printouts of recipes I’ve discovered online and either intend to make or do. Usually they’re just scattered about, sometimes stuffed in a folder uncategorized. I do have a Pinterest page where I pin recipes and food-related stories of interest to me in some 60 categories. It contains almost 10,000 pins, including stories and recipes from many of my favorite food writers here on Substack (of course you’re included!). It’s a great resource.
Thanks for another lovely post and an excellent question, Amie!
Your mom's drawings always make me smile, and Sunday afternoons are definitely not the same as Sunday evenings. Storing recipes: I use a recipe box, Jim uses a 3-ring binder. Recipe boxes remind me of my mom, and I have many of her handwritten and typed recipes that I store in a ziplock bag for the time being, as we don't use dairy or eggs. My husband wants to move all to his binder, but I like my recipe box, flipping through the tops to see what's there, sort of like a card catalog of yesteryear's libraries.
A card catalog! Beautifully described, Mary.
Thanks, Amie!
My recipes are all over the place, Amie! I have some folders, stuck in books, etc — it’s always a surprise when I find something and am like “oh, how nice…” 😂 Love your binder, love the Sunday supper illustration, too. xx
Little love notes!
☺️
Recipe clippings are a guilty pleasure of mine. I grew up in a household where the kitchen table was littered with cut outs from community newspapers. When nesting myself, I kept my own under vinyl leafs...my version of "scrapbooking." Now, I cook mostly by improvisation, having built all my skills from these humble clippings. Yes, I "copy and paste" on occasion when something occasionally inspires, but, I'm still reaching for my stained and wrinkled favorites like this 2011 write up from Mark Bittman detailing how Ferran Adrià, preps mussels at home https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/marinara-style-mussels.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer
I’d not thought of these collections and binders as scrapbooks before—so true!
Such a great question!! I have cookbooks that I use and cookbooks that I "collect" in a very haphazard way: the old, the amusing, the highly readable. (Looking at you Laurie Colwin!)
For recipe storage, I have about 10 binders divided into categories that make sense to me ("All Things Veggie" or "Ethnic Bits & Pieces") so only I can really find things. In here, there are ancient photocopies, clippings etc.all in clear plastic sheets so I can keep adding.
I also have a NYT Cookery account (The Guardian, too!) and other online recipes bookmarked for future reference. Given all this, it's pretty hilarious that I am often still looking for inspiration at the witching hour of 5:45pm, after which time I'll most likely be checking to see if we still have any Fish Sticks in the freezer ...
Fish sticks! The cat’s out of the bag!
I have a few favorite cookbooks, I have a kitchen drawer with a card file, printed some online ones, and I like to store them on my google drive. The drive ones are easy to access while shopping for ingredients.
Good tip, Mel!
I like your pretty, new binder. Much more inviting than an app. I have a recipe box and an old, worn folder with clippings.
And that is where the magic lies!
I need to know where you got that binder. I am in awe of it.
Amazon! Here’s the link: Meadowsweet Kitchens Collected... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000W4FRWU?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
My recipes are a mess and need to be organized. I have an expandable file with recipes organized by category. I have what are supposed to be magazine files with recipes printed from the internet and clipped from magazines and newspapers. I have the file box with recipes I copied in home ec class in seventh grade. I have the wooden recipe file box with family recipes that my great aunt gave my mom when mom got married in the 1950's. I have stacks of recipes stuffed on top of the cookbooks in the bookcase that holds all of the cookbooks. It is often hard to find the recipe I want, but at this point it feels to overwhelming to organize it all.
I hear you, Krysi. That new binder glared at me for a few weeks before I summoned up the courage to tackle the stacks!
Oh, what a good question. My answer, sorry to say, is: terribly. Many are in composition notebooks, and are pretty much written in chicken scratch indecipherable to anyone but me, and sometimes to me. I have files and boxes of clippings that were my mom's that I can't bear to part with, plus files of my own from when I used to clip Molly O'Neill's recipe from the NYT Magazine. And early print outs, circa 1991, from my days as a feature writer at The Detroit News. And then there are all the recipes stored in files on my computer, another holy mess. Even the thought of trying to corral and organize them all gives me hives. I'd much rather think about a Sunday dinner composed of apples, good cheddar, and popcorn. What an excellent idea. Thank you!
Someday, when your big project is complete and you can breathe, I would LOVE to have a peek at your Detroit News articles…
Ha! Just saw you message on IG. What a coincidence! I’ll have to dredge some up.
Terrific ideas, Ruth—I have never been on Pinterest, just can’t add one more thing— so the shout-out on your board is the closest I’ll probably get.
And I, too, remember how Jeff sat down at the little piano and played his heart out. He inspired me to keep practicing!!
My recipe collection is unorganized chaos right now, and next to it are recipe binders similar to the one you posted, kept by my mom. My goal is to get everything organized and out of bags, different binders, and in one spot.
I just finished a ‘winter project here in Pittsford NY (where it snowed every day for 42 days until just a few days ago!). I had ‘rippings’ and printouts jammed in an IKEA box. I sorted them into categories and put them in plastic envelopes (https://a.co/d/gan9dL6) and labeled them. In the process I purged lots. Amongst the piles are pages from Cook & Tell of my favs and ones still to try. My aunt gifted me a subscription for many years! I also have overflowing Pinterest boards, NYT Cooking app, cookbooks, etc, etc, etc. I did ponder a special notebook like yours of the ‘keepers’ or recipes I’ve made over and over. So, next winter, I’ll be ready to start that. 😁
What a story! I kept thinking your mom was finally going to open that bag of recipes or that maybe you would, but your mother’s piano playing (I remember that piano!) and popcorn making were probably far more interesting!
Your notebook reminds me of one my mother kept and that I still have and use when I can read the words of the faded and stained ink (and my mother’s handwriting, nowhere near as pretty as yours!) and crumbling newspaper clippings. I also have a box of 3 x 5 box of recipe cards from an aunt that I prize.
As for my own recipe collection, I’m ashamed to say it’s pretty disorganized, mostly printouts of recipes I’ve discovered online and either intend to make or do. Usually they’re just scattered about, sometimes stuffed in a folder uncategorized. I do have a Pinterest page where I pin recipes and food-related stories of interest to me in some 60 categories. It contains almost 10,000 pins, including stories and recipes from many of my favorite food writers here on Substack (of course you’re included!). It’s a great resource.
Thanks for another lovely post and an excellent question, Amie!