Filing recipes from magazines, etc.

Here's an Amazon review of the Dodo Book

I saw that but I want more details!  In your own words - how you use it, what you think is handy, etc.

I am a sucker for anything and everything related to cooking and  baking and I have been collecting cooking magazines for about 6 years now.  In the garage, I have a box of American magazines dating back to 2001 plus some up here as well as all the UK ones I've accumulated.  I keep telling myself I will use them one day and I just can't bear to part with them.  Like you, what I really need is a way to sort them and actually have them handy.  I don't want to just rip out the recipes I like though, I'd prefer to keep the magazines whole.

June

I put them in one of those punched pockets and then in a binder by catergory.  I have a VERY large binder for sweets, another binder for meats, veg, sides, etc.

I like this because then I can take the recipe into the kitchen to use and the plastic pocket keeps it protected.

I saw that but I want more details!  In your own words - how you use it, what you think is handy, etc.

i cant really add much to the review... i like it because it's got silly drawings and quotes through it, and lots of pages that you can cellotape or pritt-stick recipes onto, plus lots of pockets, and a wipe-clean cover.

I have a really neat recipe keeper book I got from a charity shop, it's got photo album like pages, with the plastic to keep the recipes under, also file type pockets for 'loose' recipes, and it's also got loads of info, like how to cook things, what temps, conversions, the whole lot! I love it.

This is one of my obsessions at the moment as I'm a compuslive recipe keeper.

I had about three years' worth of dog-eared Good Food and Delicious but realised that I would, in all liklihood, never actually re-read them. So one rainy weekend this month I went through every magazine and tore out anything I thought I stood a reasonable chance of trying. But now I have a huge, loose pile to sort through and start trying. 

I've got a binder with plastic sheets that I've kept for years - subdivided into categories - I cut out the recipe and tape or paste them on a sheet of blank paper. But the problem is that a lot of them (most of them) are recipes I liked the sound of, but haven't tried. And there have been occaisions that I've pulled something from the binder, tried it and hated it. But it's glued onto a page with other recipes.

So my new approach: tear it out, MAKE IT, and then paste into the binder.

Just a quick tip, I read once that to protect a recipe, or recipe card, rub the bottom of a candle over it. The wax makes it water and splash proof. I've tried it, it works really well. Sort of like a 'poor man's' laminate!

Wow, thanks again folks. Who knew this would be a 2 pager thread!

Anne you reminded me of my mother... we have a cookbook that everyone in our family has a copy of. It's out of print now, but one of the best cookbooks ever. That said, there are some really good and really bad recipes in it. My mother, for as long as I can recall, has written in pencil 'good', 'excellent', and most importantly 'NO!' next to ones she's tried. When I ordered my copy off a used book site, I made her go through it and do the same!

I think it's going to have to be plastic sleeves for me. I think I have way too many recipes for one of the pre-made recipe binders like Dodo. I also have a spiral bound notebook from Paperchase with sections in a different colors. I've been hand writing some of my TOP recipes in it to try to create a bit of an heirloom book. As Sammy gets older, we'll add photos and stuff to it as well.

Now, off to buy some plastic sleeves!

I've got a binder with plastic sheets that I've kept for years - subdivided into categories - I cut out the recipe and tape or paste them on a sheet of blank paper.

I've copied this idea from you, Anne!! Except that I have about 4 separate binders because there are way too many recipes -- 1 for poultry, fish & meat; 1 for desserts; 1 for soups & salads; etc.

I'm a huge fan of Dodo products. They totally rock! But the recipe binder just wasn't big enough for what I needed.

I've copied this idea from you, Anne!! Except that I have about 4 separate binders because there are way too many recipes -- 1 for poultry, fish & meat; 1 for desserts; 1 for soups & salads; etc.

I think at some point I'm going to get more binders and do the same - one big one is too cumbersome!

I really like the idea of handwriting some of the top recipes into a nice book, Caryn. I started logging my best recipes on to the computer with the intention of printing them out and putting them into a binder, but I've sort of lost the momentum with that project. I did it that way so it would be easy to share them with people.

Thanks. I love my computer as much as the next person. But I think there's something to be said for handwritten things.

This is slightly off-topic, but as an academic who relies on written communication for a lot of my research, I pity the researchers down the road who discover they can't adequately explore their topic because years of correspondence and ideas were lost due to a crashed hard drive or emails that aren't printed/saved.

OK, back to topic!

I mostly do the plastic sheet covers in a binder thing but do have some recipes that are just kind of stuffed in with my cookbooks.

Off topic: My mom has a pull down cookbook holder in her kitchen and I love that thing. One of these days I'm going to get around to buying one for myself.



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Melissa, that's a nice cookbook holder, my only concern is that some cookbooks just won't stay open by themselves. I have a metal and plastic holder that has a small ridge at the bottom to keep the books open.  I love it.

June

I found a thing on the BBC Food site the other day you can use to store recipes in:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/binder/

I mostly do the plastic sheet covers in a binder thing but do have some recipes that are just kind of stuffed in with my cookbooks.

Off topic: My mom has a pull down cookbook holder in her kitchen and I love that thing. One of these days I'm going to get around to buying one for myself.

I LOVE that!! I want one!!

I started a recipe binder a few years ago, but with nobody but myself to cook for, I haven't used it much. Now that I am cooking more often, I'll have to get back into it! I like the plastic covers because of worrying about spills too.

I think eventually I'll have DB create a database like Cait said she did. He's already making one for my children's books for work. I don't like clutter, so I know that I would find many binders too space consuming.