When the kids were getting ready to go off to college, I thought they might want to have copies of the recipes they had learned to cook during their teen years. I began typing recipes into the computer a few at a time and sorting them within the Word doc so that all the beef recipes were together and the chicken recipes were in another section. I listed the recipes in the table of contents under the correct heading. Someday when I consider it finished, I may add page numbers, but for now, everything is just sorted into the correct section in the order they appear.

I decided that the cookbook I was amassing needed to be printed out and inserted into sheet protectors. I started each new section on a new page so that if I needed to update a section I could just print a new copy and replace the old one. I also decided that each copy needed to be put in a binder and so each one also needed a custom cover to match up with its new owner.

One of the perks of having the recipes I use all the time already typed into the computer is the ease with which I can share them electronically with someone. In fact, if I take something to a pitch-in that I think might be popular, I often email the recipe to myself before leaving home to make it extra easy to share while on the go. All I have to do is forward the email to someone if they want the recipe, or if they want to write it out, I can simply let them copy it from the email on my phone. This saves me having to remember to do it later and they get the recipe right away.

Once in a while, the old ratty recipe card is of historical significance, so I type the recipe AND include a scan of the original so I have both preserved. You may ask why I bother typing it in if I am going to include the scan. Easy, it is searchable that way. I can search my entire computer based on some unique word in the recipe and find it quickly.

The other thing I have done in the past to organize recipes is to buy a Rolodex that uses three by five cards and alphabet tabs. I found that I could use a hole punch and then scissors to make preprinted recipe cards work in this system. Only occasionally was it a problem because it would cut into the type on the bottom of the card. You might be wondering how well that worked for organizing the recipes. Well, what can I say, C is for cookie and cake and cheese and casserole and…let’s just say that sometimes you have to check behind more than one tab to find what you are looking for and often you have to search through all the recipes filed behind a specific tab until you find the one you want.

The is my Rolodex. It is a little cracked on the right front of the lid and as you can see I don’t always punch the cards and don’t always file them back where they belong either. I have a clear acrylic recipe card holder that I put them in while I am using them and then, in theory, file them away when I am finished with them.

I have included scans of two recipe cards from my Rolodex to show you what they look like. The colored card was hand-written by me and punched and cut many years later to make it fit the filing system. I put it behind the white one that came in the Rolodex so you could see how I knew where to punch and cut it and also so you could see the pre-punched cards and what they look like. Feel free to try the recipes too.

I also am guilty of tearing entire pages out of magazines because there was a recipe I wanted to try on it and I was ready to throw the rest of the magazine into the recycling bin. These can easily go in sheet protectors in the binder also, and if you test the recipe and love it you can type it up in the correct section in the cookbook with a proper source citing of course. If you don’t care for it, no problem, just add it to the recycle bin too.

Every so often, I go through the recipes I’ve kept because they sounded good and I wanted to try them and decide that I’ll never actually make it because it contains unusual ingredients or too many ingredients. If you know you won’t make it, just chuck it. No need to let it clutter your recipe filing system.

Do you have a system that works for organizing your recipes?