Organizing Your Recipes: 8 Foolproof Methods

Problem: Cataloguing Cookbooks

Solution: Organize books to match your style. Your system should reflect your logic and tastes. It may make sense to alphabetize one section by author, create another section for themes (barbecue, dessert), and order a third section by geography. Sharon Chickanzeff, a curator at New York University’s Fales Library, in New York City, says she received a donation of about 7,000 cookbooks from a collector who had “a whole box of books just on Hawaii.” If you too are big on world cuisines, suggests Slotnick, start with those from your region, then move along the shelf in a logical direction―from California to New York, down to South America, across to Europe, then to Africa, and so on. Another shelf could follow a trail from the beginning of the day―breakfast―then to sandwiches, snacks, appetizers, and main events. Whatever works for you.