Setting Up the System
1. Categorize and Subcategorize. Instead of organizing your
recipes by appetizers, entrees, and desserts, make your categories
as specific as possible. Break them down by major ingredient
(poultry, beef, pork, etc.), type of side dish (salad, rice,
potatoes), or kind of dessert (brownies, cookies, pies).
2. Protect. Keep your recipes behind the plastic sleeves when you
cook so they stay splatter-free.
3. Consolidate. Instead of flipping back and forth between your
recipe collection and stacks of cookbooks, jot down the names of
recipes, the cookbooks, and the page numbers on a sheet in the
appropriate divider of your notebook. Discard recipes that your
family doesn't like or ones that no longer fit into your life,
like the peanut-butter cookies you used to bake before your
daughter became allergic to them.
4. Assemble. Buy a binder that holds more pages than you think you
will need; recipe collections tend to grow. And if the binder has
side pockets, you'll be able to stash recipes when you're in a
hurry.
