Organizing Recipes - Creating a Personal Cookbook

Spring weather always inspires me to change-up what I'm cooking.  Forget the new, incredible pot roast recipe I just made ...with the clock's sprung ahead it's time to grill!  I created a personal cookbook so, I can find that great grilled asparagus with Gorgonzola-lemon butter recipe from "Cooking Light" 5 years ago!

Recipes come from so many sources these days:  friends, allrecipes.com, magazines, cookbooks, etc.  I've centralized all my "keepers" and organized them in an easy & useful way -- with a 3-ring binder.  It's not as pretty as the real cookbooks, but much easier to work with. 

How To Create Your Own Cookbook

Supplies:

• 3-ring Binder
• Clear Sheet Protectors (3-hole punched)
• Dividers (preferably with pockets) labeled into your own categories
• Add your favorite recipes:  Copy pages out of your cookbooks, magazines pages and internet printouts

Benefits:

• All your tested and favorite recipes are in one place.
• You no longer have to remember from which cookbook or cooking magazine a recipe came.
• Plastic sheet protector keeps it from getting grungy
• When making the recipe, simply remove the page from the binder so it takes up less counter space. 
  I sometimes tape it to an upper cabinet.
• When using several recipes you have them all at your fingertips without all the bulk.
• As you find new recipes to try, put them in the divider pocket. 
  After they get tried out & designated as a "keeper", put it in the sheet protector.
• Easy too add all your personal modifications and recipe notes

Happy cooking,
Practical Jenn

FYI - My latest favorite cooking magazine is Cooks Country from America's Test Kitchen. 

• Share your favorite website, magazine or cookbook with a comment below!