recipes

Carol and I spent our Monday morning working on our cookbooks.  I'd made her and her girls a cookbook for storing recipes.  I've used my own cookbook for years now and it's been the best way to organize recipes that I've found.  Carol has always stored her recipes in an open file box.  I tried that for years but when I came up with this notebook and sheetprotector idea, I tried it and it's been wonderful!  So wonderful that my own book was very tired!

So, yesterday, Carol brought her file and her new cookbook over, we ran to Sam's Club for a few groceries and sheet protectors and got our books done!  She transferred all of her recipes into sheet protectors.  I dejunked my recipes, put all the sheet protectors into a new notebook because my old was was literally held together by shipping tape.  We had some good laughs at our recipes, which are covered in chocolate, grease, you name it.  But, now, they are protected.  We threw away a lot of recipes, traded some new ones and I copied/printed out a few for both of us.  It was a productive project day.

 The idea is to get a notebook, fill it with sheet protectors and divide your categories into sections.  Then, place your recipes, as they are... written on the back of an envelope, torn off a box, handed out at Relief Society, or even a whole torn page from a much used published cookbook or magazine.  Then, put it into the sheet protectors and into it's category like a regular cookbook.  Some sheet protectors have several recipes inside them.  They don't shift once they are in the protector.  I love how simple and functional this has been! I don't have to read page after page, looking for something. I know that the cornbread recipe is on a bright piece of orange paper, that my peach pie is on the original recipe card from Sister Nielson.

Why it works for me...

After years of using it, I know where on the page it is and if it's in the beginning or the end of the section. I did retype a few yesterday and print them out.  It will take me a while to get used to looking for new copies!  ha!  So much more simple than typing up a whole book, looking through recipe card boxes or remembering where I put it!  And the best part is that they are protected from splatters and spills... if you put a new recipe in, it will always stay looking new!  When we go to the ranch, I can grab this cookbook and have every recipe with me.  Oh and one other reason  if it's a large recipe that has tons of ingredients,, like my Carrot Cake or Amy's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies, I use a dry erase marker and can mark things off as I'm adding them to the Bosch. It works for me!

In the meantime, I've decided that it was time to watch Downton Abbey, from the first episode forward.  The new and final DVD will be released next week.  I've not watched it on PBS this season because our Sunday nights are so busy and I don't want to wait a week between episodes.  So, we'll watch all five seasons that we already own, then watch the final season when it arrives next week.  I'm excited to see where it goes and have literally avoided any and every comment, article, story about Downton Abbey for weeks.  Such a good show.

Last night, we also finished the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon as a family.  We hope to finish the Book of Mormon as a family before Easter.  I think that at our pace, we are well ahead of schedule!  It's been fun to read with the kids this time, as they are all in Seminary and appreciating what we are studying!  I love to read the scriptures, but reading them as a family is a real joy.  Now, if we could be as diligent at every goal!  But, as Liza says, "Baby Steps".   We're progressing!

Oops!  I thought I hit the publish button and didn't! Life is good!