Some organization, please!
That's what I screamed at a point of desperation after I had been married for about two years. I loved, loved, loved to cook, but I was so resistant to falling into a rut recipe-wise. To combat that threat, it was literally taking me 2-3 hours a week to look through recipe boxes, magazines, and cookbooks to find new and novel recipes. If I tried to find exact recipes using ingredients I had on hand or that were seasonal at the grocery store, that just threw a whole new level of confusion to the already ridiculous pandemonium. I needed a change.
That's when Ken stepped in. My dear, sweet husband, a guru at all things technical, suggested something. "Why don't I set up a recipe database for you?"
I stared, wide-eyed. That was possible? He could do that? Oh, wow. He set to work on it that day, and four days later, I had a working prototype of my "Food Database" on my laptop. I set to work entering in recipes (yes, by hand). Tedious chore, I know....but I kept at it, knowing that there had to be some way to build up my recipe inventory.
I started with all of my recipe boxes first. Then I entered in the recipes out of my cookbooks which were used most often. Last came the easy part....simply copying and pasting from sites on the web.
Ken gave me ways to categorize them by a number of details, then....get this.....provided me with a search page. Now I can look up recipes by ingredient, name, ethnicity, health-value, or even preparation type. I am a happy housewife.
Although you may not have access to such a detailed, technical tool, I implore you to get organized. Branch out and try new things....toss the ones which weren't so good, and place the winning recipes in a divided notebook or folder for ease of locating later. My friend Becky showed me her newly constructed recipe notebook yesterday....I literally felt my pulse race with excitement. I know from experience that, once you take out the frustrations of disorganization and clutter within one's kitchen and cooking arena, the "chore" of cooking becomes an ART instead. You have time and energy to actually enjoy it....not dread it.
That's when Ken stepped in. My dear, sweet husband, a guru at all things technical, suggested something. "Why don't I set up a recipe database for you?"
I stared, wide-eyed. That was possible? He could do that? Oh, wow. He set to work on it that day, and four days later, I had a working prototype of my "Food Database" on my laptop. I set to work entering in recipes (yes, by hand). Tedious chore, I know....but I kept at it, knowing that there had to be some way to build up my recipe inventory.
I started with all of my recipe boxes first. Then I entered in the recipes out of my cookbooks which were used most often. Last came the easy part....simply copying and pasting from sites on the web.
Ken gave me ways to categorize them by a number of details, then....get this.....provided me with a search page. Now I can look up recipes by ingredient, name, ethnicity, health-value, or even preparation type. I am a happy housewife.
Although you may not have access to such a detailed, technical tool, I implore you to get organized. Branch out and try new things....toss the ones which weren't so good, and place the winning recipes in a divided notebook or folder for ease of locating later. My friend Becky showed me her newly constructed recipe notebook yesterday....I literally felt my pulse race with excitement. I know from experience that, once you take out the frustrations of disorganization and clutter within one's kitchen and cooking arena, the "chore" of cooking becomes an ART instead. You have time and energy to actually enjoy it....not dread it.
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