Buzz
There are countless recipes available—some would argue 'too many'—spread across books, magazines, and the web. The internet offers so many that you could try a new recipe every day without ever needing a cookbook. While apps are great for tracking your online favorites, the truly special recipes deserve to be preserved in print.
For the Printed Recipe
Food magazines are one of the few I still purchase, but space is limited in my 600-square-foot apartment, making it difficult to store stacks of magazines. The challenge with printed recipes is that they often come in a variety of shapes and sizes—some are sidebars, others full pages, and some fall somewhere in between. A ring binder with clear plastic sleeves is perfect for this, allowing you to mix and match sleeve sizes. I prefer using a combination of full-page sleeves and smaller photo-sized sleeves to keep everything neat and organized.
You can easily customize your binder’s organization with dividers and tabs, moving things around without disrupting the overall structure of your filing system. In addition to magazines and newspaper clippings, this binder can also help streamline your cookbook collection. Simply make photocopies of your favorite recipes before donating the books to a library. (Just remember, the copies should only be for personal use.)
If it’s a Family Tradition
Recipe boxes are endearing, nostalgic storage solutions that can become cherished family keepsakes. However, things might get tricky if there’s more than one sentimental cook in the family. A few years before my grandmother passed away, she compiled a spiral-bound book with copies of all her recipe cards, paired with family photos, and gifted it to her children and grandchildren for Christmas. She enlisted the help of a family friend (who happened to own a printing business), but you can easily create one yourself at any office supply store or—if you're looking for something a little more polished—through a service like Shutterfly, Artifact Uprising, or Snapfish.
If it’s a Personal Project
I usually test my recipes in a notebook or notepad, but my dad recently gifted me a stylish Moleskine recipe journal, and I’m hooked. Instead of jotting down rough drafts, I use it to document successful combinations and techniques, along with details like cooking times, the heat settings I used, and the overall difficulty (there are convenient boxes for each). You can use a recipe journal for your original creations or track your favorite recipes from others, noting any modifications, tips, and tricks you picked up while cooking them. If the Moleskine format—or its price—doesn’t suit you, a simple, inexpensive notebook works just as well. You can even design your own custom format, bullet journal style, and get creative with how it looks and feels.
