The other thing I always do is copy-and-paste any computer recipe I'm cooking into a Word file, enlarge the font size and print it out. Then I tape the printed sheets in a row along the front of the kitchen cabinets so I can read continuously without the recipe taking up room on the counter.
Diana, most people I know have a combo of computer and printed recipes, plus cookbooks. I mentioned Evernote earlier because it allows me to keep a personal database of all the computerized recipes and I can copy it from computer to phone to iPad, etc. at no charge. But I also have binders full of magazine tear-outs or handwritten recipes in plastic sleeves in binders. I will never get around to scanning them all into PDF files, so I just make an entry in my Evernote database with the recipe name and any keywords, and telling me what binder or file to find it in, like "the Red binder" or "the Blue binder." ;-) There's also an interesting site - I think someone mentioned it above - called eatyourbooks.com which indexes recipes from cookbooks. So if you own a ton of cookbooks, that can be very helpful too.
I kept reading this thread and thinking what a dinosaur I am to keep my recipes in plastic sleeves in a three-ring binder, so I'm delighted Le Bec Fin and savorthis weighted in! I'm just too old to read stuff that's in magazine-sized type when I'm dancing around the kitchen, so I like being able to increase the font size, too, Le Bec Fin.
I have a similar system as Le Bec Fin...I have a huge binder with dividers that have pockets and tons of plastic sleeves. Once I go through all the dog-eared recipes in magazines (often wondering who snuck in and dog-eared half of them) I place them in the front of the binder. If I have time I at least put them in their category's divider pocket. Then rarely I sit down with a cup of coffee and put the ones I still want to keep in sleeves. While I love what digital can do for so many things in life, I am still much more fond of this food splattered binder. And when in a real pinch, I don't often have trouble finding the recipe online. I think I would never bother scanning or hunting down all my sources online and I can't see a day when I don't get piles of food magazines.
p.s. a couple of great things about those plastic sleeves:
when you put a scrap of paper in them, it's much harder to lose that scrap of papaer.until you have time to enter into your pc the scribbled recipe, you could staple it onto a regular letter size sheet (if the recipe is 1 sided)for a sturdier copy- which you can also make notes on.
- if you are crammed for prep space and your recipe ends up flat next to you, collecting flour and spills,the plastic sleeve protects the paper recipe and also can be used to collect detritus for the trash.
-- you can get binder style 3-hole sleeves for storing in a ring binder
I am a physical paper-shuffling recipe finder. I keep many files of recipes, printed out from web or xeroxed from printed sources.(I enlarge all recipes to size 18 font.) Once they are printed out, i store them in clear plastic sleeves that i get at Staples.If a recipe is 2 pages, 1 face one page one way and the 2nd pg against its back, pointing outwards. I i.d. the folders w/ black magic marker titles. The folders are kept in heavy plastic box-files.
Just thought of another tip: I have several file folders of handwritten recipes or magazine tearsheets. I have not gotten around to scanning them to PDF files. So, all I do is make an entry in my Evernote database that says "Boef Bourguignon" and in the comments for that entry, "Grandmother boeuf bourguignon - see paper file." That way, the recipe title shows up alphabetically in my Evernote list, and tells me to go look in the paper file to find the recipe.
I like Tastebook.com. You can search for recipes from a number of different sources (epicurious.com, etc.) or add you own manually. It's free, unless you decide you want to have a printed binder made up with select recipes.
Evernote. Free, multi-platform (computer, laptop, tablet, phone)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/technology/personaltech/getting-organized-with-evernote.html?_r=0
For anything paper-based, you'll need to scan/digitize the paper on your printer / photocopier and save as a PDF, then add it to your Evernote collection.
If you have a lot of paper recipes or notes that you want scanned, there are services (and high-school students) that can do that for you. They will add keywords, etc. but charge you extra for that.
Pepperplate! It's an amazing website, which also has an app, where I store all my recipes. You can download recipes from various food websites and also enter recipes manually.
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when you put a scrap of paper in them, it's much harder to lose that scrap of papaer.until you have time to enter into your pc the scribbled recipe, you could staple it onto a regular letter size sheet (if the recipe is 1 sided)for a sturdier copy- which you can also make notes on.
- if you are crammed for prep space and your recipe ends up flat next to you, collecting flour and spills,the plastic sleeve protects the paper recipe and also can be used to collect detritus for the trash.
-- you can get binder style 3-hole sleeves for storing in a ring binder
Voted the Best Reply!
Well worth the money. Even though you have to pay for each device, it will synch them.
Check out paprikaapp.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/technology/personaltech/getting-organized-with-evernote.html?_r=0
For anything paper-based, you'll need to scan/digitize the paper on your printer / photocopier and save as a PDF, then add it to your Evernote collection.
If you have a lot of paper recipes or notes that you want scanned, there are services (and high-school students) that can do that for you. They will add keywords, etc. but charge you extra for that.