<p>I accidentally put this in someone else’s thread, but I’m sorting through huge piles of old recipes. I guess I have a problem with saving so many. I might not have enough days left in my life to make all these things. It’s not like I make something new everyday. Plus I have shelves of cookbooks. I’m sure this has some kind of disease name.</p>
<p>Take the recipes you like best (or in fact all of them if you have the wherewithal) scan them and put them on your computer in a recipe filefolder. Then you have them when you want them and won’t have all the paper laying around. I started doing this and I have managed to de-clutter some cabinet space. Also, alot less paper is hanging out of those cookbooks I just can’t get rid of. (LOL)</p>
<p>I guess I should do that. I know I have to get rid of a bunch first or I won’t be able to sort through this many, even online. I feel like I need asn Oprah intervention!</p>
<p>…or maybe, Dr. Phil…</p>
<p>OMG–NOOO! I like the guy she brings in for hoarding behaviors. And then you get a house makeover.</p>
<p>My sister suggested I watch that episode of Oprah. I think she’s trying to hint at something…</p>
<p>I am committed to throwing stuff out this year. First, I plan to start with the hubby’s stuff.</p>
<p>bethievt, I have that problem too. I tried to get organized and bought a binder and those plastic slip sheets. I just slip the recipes into those sheets and that kept me organized for quite awhile. Unfortunately, I have let it get out of hand again and have to go through what I have accumulated. I also have a pretty large cookbook collection - I enjoy reading them more than actually cooking…lol. I also have recipes stored on the computer, not only in my recipe file, but also on various web sites. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one with this issue. </p>
<p>P.S. I do the same thing with quilt patterns…lol.</p>
<p>Yeah, I can easily get rid of hubby’s stuff. The problem is, I can’t find the recipes I want in all the piles, so I go to the internet and print out more recipes that add to the piles. Simply must get rid of most of this.</p>
<p>I notice my dessert file is rather larger than the others.</p>
<p>A little Vermont <em>humor</em> I found in the pile:</p>
<p>VISITOR, TO FARMER PICKING UP ROCKS IN HIS FIELD: “Say, what’er you doing there?”</p>
<p>FARMER: “Picking up rocks.”</p>
<p>VISITOR: “Where’d the rocks come from?”</p>
<p>FARMER: "Glacier brought “em.”</p>
<p>VISITOR: “Where’s the glacier now?”</p>
<p>Farmer: “Gone back for more rocks.”</p>
<p>Are there any flylady fans here?</p>
<p>I actually just went through years of old cooking magazines and tore out the recipes I wanted to keep. I then put the pages in clear page protectors, separated them by topic and put the pages into a sectioned large 3 ring binder. My goal is to do the same within a month after receiving or buying a new magazine!</p>
<p>My quickie fix with the same problem: Get two folders and put the loose recipes in the pockets. I have a green one for goodies and a blue one for everything else. I have a sweet tooth so need a folder just for desserts.</p>
<p>Put them in a big box and stick them in the attic. That’s what I do. Then, when you’ve forgotten about them in about five years, and go up there to clear things out, you won’t feel bad about throwing the whole box away.
In the meantime, if for some reason you even remember you have a recipe for this or that, and really NEED it, you know where to go.</p>
<p>I tried flylady, but she seemed pretty fixated on disinfecting her sinks every night and putting on her shoes every morning.</p>
<p>Bethievt: LOL!!!</p>
<p>My cousin suggested it, so I signed on. There I am, sitting in my office in midtown Manhattan, all dressed up in my business suit with my pumps and pearls, and every ten minutes I get an email telling me to go put on my shoes.</p>
<p>I canceled after about three days.</p>
<p>God, I’m still laughing out loud.</p>
<p>By the way, as far as the recipes are concerned, I hardly keep anything anymore, since you can find whatever you’re looking for in two minutes on the web.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2, I’ve got the same system of keeping my recipes within plastic sleeves in binders. Like you, though, I’ve collected stacks of new recipes that still need to be cut to index card size and put within the sleeves. It quickly becomes unmanageable. Especially when I dread the process as much as I dread updating my photo albums. Anyway, where do you find the best prices on those plastic sleeves?</p>
<p>I cut the tried and true receipes out, and glue or tape them in those black patterned theme books. Not as well organized by type as I’d like, but the kids and I know where the good ones are. I’ve had one main book with these receipes for years, and the girls drew illustrations in it years ago, which I now look on fondly. Another time, I gave them a theme book and pile of magazine and newspaper clipping receipes, and asked them to organize for me as a mother’s day present. The result is more organized and charming than what I’d come up with myself. </p>
<p>I agree, though, that cookbooks are a little obsolete, when you can google any receipe and come up with more variations than you’d ever imagine in less time than getting a book off the shelf and looking it up. Something is lost in that process, however.</p>
<p>bethie, you are not the only recipe hoarder out there! I still have my collection of recipes from college (I was “the chef” on my dorm floor) neatly written on punch cards - Fortran programming had some benefits! I still keep my old Better Homes cookbook in a drawer by the stove! The recipes work all the time and use no-nonsense ingredients that are usually found in my pantry. I admire the pictures in the Martha Stewart’s books I got from someone, but I can’t find a third of the ingredients without traveling to Europe or something!</p>