All For the Love Of a Lost Dumpling

Several weeks ago, I lost the recipe card that held my chicken and dumpling recipe.  That may not sound particularly tragic to you, but then again, you've never eaten my chicken and dumplings.  If you had, you would understand the magnitude of the loss.

I was so frustrated by this.  I dug through my over-run recipe box, through every section, even the non-dumpling related ones.  The recipe was gone. 

This helped me decide something I'd been thinking for a while, that the index card method of storing recipes probably isn't the most efficient one.  It's too easy for cards to get misplaced, and, even if they're in the right section, it still takes too long to dig for the one you want.  There had to be a better way.

So I've spent the last several weeks transferring my recipes to a Word document, one I can print out and store in a three-ring binder, compete with page protectors to protect from the cooking mess.  It's my own personal cookbook, if you will.  I know there is software that helps with this, or even does it for you, but I felt like keeping my own hands on the project.  And I'm glad I did it.  Even though I'm not a lover of cooking or recipes, and even though this whole project had its tedious moments, I've really enjoyed the process.  Here's why.

First of all, I have chuckled at my own ambition as a young bride.  Most of the recipes crammed in box had been clipped and saved from my earliest newlywed days.  I can still picture myself, hunched over our tiny table in our 500-square-foot apartment, dreaming big dreams of made-from-scratch meals. 

I got over that one pretty quickly.  In this most recent purge, I tossed just about any recipe that had more than seven or eight ingredients. 

Another reason this task has been so fun is browsing my collection of family recipes--those recipe cards I could never part with, not in a million years.  I have recipes handwritten by both mine and my husband's grandmothers.  Hubs' grandmother, a grand Southern lady in the truest sense of the word, provided commentary on hers.  When she shared with me her mama's Karo Nut Pie Recipe (which, incidentally, is made entirely of "a pinch of this" and "a dash of that" and thus dooms me from the start), she noted that over the years she finally caved and "used a store-bought pastry."  But, she added, in a voice I can positively hear through the recipe card, "Mama didn't."

And lastly, reading through all these recipes has reminded me a thing or two about writing down recipes for my own future generations.  Lesson number one?  Keep it simple.  I think that sometimes recipe authors are a little bit control-freakish.  I'll admit that I roll my eyes a little at recipes that read like this:

Add half the flour, and stir eight times counter-clockwise.  Add two pinches of salt, one egg and remaining flour.  Stir as you pour, but not too fast, and only blend until moistened.

Really?  If a recipe truly requires that much choreography, I'll just enjoy it at the bakery.

(And, by the way, have you ever noticed how many recipes tell you to "add eggs one at a time"?  Unless you're, I don't know, an octopus, is there any other way to do it?)

Here's my finished product.  In the left-hand picture, my new cookbook is the tallest one, in the center.  In the right-hand picture, you can see an inside shot, since I have it propped ever-so-artfully open.  I thought I should make it look like I was in the middle of cooking.  Might have helped if I'd actually put something in the bowl, don't you think? 

I love my re-organized collection, and now that I've culled down to the basics, I'm really enjoying some old favorites I'd long forgotten.  In fact, I've stumbled across so many recipes I love that I will probably be sharing a few of them here on the blog over the coming months. 

But I promise, I will not tell you how many times to stir.  You're on your own.

(P.S.  Yes, I found the dumpling recipe.  Stay tuned...)

Comments

[Kari]

Maybe you'd come here and do this for me? I don't have cards though. I have sheets of printed and handwritten. Usually full sized folded in half and stashed in a cookbook. Then there's the current stash of simple recipes involved in the current menus...these lay on top of the cookbooks..I did throw one out though after I didn't like it...is that a good start?
I have copies of my grandmothers handwritten...very tedious directions of layered jello. I'm the only one in the family patient enough to read the entire thing and figure out what it looks like in this generation! (I think it is three full pages!)

[amy]

Wow, eight ingredients is ambitious. I usually stop at four.

Nice look on the new cookbook!

[Christy @ pipandsqueak]

My mother in law made one of these of all of the family recipes and gave it to each child. It is very well organized and easy to use. I should type up all my other recipes and add to it.

[Vicky]

I have had the exact same plan! (right down to the Word document and page protectors) Except I'm single and don't have the index cards... though I do have a file full of random pieces of paper. And I often read a recipe on a blog and think "that sounds good" but don't actually write it down. So now I'm working on getting it all in one document and then organizing it. This post has made me even more excited to work on that project. Thanks!!!

[Megan]

Wow, great job!

I'm so not a cook, but I wish I was. I love artsy things like this. Cookbooks are amazing.

:) I noticed you're from Oklahoma also.

[Heidi @ Blue Eyed Blessings]

This may be a project I will be adding to my list. I love organized things like this and I really do think I would use my recipes more. Great idea and thanks for sharing!

[Carol ~ I Throw Like A Girl]

Great idea! I love it. I've been saving mine on the computer, but then I have to print them off to use them anyway.

[Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolates]

That looks wonderful! I really need to work on my recipes. I DO have a recipe and cookbook issue and include even difficult recipes. Currently, I manage to have them separated - tried and true in one box, haven't attempted yet in another. I tear recipes out of magazines constantly, so it's quite a mess to dig through.

I'll start that project...soon. :)

[Pmom@Chocolate and Garlic]

So wait--did you find the dumpling recipe? Are you going to post it for us?

[Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers]

Ah, now we know why you had the "recipe on the brain" disease last week. lol That so looks like a project that I would enjoy...if I could ever find a few spare hours since I know I would, obsessively-complusively want to do it all in one sitting.

[Desert Diva 2005]

I've started a project like this so many times... only to get stumped by organizing the meals/recipes... so I have a dining table full of recipe books, cards, binders, page protectors and notecards -- all just waiting to be perfectly organized.

All that to say -- kudos to you -- I lay prostrate at your feet because through it all - You Done Did It - :D :D

[Cassi]

Actually, the reason it says to put in eggs one at a time is because a lot of people crack however many eggs they need into a bowl first, and then they pour them in. this is to prevent from bloody or rotten eggs getting into the mixture. Then you would have to start all over!
Also, i luuuuv chicken and dumplings. if you ever find the recipe, please post it!!! :)

[goodfather]

Mmmmm, chicken and dumplings. Yum!

Is the 'organize-things-in-a-three-ring-binder' a sign of getting older? I just did the same thing for my sheet music, lol! I got tired of digging through my collection of unorganized music lying around, and put it all in page-protected sheets in a binder.

Please add me to the list of people hoping to get your recipe!

[:: Suzanne :: Adventures in Daily Living ::]

I too wondered about the recipe.

Most of my new recipes come from the web, so I just cut & paste them into a 4 by 6 template and load my photo printer with blank index cards. I can then easily print as many copies as I want. This is especially nice when I want to share the recipe or if I lose one.

[Kim @ My Journey]

Oh, I so hope you find your Chicken 'n Dumplins recipe! There is nothing better than a pot of dumplins on a cool day....

LOVE the recipe binder idea. I bet it took a ton of time, but well worth it! You're family will be blessed I'm sure.

Happy Monday and start to your week...

[monica]

oh, i'd be so sad if i lost my chicken 'n dumplins recipe. it's a family favorite. the best comfort food in the world. my great grandmother used to make them for us. hope you find yours. if you don't, i'm willing to share mine. but i can't promise it's the same as yours...

[Damsel]

My Granny did something similar for all of us girls for Christmas this past year. She scanned and printed copies of recipes written in our great-great grandmother's handwriting, all the way down to our mother and aunts' recipes, then put them all in a binder. She even got my OTHER grandmother into the process, so we have a precious collection from both sides of the family!

Some of them call for ingredients that don't even exist anymore, so she made notes in the margins... Some of them are favorites from holidays past that we'd all forgotten about. It was such a neat idea, and I know we'll treasure the cookbooks!

[Beth (A Mom's Life)]

I love it! I do something similiar and it works great.

Yours is prettier than mine though!

[edj]

Here is my method. Stand in awe at my amazing organizational skillz.
I type the recipe into my computer, or I google it.
I print it out.
If I don't have a printer, I scrawl it on a piece of scratch paper.
I put the recipes in a haphazard pile in a cupboard.
The pile grows, daily.
I can never find anything.
Whaddya think? Go ahead and imitate me, if you dare.
Seriously, I'm impressed but not surprised.
And did you ever find the dumpling recipe? My husband loves those. Me, I'm not Southern, and have no idea how to make them or even what they really are.

[alli]

It is so sweet, tedious, and amazing for you to have accomplished that task. I have tried and tried to get into the same sort of thing, but I run out of steam. Good for you!

[Chelsey @ Brown Eyed Basics]

I've been working on something similar using Delicious... this week I'm working on typing up all my recipe cards into Google Docs so I can link to them through Delicious. We'll see how it goes!

[Toni]

I typed all our family recpies on word a few years ago and then used hallmark scrapbook studio software to design a cookbook / scrapbook. Then made copies for the family and put together one for each of my kids. Then my husbands family saw it and asked for one so I repeated the process for them. It was a very enjoyable process.

[Kay]

Now I'm curious to go check out my recipe posts and see if I included any "offensive language". I may be editing all day! (lol!) I enjoyed your post and inspiration!

[Lauren]

I did the same thing a couple years ago. I still have the recipe boxes from my Granny and Grandma, but my recipe binder is so much easier. And if someone wants the recipe, I just print it out rather than copying it by hand.

Since I'm still young and single, I don't add any recipe to my book unless I have tried it and loved it already (unless it's in a cookbook I own). I love this system! In fact, my mom once told me to make her "her own binder" ... even though she rarely cooks anymore, she still wanted one. :)

[Kristi]

I love it! I've just got to do this too. Thanks for the wonderful idea and inspiration. Blessings to you!

[Patrice]

Did you ever find the dumpling recipe?

[Pat]

Good idea! Now I'm curious - did you find the chicken and dumpling recipe? If so, please share it because I'd love to find a good one.

[Edwina]

You made me realize how much I need to organize my recipes. I have so many cookbooks and S.L. Cookbooks and I have even written recipes on the inside of them. Thanks for reminding me of what I need to do and keep putting off.

[Minnesotamom]

What fun! This is the second post I've read this weekend that has inspired me to get organized...

And I, too, was one of those ambitious brides. While I do often cook from scratch, when it requires 8 ingredients I don't have or have never heard of (Martha Stewart Living, anyone?), I will most likely not be making it.

[Debbie Glosson]

It is always fun to find an old recipe that you have forgotten! I love it..it's like a treasure found and new all over again!
-Sandy toes

[pam]

What a great idea, and I truly admire your perseverance in getting it accomplished! Now, will you do mine? : )

I'll look forward to the posts with the recipes. I'm always looking for new things to try with my family.

BTW, did you ever find the chicken and dumpling recipe?

[Carrie]

The finished product looks great! I was getting so far behind with all my recipes too. I cleaned them out one day, organized them, and put them in a recipe book. Now, when I cut out or find a new recipe, I immediately put it in the recipe book so I don't get so far behind again.

BTW, I almost never use recipes with a lot of ingredients either!

[Tara]

So did you find the chicken and dumpling recipe???

I have something like that, but it isn't nearly so pretty. I call it my "kitchen notebook" and woe to the person who steals that baby!

When I cook I prop mine up in my kitchen windowsill. Don't know why you needed to know that, but its an idea!

[Cindy]

When I grow up, I want to do something like this! I have folded recipes in a Martha Stewart box, and it's worked ok for the past 7 years, but I know there are a lot of recipes I've never even made in there!

[MamaHenClucks]

I love the organizational part of it. I could spend hours going through my cookbooks! Are you going to be sharing your recipe? My hubby loves dumplings!

[Charissa]

My motivation to organize recipes was a curious toddler who was eating the recipes, not the food. I've also recently lost one of my husband's favorite recipes, frozen lime pie. So sad, I do love making his belly happy!

[Mrs. H]

Wow - looks good! I am doing some (paid) work like that for a friend... she bought a cookbook program and loaded in all 462 recipes herself, but now wanted me to proof them and get them printed at a local print company. The printing options are not very "friendly" and for the simplicity of her book, I wish she would've just used Word as well! (But I'm looking forward to a copy of the cookbook. She's got some good ones!) Way to go on your project - happy cooking!

[Michelle]

Great idea for organizing those darn little cards! I should do it. I'd love my recipe book to be like the card catalog at the library. I could just sit down, search by title, and wallah. Maybe if I get ambitious I'll start typing out my faves too.

[Julie at Elisharose]

I've been working on my own cookbook for 8 years now. No, it's not that fabulous. I'm just that slow. I need to just sit down and do it. I do love to cook and have been know to make quite a production of it. I need to get all of my favorites in an easily accessible location. Maybe I'll be inspired by our diligence. Maybe.

[Sara]

Thank you for helping me release the guilt of loving my 4-ingredient recipes. lol My favorite wedding shower gift was a photo album filled with recipes on 4x6 index cards. It stays clean and I can add clippings easily.

[Lisa T.]

Regarding the eggs: If you're clumsy like me, incapable of breaking eggs without getting tiny pieces of shell in them, you break them in a separate bowl and pour them in later. That's how you add several eggs at a time. :) Glad my lack of grace could be helpful.

[Vicki D.I]

I have done it, too! Since I am older, I used a bigger font than you did:-).

[Amy]

What a wonderful idea. I want to make something with my mother's recipes -the ones in her handwriting. I have a great scanner so I see this in my future! Thanks for the idea and for the inspiration and encouragement to try. I am looking forward to also being able to share family recipes easily just by printing it out!

[MommaChelle]

I'm laughing because I did this same thing a couple of years ago. I was quite impressed by my 3 ring binder and it's sheet protectors. But now, the same recipes are there, but the pocket folders on the front and the back are filled with slips of paper and recipe cards that I have accumulated over the past 24 months.

I guess I should have been diligent about keeping things up to date, but I'm afraid I can't claim to be that organized.

Ask the photo organizers that I started...

[Thea @ I'm a Drama Mama]

That's how I have my recipes, too!

Please tell me you still have the handwritten heirlooms! Did you keep them in the recipe box? If you want to keep them all together, you can get page protectors designed to hold index cards...

[Betsy]

Oh, my Mom did this with all her favorites and made everyone a copy. Then, she took both of my grandmothers' recipe boxes and did the same thing with both of them. She even scanned the ones that were handwritten, and added some old family photos as well. Now, every time someone in our family graduates and moves out on their own, or gets married, she gives them copies. It is always their favorite gift!

[Brenda Boston]

I reorganized my recipes once and regretted it because I got rid of recipes I later wanted to revisit. Now I keep all the ones I used most in a photo sleeve and keep my hand written cards in a box that I can refer back to if I want to.

[miche]

Wow, that is an awesome idea! I have recipes all over the place-and I am probably still in the dream state of trying to cook difficult recipes....keeping ingredients limited is good advice!!

Where did you get the plastic covers for the recipes to put in your notebook?

[Liz C.]

For those with paper accumulated: get a binder, and a box of sheet protectors, and stuff them in! You can arrange them later, and if they're in page protectors, they won't be floating around the kitchen.

I've been meaning to get to this, too... it would sure simplify my life to have computer files with the recipes, because I'm *constantly* sharing a few of my favorites, and I get bored writing them out.

One of my favorite wedding present ideas the past few years has been recipe cards... I think I'll start doing them as recipe sheets, in a binder with extra page protectors and customizable, tabbed dividers.

(The Ultra-Crafty Girl in me says... oooooh... scrapbook recipes!! Then I smack her with a stick until she shuts up.)

[Suzanne]

I did the same as you recently. I hated to just toss out the old recipes that my mother, grandmother, and aunts had written (complete with stains) so I found some inexpensive frames and some pretty scrapbook paper. I framed them and hung them in my kitchen. I love them! It reminds me of my rich Southern heritage every time I look at them. Just thought I'd share that. . .

[Melanie]

I can't remember where I saw it, but one idea for treasuring those old recipes is to frame them and hang them in your kitchen. I thought this was precious!

Will you share the dumpling recipe? My daughter LOVES them. I have tried Paula's recipe. I like the chicken part and I am sure the dumplings are wonderful when Paula cooks them. So far, I am stuck with Mary B's dumplings with Paula's chicken and broth.

[Lori]

I've been pondering how to tackle this monster in my own kitchen...maybe a winter project...

BTW, glad you found that recipe!!!

[Pam]

I made a booklet up not too long ago, with all our favorite recipes and then make a copy for each of my children to have to take with them, its so nice to be able to go to one place to get the recipe I wanted.

[Pam]

Love your book too.

[Lori Drumm]

What a great idea! A perfect winter project. I, too, have clippings of recipes from magazines that I read in my newlywed days. I don't think I've ever made any of those recipes - ever. Think I'll do a little recipe box purging myself this week...

[shane_onegoodie]

I would love to try your chicken and dumpling recipe. That sounds delicious. I love to cook and I have picky kids (and husband) but this is our kind of thing.

Creating a keepsake cookbook is so important. I truly believe recipes are the traditions that keep families together. Years ago, when my grandmother died, my mother and I created a cookbook of all her recipes so they wouldn't be lost. All the relatives have one to pass on. Hang on to that book, and keep adding to it.

[Jen]

I can trump your cards with my papers, cards, post-its, & pictures collection strewn about in my too-high-to-see cupboard. I'm more of a "hmmm, what do I have an how can I artfully throw that together so my husband thinks I invented a recipe" person. BUT, I had a similar moment this weekend and shoved all my recipes back into the cupboard. I think I have a new project; thanks for the inspiration!

[Queen B]

Great idea! I am feeling a bit of inspiration...

[Rachel]

I recently went thru the same thing - except I printed mine on index cards and stored them in a slide-in photo album. I made little tabs for various sections and now I can rearrange them whenever I want. It always drove me crazy to be looking for a recipe and find that I'd written it in a section that totally didn't make sense to me at the time. Now I can simply move it and keep my sanity :)

[Tay]

Old recipes are like dear friends, but grandma's recipes just feel like a bunch of busywork! And i'm so excited that you found your chicken and dumplings recipe - that is a fantastic dish!

[Mrs Lemon]

I think I have that same red bowl you have there. I just found out it's not microwaveable.

[Andrea@Under Grace & Over Coffee]

Great idea! Although I was totally distracted by my jealousy over your fab granite countertops to read the rest of your post (heehee).

[Teresa]

I had the exact same revelation with my recipe card box a few weeks ago and also made a binder. However, I just stuck the cards in instead of retyping them so it isn't quite as neat as yours. Some friends and I started sharing recipes because we are all young wives who are trying to learn how to cook more things. If you go to my blog, you will see the recipes on the sidebar. I am excited to see your dumpling recipe.

[Hillary - The Queen I Am Not]

I've been meaning to do this for ages. Good for you!

[Veggiemomof2]

I do the same thing with my recipes. When I'm cooking, I take it out & clip it on the fridge. It's out of the way of spills, plus up in the air to be read easily.

[Missus Wookie]

Congratulations on finding the dumpling recipe and the project completion. I have a Rolodex with either the recipe title and where to find it, or a brief overview of the recipe to remind me of exactly how much flour...

Preferred that to the index cards as of course the cards don't tend to wander.

Both kids are starting their own folders of recipes for when they leave home, the handwritten cards are in my scrapbook albums if they were in any fit state. Figure that way I can always go and look at them.

[Melissa]

I made a book just like that with all of my husband's collected recipes. He is the foodie in the family and likes to try new recipes. Whenever he finds one that is "binder worthy" I add it.

One thing I really love about the page protectors is that I can take the recipe out of the binder and use a bit of tape to tape it to my upper cabinet. Then it's at eyelevel and off my (limited) work surface.

[Erin]

I have been wanting to do this with my recipes. Apparently I just haven't WANTED to do it badly enough to actually do it. I look forward to seeing the chicken and dumpling recipe!

[AnnieBlogs]

You are hilarious and I want to be like you when I grow up. :) Love ya.

[Barbara H.]

I did something similar with recipes I clipped out of magazines -- just stuck them in with scrapbooking glue -- but some of them have very small print, and I would like to put something together with all our favorite recipes in one spot.

[Barbara H.]

I did something similar with recipes I clipped out of magazines -- just stuck them in with scrapbooking glue -- but some of them have very small print, and I would like to put something together with all our favorite recipes in one spot.

[Kim H.]

What a wonderful idea - I'm so impressed by your ambition. You might have even inspired me! :)

BTW, I LOVE YOUR BACKSPLASH! Just lovely.

[Taryn]

I keep a binder of empty page protectors and add recipes as I come across them: printed from allrecipes.com, printed from emails from my mom, torn from the pages of Real Simple, etc. When I fill up one binder, I will get another! And I also go through and throw recipes out when I make something and it stinks. ;)

[Marian]

This exact project has been on my To Do list for a long, long time. Congratulations on the accomplishment. I, too, was a very ambitious (aka delusional) young bride. =)

[nicole]

I have something similar to this. I keep my recipes in page protectors in a binder, but I still need to do some streamlining. Right now some recipes are cut out and glued to paper, while others were printed from websites, and still others are just loose cut-outs. I keep thinking I need to make things better, to find more recipes and stuff. Great work on yours!

[Our J'Ollie Home]

add me to the Waiting for the Dumpling Recipe line.....

I have a few treasured recipes from my grandmother, handwritten on recipe cards. I wonder what our children and grandchildren will think when they look at our laser-printed recipes? Are they going to get all sentimental?

[Alicia]

Another Okie here. It's funny that you talk about chicken and dumplings, because that's on my menu plan for this week. The recipe is one my grandma gave me, and it's my fave!

But, alas, it's written on a plain little piece of paper without even "Dumplings" written on it, so if someone else saw it, they'd have no clue what it was.

Guess I need to get mine organized too! Great job on that book, want to come do mine? LOL

[Penny Raine]

we get the 4x6 photo albums and slip the cards in there, I have one for each of my daughters as they start cooking

blessings, Penny Raine
http://pennyraine.com/blog

[Karen]

This is one of the things I'm most enjoying about having a cooking blog - I can go back and find the recipe later!

As for the "add eggs one at a time" type of instructions, that is the born cooks trying to listen when others say "I don't understand a pinch of this ...." :)

[Carrie of Ceaseless Praises]

This is a good idea! When I cut out recipes, unless they have to be viewed on both sides, I stick them in a photo album with the sticky pages. Maybe someday I'll get organized & do a Word document, though. :)

[Amanda]

This is exactly what I need to do! I have a box if index cards and it drives me nuts! Thank you for sharing! I can't wait for the chicken and dumpings recipe!!

[Wendy]

Bring on the recipes, I need something new. Thanks for the great idea.

[Khaki]

I was flipping through a magazine recently at the salon and saw a super great idea about framing and hanging those beloved splattered, yellowed, crumbing recipes. It looked like such a groovy decorating idea while being very practical...I promise you won't lose it hanging on your wall!

[Lady Dorothy]

I just read this last night. A great decorating idea for those hand-written, handed-down recipes. I hope to do it one day.

http://openhouse.homegoods.com/index.php/2008/09/18/cherished-memories-in-the-kitchen/

[Angie]

I keep all mine on my computer, and since we have a computer in our kitchen, it works out splendidly. I just look up the recipe, enlarge it, and work right from the computer. But I do want to start writing them down on pretty recipe cards for posterity. So many fun family recipes!

[Normal to Natalie]

oh i love the idea from suzanne! i am going to scrap and frame some of my grandmother's handwritten recipes in my kitchen!!!

on another note, i love your idea! i am getting very frustrated at the many places i have recipes...in my in-box, on bookmarked blogs, in my recipe box, in several different cookbooks with sticky notes marking the place. ugh. guess i better get started on my word document!

[Kelly @ Wisdom Begun]

That looks great, Shannon! I love it.

Now, can you come do my recipes? Please? Pretty please??

[Bonnie]

Great story. I once typed up a bunch of our recipes, because some favourite cookbooks had fallen apart. Recently I discovered what great ideas you can find in recipe books, and I'm having fun experimenting! Though more modern cookbooks are better about the quick and easy part!!! :)

[Ashleigh (Heart and Home)]

My recipe box is a mess and I've only been married four years. I need to do this too.

My mother in law made us a hand-written cookbook of her best family recipes. It is a treasure, that's for sure!

[Christine]

I just did this myself! There must be a recipe fairy flying around whispering inspiration into those of us with recipes stashed hither and yon!

Most of my recipes are on 8 1/2 x 11 paper that I either typed on the computer myself to share with other people or I printed them off some website. I had piles of these things all over the kitchen. In a fit of irritation at printing off some recipe for the 58th time I finally did the binder thing and, like you, made my very own cookbook!! I LOVE the thing! It makes me so happy seeing it there on the shelf and knowing that come Christmas, I won't have to look high and low for the molasses cookie recipe I wheedled out of my boss's wife several years back! Oddly, the chicken and dumpling section is a little thin in my binder...

Now be honest...when you did this little task did you too find yourself with 14 recipes for salad and/or vegetables and about 87 for desserts and another nice pile of cookies and candy? Was that just me? Please say it wasn't just me :) I'll need a new binder before long, just to contain my sweet tooth. Sigghh....

[Trena]

I'm also in the process of this, but I keep changing my mind about what format to use, binder like you or 4x6 cards in a photo album. Okay, time to spill the beans...you mentioned a long time ago you lost 20-something pounds. Did you use WW? I saw your coookbook so I'm curious. I recently joined and am loving it for lots of reasons but mostly because I'm learning self-control and actually losing weight! Yah!

[Shirley]

So, when are we getting that dumpling recipe? I love dumplings.

[Brie Clark]

This is exactly how I have my recipes--so handy dandy!

[Melissa]

I have done the exact same thing with my recipes! Whenever I find a new recipe that my family LOVES, I add it to the binder. I plan to send a copy of "Our Family Favorites" recipe binder with my kids when they go to college.

I really like how easy this system makes it for me to find our favorite recipes.

[Stretch Mark Mama]

I'm a big fan of MasterCook, if you ever want to Take It To The Next Level.

I keep all my "keeper" recipes in a photo album with 4x6 slots. Makes it easy to add new recipes. I use the stick-on tabs to make categories.

[Laurie North]

The same thing happened to me this summer. I went the recipe program route and am trying to but in a recipe every day or two, it is tedious! Your entry made me think of a shower gift I did for my best friend. I sent a recipe card out with the shower invitation and then collected them at the party. I bought a photo album in the same pattern as the recipe cards and stuck them in. She really liked it and uses it often.
Great idea to print them and put in page protectors. Did you arrange into sections?

[britney]

Losing a chicken and dumpling recipe would be tragic at my house. It's one of my all time favorites since I was a wee lass. My mom could attest to my love for dumplings; my birthday meal is ALWAYS chicken and dumplings. :) I'm glad you found the recipe.

[Lisa]

Turned out very nicely! I started transferring my favorite to Word as well, but quickly got bored. Now that I see your finished project, I must get back to it! Can't WAIT for your chicken & dumpling recipe! Mine never has too much flavor, so yours just might make my family happy :)

[Tara W]

Thanks for sharing! I did a cookbook using a free online program two years ago and printed my grandmother's recipes, added pictures and gave one to each family for Christmas- 19 in all. Everyone loved it. Okay I am waiting on this chicken and dumplings recipe...............

[The (Almost) Amazing Mammarino]

Your comments about the directions from recipe authors reminds me of the time I tried to make my great aunt's famous grape jelly. She said to "cook it until it made a 'chugging' sound." What does THAT mean? I did what I thought she meant and ended up with grape-flavored tar!