Recipe for Easy Access

You want to cook or bake, but you don’t have much time. Plus, you have to find that recipe…wherever it is. Now is the time to organize your loose notecards, magazine pages and papers so you can know what you have and finally use and enjoy your recipes.

New and unused
If you’re saving magazines or books because you wanted to try a recipe published inside: Rip out the recipe and try it! Why use storage space for a recipe you haven’t even tried? Perhaps you can schedule one day each week to try out the recipes you’ve pulled or printed off the Internet—it might turn into a day you look forward to each week.

Tab it
Sometimes, tearing apart a cookbook is not an option. If there are only a few recipes in the book that you want to keep, consider photocopying the page. If you use many of the book’s recipes, flag the pages of your favorite recipes with a sticky note or tab, and write the name of the dish on the bookmark.

Set up a system
For a speedy route to your recipes, sort them in labeled folders and keep them in a file drawer or an open-sided magazine storage box. Another option is to set-up your own personalized cookbook in a three-ring binder to store your loose recipes. See the detailed instructions in the sidebar.

To make sure your recipes stay organized, consider creating a “Recipes to Try” folder or section of your cookbook. Once you cook it, if it’s a keeper, move it to the appropriate folder or cookbook section; if it’s a dud, simply toss it.

Ready-made recipe organization systems are also available for organizationally-challenged homeowners, such as the C.R. Gibson Bon Appetit Deluxe Kitchen Binder ($29, www.crgibson.com) and the Williams-Sonoma Recipe & Entertaining Journal ($49, www.williams-sonoma.com).

Whether you’re a food connoisseur or you just enjoy a simple, home-cooked meal, organization is an important part of an enjoyable cooking experience.