Hello all!
Happy Wednesday! I can’t believe we are one week away from Thanksgiving. This month has flown by. I am looking forward to the bonus time with family next week, the delicious food, and getting into the holiday spirit after Thanksgiving. The older I get the more I cherish the time my whole is together because I know it won’t be that way forever. I’m feeling extra grateful this holiday season. Speaking of the holiday season, it also leads to more time in the kitchen.
One of my favorite hobbies that I have developed over the past year or so has been cooking and baking. I always enjoyed helping my mom in the kitchen as a child, whether it be helping bake cookies or with dinner. As an adult, I have continued to love to spend time in the kitchen both baking family-favorite foods or trying new recipes. I love finding new recipes from blogs, Pinterest and cookbooks. However, it can get overwhelming when you find recipes and then don’t get a chance to try them if you misplace or don’t save them. Over the past few months, I have developed a system when it comes to finding new recipes from cookbooks and blogs, saving them, trying them out and saving the recipe in my own cookbook.
Here’s how my system works:
- Browse and tab recipes- Whenever I get a new cookbook or I’m reading a recipe blog and I see a recipe I like, I immediately tab and save it. I use sticky notes for cookbooks and then for blogs online I will save the page. On Pinterest, I have a food board that I save all recipes I like.
- Add recipes to Notes in my phone- When I am done browsing a cookbook or after I find a recipe I want to try online, I add it to a note on my phone. I have a note saved of a list of all the recipes I want to try divided up by season and where I can find them. For example, a hearty dish from one of Jessie James Decker’s cookbooksk would be under the winter or fall sections. I only keep meals on this note, not drinks or desserts. I only use this for cookbooks and blogs, not Pinterest, I will check that occasionally for specific recipe ideas. This way when I am looking to try a new recipe, I have a list of things I want to try and I know exactly where to find them, whether they be in a cookbook or online.
- Time to Cook or Bake- Once I have settled on my recipe, I get my ingredients and cook or bake it and (hopefully) enjoy it!
- Save the Recipe- If the meal is a success, I do a few things. First, I took it off my notes list since I have already tried it. If I found the recipe in a cookbook, I was replace the sticky note with a new color, so I know for future reference that I have tried it, and it was a success and I want to cook it again. If I find the recipe online whether it be on a blog or Pinterest, I will type up the recipe, with a photo of it and add it to my own personal cookbook. I got this cookbook from Simplified, and I love it. I have it filled with family recipes and recipes from blogs or Pinterest. I have each recipe typed up and in a protective cover and organized by course of meal (appetizer, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.) From there, recipes are organized by the type of meal (for example under main courses, I have a section for chicken, pork, pasta, beef etc.) This keeps all recipes from family members or online in one spot that’s easy to find.
This system has worked great for me over the past year. I love how I have a whole slew of recipes at my fingertips and then I have a place with them all saved to make again in the future. Although this system may seem complex and tedious, it has become second nature to add recipes I want to try to my list and then type them up when I am done. I keep my personal cookbook with my other cookbooks in one spot, so they are all easy to grab and cook.
If you love being in the kitchen as much as I do, what are some of your tips and tricks when it saving and trying recipes? I would love to hear them! Enjoy your time in the kitchen!