ORGANIZE YOUR RECIPES!

TIP: I've tried every recipe file system I can think of. Recipe boxes, baskets, notebooks i.e. one for breads, one for vegetables, etc. I've tried breaking my files down even further - one for tomatoes, one for cookies, etc. Every year I run into the problem, "Where is that recipe for pumpkin cookies? - did I file it under 'cookies' or 'pumpkin'?

I finally came up with something a couple of years ago and I'm still working through it. I have SEASONAL books! I have 2 main notebooks (and they are large) - spring/summer/canning and fall/winter/Christmas. I have another smaller notebook for 'everyday' i.e. pancakes, biscuits, piecrust, dressings and other recipes I use all year round.

In my fall book, I have all the apple and pumpkin recipes, as well as all the soups. In the summer book are berries, salads and cool drinks. I even have a page in each book referring to a page number so I can easily find those recipes I love in my favorite cookbooks. It's a breeze to locate all my zucchini recipes. If I get a bushel of apples, well, you get the picture.

I don't know about you, but my brain works better when I'm that organized! We buy our food seasonally, why not cook that way?