Recipes and Cookbooks

Are you an avid recipe collector? Do you cut recipes out from magazines and newspapers? Do you get fed up with all your bits of paper and wish that they were better organized? Make your own cookbook from your clippings by simply placing your favorite recipes into a photo album. The "sticky" albums with plastic sheets work great, but you can also use pocket albums for small recipe clippings or traditional albums for more decorative displays. Arrange them into categories, such as entrees, side dishes, salads, and desserts. When you clip a new recipe, you'll know exactly what to do with it and where to find it later.

Your old family recipe calls for a cup of flour and a half cup of...what? The mystery ingredient on your worn recipe card has been blotted out by a food stain. There's not much you can do for that card except find someone else who has the recipe and write it out again. But for stain-proof recipe cards in the future, simply rub your recipe cards with a white candle. The wax from the candle lends a protective coating so spills wipe off like magic. Best of all, your recipes will be preserved for future generations.

Do you have a recipe box that you store 3-by-5 recipe cards in? Have you ever found a delicious sounding recipe and wanted to copy it on an index card for your recipe box, but you couldn't find any cards? Instead of running to the store, make your own sturdy index card by cutting a rectangle from the center of a paper plate. They are sturdy and cheap. You could also cut out a piece from a worn out folder or an empty lightweight cardboard box.

Every now and then you will come across an old cookbook or recipe collection—they often turn up at yard sales or in your grandmother's bookcase—and they are a great source of traditional recipes. In these books you'll find some of the best from-scratch and traditional recipes listed. If you're really into cooking and baking different old cookbooks are awesome resources for some very original recipes.