Sunday, July 18, 2010

addicted to recipes

Based on a quick survey of two people, it seems that others have a meal repetition of two weeks or less.  Meaning, the fact that CD and I usually complain that "we just had that" when the kids suggest something we last ate three months ago is unusual.  Based on my sample size of two.  But I suspected this.  My kitchen has too many recipes.  I have several cooking blogs I check regularly and all have great ideas that get printed out.  I have a subscription to Southern Living which has great recipes.

There is, in my kitchen, a file box of 3x5 cards for recipes I use a lot, piles of cookbooks I use very little, an organized binder of recipes torn from magazines, all of which I've tried and liked and want to make again, a binder of recipes torn from magazines that have never been made, but have gotten organized enough to be shoved into the pocket of the binder, (maybe even 3-hole punched, but I'm not sure) and also a pile of recipes on the counter which are recently printed/torn out/written down. ("Recently" is a loosely defined word here.)  There is a printed list CD and I made of menu ideas (a few years ago) which has two columns and still takes two pages to print.

How do I get control of this?  I must stop.  I must stop tearing out recipes.  I must stop printing new recipes.  I must get control over the number of recipes in my kitchen.  But I love making new recipes!  (Smitten Kitchen has a great sounding scalloped tomato dish today!)  And I love variety!  And sometimes a recipe makes it into the regular repertoire and we make it often. ("Often" apparently defined as less than once in three months.)  So, while I can see that I have a problem (the beginning!), I don't yet see a solution I can live with.  Meanwhile, I am resisting the printer icon as I look at that tomato recipe.

3 comments:

  1. I have 9 -NINE - binders filled with recipes torn out of magazines -especially Southern Living - and I hardly cook anything anymore!

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  2. My name is Lesley and I, too, am a recipe addict! Must run in the family. ;) I just bought two cookbooks last week. Wonder how long it will be before I actually use them.

    Off to read Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Scalloped Tomatoes. Already have her blog bookmarked!

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  3. Randomly happened upon your blog, and while I hate to add to your recipe misery, you really should try the Food Network's magazine they started. It has amazing recipes and great tips and tricks.

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