Tuesday 12 February 2013

Recipe Horder


One of the major projects I've set myself this year is to de-clutter. Our home not only houses our clutter, but I also have boxes and boxes of Mum & Dad's things. Well, I'm at that stage when I need to sort myself out.

Now one of the areas that needed looking at was my recipe collection, no not my cookery books, but yes they need a bit of a cull too. But I'm talking about the recipes you pull out of magazines. Trust me; there are only so many fish pies and fish cake recipes a girl needs. So, armed with my, “do I really need it” head on - I pulled out all the bits of paper and pamphlets I'd collected over the years and began to sort. Now, I'm bad enough, but at least I do cook, and love to do so. My mother on the other hand, hated cooking - even when I was a little girl, we went out to eat a lot or had take-aways. Then my mother got a microwave, and frozen dinners are what we lived on lol. All I can say is thank goodness that my Granny lived with us when I was little, so I also got home cooked foods. Anyway, I tell you this, because for some reason, although she hated cooking, she LOVED and I mean loved cookery books and collecting recipes! So again, I have hers now added to my collection.

This was my before shot ... and here's my after.

I know, I've been ruthless, but I've only kept those I really think I'll cook.  I've put them into 3 files; one for everyday, one for baking and one for seasonal/party food. Now, the everyday and baking, I'll go through after a couple of months, and if I've not used them or still haven't any plans to use them, they'll go too. The files sit happily, not taking up much room on my baking station - and I'm feeling much happier with the new arrangement.

I did really enjoy going through mum's old books though ... so much fun seeing old recipes; although, not much different really to the ones in Nigella’s and Jamie’s’ books, if I'm honest ... and I even found my first cookery book :) ... yup, I've kept that.


So, I'm happy with how my de-cluttering is going so far. My February project, which is making good waves, is sorting through mum & dads millions of photos ... although, I have a feeling that may just need to go into being March's project as well, but ... I'm getting there :)

18 comments:

  1. I too am having a de-clutter year along with a decorating year!

    Hope to see some of your cooking and baking on your blog soon..

    Kirsti xxx

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  2. This may sound silly but when i culled my cookbokks I saved one or two just to use for cutting up.

    You can use a cake recipe die cut into leaves for flowers on birthday card...or use the tattered flowers die and cut a bunch and crumble them and reflatten slight;y and make a flower on an adult Bday card...

    Or just the title and top bit of a cake recipe on a bday card...

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  3. Wow what a fab collection of old cookbooks! I'm convinced too that the recipes get recycled again and again! Love your baking station :)

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  4. I'm the same and have a ton of recipes and cook books. It looks like you've done a great job sorting it out and your cooking station looks lovely x

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  5. oooh I like the look of your collection and how you've now organised all your recipes!

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  6. Love that Baking Station...and well done on being so ruthless!
    Alison xx

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  7. Good memories and a de clutter, result:) The only cookery books I seem to use are my Mary Berry ones.

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  8. De-cluttering is high on my list right now too.....am thoroughly enjoying being ruthless too!! x x

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  9. How cool you found your first cook book- glad you kept it!!

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  10. My first cookbook was Mrs Beetons - I was in 7th heaven to get it one year for Christmas - I was probably only about 10 at the time. I can remember not wanting to play with any games for the next few days as I was busy pouring over recipes for jugged hare and mock turtle soup LOL!!

    I need to go through my files - I get Prima mag and am always pulling out recipes and rarely use any of them. I think it is time for me to be ruthless too!!!

    PS Thanks for your lovely blog comments about my Promarker use - I am still very much learning and I will find some links to some good tutorials for you but generally I always start with my lightest colour and then add in the next darkest shade and so on until I have finished with the darkest colour and then I go back over the whole lot with the lightest shade that I started with - this seems to blend it better and I really don't get on with the blender pen. Hope that makes some sense - I will try and find the tutorial that suggested going from light to dark (some tutorials have you starting with the darkest first) I think it just depends on you and what you find best - the other thing is to keep practising as well, it gets easier.

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  11. I love that you have a baking station in your kitchen :o)Well done on being ruthless, it's not easy, I know!

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  12. Oh, look at all those lovely old cookery books! Funny, the first one I had was Farmhouse Cookery - very 80's in its brown cover - and it's still sitting where I left it yesterday after using it to double check my pancake batter quantities!

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  13. I love your baking station... so very pretty as well as pracical... I'm so jealous!
    I had a sort out of my collected recipes last year - it's a tough job! It's sometimes difficult trying to be ruthless and practical when you've so many memories attached to such simple things as pages torn from magazines.

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  14. I have a large collection of cookery books too although I rarely use them these days! And somewhere in the depths of one of the packing boxes I have scattered around everywhere must have my first cook book too - I remember making lots of butterscotch and scones from it! I used to love to bake but where is the time these days? I am very happy to see that there are others out there who have huge piles of tear out recipes and pamphlets (I had a whole load from Sainsbury's from the 90s!). It's hard to get rid of them but I think you've done a great job - better than me.

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  15. What a treasure trove you have there! Bet it feels good to have that all organized. I collect recipes, but now I don't allow them to enter my recipe box until I've made them and know I want to use them again.

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  16. I have a large collection of recipe books & cards but like many others have said...I just don't find the time these days.
    Still doesn't stop me looking at all those lovely photos and drooling though LOL

    Toni xx

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  17. Well done ... my recipe books & cuttings are still on my to-do list and I'm collecting Slimming World recipes at the moment so the situation there is getting worse not better!
    Coat cupboard today!

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  18. Such a pretty baking station - but you do have to be ruthless, don't you? My sister gave me a "make your own cookbook" when I was about 13, that I have just started sticking things into - my Mum has hers; it's almost falling apart, but it still has some of my favourite recipes in ... doesn't mean that I can cook well, but at least I have a place to start from! :D

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