The Binders...

I started telling you about my recipe dilemma yesterday. It all began around the time we got married. My grandmother had given me a pre-made recipe notebook that she bought. It was red and white checked with apples or something fun and country like that on it. It had matching dividers that had pockets labeled appetizer, soup/salad, side dishes, desserts, miscellaneous. She added some of her own recipes in there to get my collection started. It was one of my favorite wedding gifts seeing how I had no idea what to do in the kitchen prior to getting married.... poor D. As I waded deeper into the waters of cooking, I began researching recipes and getting them from others. My recipe notebook that my granny gave me was now literally ripping at the seams because I was trying to cram so many recipes into each section.

That led me to....

Two summers ago I was in project mode. One of my projects was to organize all those dang recipes. So... I drug Jules and sister in on my project. We went to target and picked out cute binders, sheet protectors, and dividers.

You can see the original one granny gave me at the top of the picture. Isn't it cute and country looking?

We collected all our recipes and basically threw everything in the middle of our office floor. We each went through our recipes to see if they were worth keeping and/or sharing, we made copies, cleaned out, and then organized them into our binders and WHOLA.... we now have neat, organized ways to easily find our recipes... and now they will no longer have smugdes all over them from my very tidy (cough) way of cooking. Seriously... I have a problem. I make a mess when I cook or bake. Now it doesn't matter... my recipes are protected by the sheet protectors.

Now some of you may be geniuses and thought of this a long time ago.... for which I'll try not to hate you for not sharing your knowledge with me. I can't take credit for this idea. My cousin Leah does this and I saw how well it worked for her. Thanks Leah!

So... there you have it. My recipe binder story. The end.