Organizing recipes in the development stage

[TPO]

Hi Sara,

Once cooks go from diligently following printed recipes to experimenting and developing their own, they usually need a way to organize these creations. I've tried keeping recipes in word processing documents in various folders, in software such as MasterCook, and in three-ring binders. While any one of these methods is adequate, none have been ideal. Do you have any tricks of the trade for organizing recipes and notes (as well as comments from tasters) while in the development stage?

Thank you for being here this week!

[Sara Moulton]

Tammy,

I don't have the answer to this one. When we were developing recipes for my cookbook I started by writing what I thought it would be in the computer. We would print it out, make the recipe, make all sorts of notes on the hard copy and then input the changes in the computer and start all over with the revised copy.

We kept all hard copy incarnations stapled together in the order in which we made them. Although a very good system for keeping track of the evolution of a recipe, this system generated alot of paper. Not ideal.

Maybe you could set up a file cabinet dedicated to just recipes or a drawer and then set up the system by categories - poultry, starches, etc. ?