IN THE KITCHEN: Organizing recipes can challenge cooks

By Faith Bahadurian Special Writer
   When it comes to my recipe clippings, I am organizationally challenged. I use my oversize collection as a source of inspiration on putting together ingredients or flavor combinations, so I clip just about anything that sounds interesting, even if I may not plan to make that specific dish.
   When I got my first apartment, my mother typed up some family recipes on 3×5 index cards for me, which I still treasure. I added my own recipes and friends’ contributions, and after a few years the little file box was overflowing.
   So I purchased a three-ring binder offered by “Bon Appétit” magazine with plastic-covered graph paper sheets to slip recipes into and places to write down the sources of your favorite recipes, which was handy since by then I had many cookbooks and often forgot where a fondly recalled recipe came from.
   Eventually that binder became several 3-inch binders, as I added my own pages with storage pockets along with index tabs for the different categories. But when I could not keep up with the constant filing, I threw out the binders and just kept the pages and pockets in a big empty box. Over the years, I tossed hundreds of recipe clippings in there, and just rummaged around when I needed to find something. Needless to say, it got to the point where it was too much trouble to look for anything.
   Recently, I decided that I had to solve this problem, since I wanted to unearth a short rib recipe that Jim Weaver (chef/owner of Tre Piani and, soon, Tre Bar) had cooked in a class I attended so long ago that not even Jim remembered the dish.
   I asked my “In the Kitchen” colleague Pat Tanner how she keeps track, and her story in many ways reflects my own, of trying different systems over the years, including various specialized albums and binders, that all fell by the wayside eventually.
   But Pat has kept up on this far better than I have, and she is clearly much choosier about what she saves. She tells me, “It’s a black plastic box with a fold-down handle that holds hanging folders (for letter size files). I filled it with hanging folders with the following tabs: Beef, Other Meats, Poultry, Seafood, Vegetarian, Starters/Soups, Salads/Sides, Dessert & Baking, Tea Party/Beverages, and Holidays. As you can see, the headings are quirky and reflect my personal inclinations.” She adds, “I also have a manila folder labeled ‘Must Try Recipes.’ I occasionally go through it, tossing out some, trying others. The great ones make it into my black box.”
   So I recently went to Staples and came away with an 11-1/2-inch-long 4×6-inch card file box ($10.79) for any recipes on index cards and miscellaneous small clippings. For the bulk of my clippings, however, which include whole articles and sometimes pamphlets from food producers, I bought something similar to what Pat has. Mine is a fixed-bottom accordion file (legal size, with a nice ferny print, $12.99) that clasps shut and has a metal handle on the top. When you open the clasp, the top expands so you can reach in to peruse or remove items. The box has 19 tab-top pockets, and once I am sure of the categories I want to use, I will make stick-on labels for the tabs.
   Once I started sorting, I quickly realized that even though I was tossing maybe a quarter of what I had saved over the years, I would soon outgrow the one file box. So now I have two, and some of my categories, such as Mexican/Southwestern or Pasta/Polenta/Risotto, will require at least two pockets.
   There are many ideas and options available online, too. Search amazon.com for “recipe organizers” and you will find albums, notebooks, card boxes, and software. Other sites with good selections include MeadowsweetKitchens.com and Organize-everything.com.
   Software programs seem to come with thousands of recipes; you may not need them, but if you like the ease of scaling quantities up or down and automatically creating a printed menu or shopping list, you might consider such a program to supplement your paper clippings.
   If Southern cuisine is your thing, The Junior League of Charleston will soon release the “Charleston Receipts Album.” This binder system, which includes popular recipes from their series of well-regarded cookbooks, has empty plastic sleeve pages and blank recipe cards, and you can add on by ordering refills or a new album as your collection grows (see www.jlcharleston.org in mid-November).
   Also, as we go into holidays, why not consider making up a family cookbook, so treasured recipes can be passed along? You could scan in your original recipe cards or old clippings (scanners are surprisingly inexpensive now), then add a few words about the recipe’s significance or preparation. Once you have created the pages, put them on a CD and take them to be copied and bound at a local copy center, maybe using spiral binding and protective plastic covers. Plan to make a sample for the copy center to use as a guide, to be sure your pages end up in the intended order.
   There are lots of tips and resources online for this kind of project, including sites like www.about.com , www.creatinganheirloom.com, and, on the Microsoft Web site, a surprisingly good guide at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/homeusers/articles/recipebook.mspx.
   And those short ribs? I finally found the notes almost halfway down the box, from January 1999. Seared short ribs are combined in an ovenproof casserole with sautéed onion, red wine, chopped dates, honey, and toasted, crushed coriander seeds. Bake it all for 1 1/2-2 hours at 350 degrees and serve with polenta made with buttermilk and sage.
‘Check Out Hunger’
   Beginning Sunday and running through Dec. 15, customers at Wegmans Food Markets will have the opportunity to help fight hunger in the Garden State by supporting the supermarket’s annual “Check Out Hunger” campaign. Customers will be able to donate $2, $3 or $5 at checkout, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Mercer Street Friends Food Bank in Trenton and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.
   In fall 2006, the family of seven Wegmans Food Markets in New Jersey raised $209,726 during “Check Out Hunger.” The 70-store, family-owned supermarket chain has participated in “Check Out Hunger” and other hunger relief programs since 1993, raising more than $7 million for emergency food services.
   Locally, Wegmans is located at 240 Nassau Park Blvd., West Windsor.