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A personal recipe binder can be a tried and true friend in any kitchen.
1. Make room for the new.
First, weed out old recipes that you don't ever plan on making, are no longer of interest to you, or that you've tried before and didn't enjoy.
2. Get the proper supplies.
- 1 one and a half inch, 3-ring, D-ring binder--the type that holds standard letter paper
- 10 plastic, 3-holed punched pocket folders
- Approximately 100 sheets of white or other light colored paper
- Removable labels
3. Set up your categories.
Label the pocket folders with categories you normally use such as Appetizer, Main Dish, Soup, Salad, Dessert and so on.
4. Compile it.
Begin compiling your Personal Recipe Binder by inserting your pocket folders. Then, in between each pocket folder, insert approximately 10 sheets of paper in the rings.
In other words, you'll have a pocket folder, then 10 sheets of paper, then a pocket folder, then 10 sheets of paper, etc.
5. Organize your 'Maybe' recipes.
Insert recipes you've never tried before, but plan on making, in the appropriate pocket folder. If it's a Main Dish, put it in that folder. If it's a Dessert, put it in that folder, and so on. It is recommended that you keep no more than 10-15 unattempted recipes in each category, this way your binder doesn't end up cluttered.
6. Organize your 'Tried and True' recipes.
Use the papers you've inserted behind the categories to store the recipes you have made in the past, and plan to make again. You can either hand write each recipe on the pages, or you can type up your recipe. Or, you can simply cut a recipe out of a magazine and tape it on one of these sheets. If you have a photo of a recipe, just tape it right on the same page.
7. Get fancy.
Later on, you may get really fancy and consider tabbing pages you especially like, or adding your own index to the front of your Personal Recipe Binder.
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