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Child's Gift Inspires Organization For Recipe Collection

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

I clip recipes from magazines. Since my early 20s, it has been my lifework, and it used to be a messy business. I accumulated scads of them oozing from file folders and tucked inside cookbooks. The thought of organizing them sent me into a whinnying panic.

Who would have thought the gift of a 10-year-old would inadvertently untangle my collection of recipes plucked from the magazine pages of Southern Living and Better Homes and Gardens.

The child was my daughter Leslie, when she was in the fifth grade. She clipped recipes from magazines and glued them onto 4- by 6-inch index cards. Embellishing the recipe cards with drawings and stickers, she then inserted the cards inside a small, inexpensive photo album - the kind you find at the dollar stores. I got a kick out of the assortment of recipes she had so thoughtfully chosen, which included Microwave Chocolate Fudge, White Chocolate Salties, and Creamy Baked Cheesecake. That's my girl!

Her sweet (pardon the pun) gift inspired me to get organized.

I sorted through my stashes of snipped recipes, eighty-sixing the rejects and incorporating the good ones into my daughter's novel recipe album.

Almost 20 years later, I have outgrown her little recipe holder, twice expanding and transferring favorites from her original collection to progressively larger, similar albums. The divided photo pages work wonderfully because the recipe card is protected by a clear plastic sleeve and is easily accessible. As a reminder of her childhood gift - and because I'm a sentimental packrat - I transferred the handwritten note that accompanied her gift to the inside cover of my current recipe album.

It reads, 'Mommy, Merry Christmas. Hope you enjoy your recipe book. Love, Leslie.'

I'm sure neither she nor I realized what a lasting impression her simple homemade gift would make.

A three-ring binder, a box of plastic sheet protectors and a set of dividers with tabs can also solve your scattered-recipe dilemma. Simply slide your recipes into each sheet and categorize them by dish type. If you purchase a binder with pockets, store the clipped recipes you want to try in them before covering them in plastic.

Computers also have made organizing recipes almost effortless. Several of the more popular recipe-management software programs are Cook'n with Betty Crocker, Living Cookbook and MasterCook. Designed to manage your recipes, you also have access to tons of others. Most of the programs allow you to search for recipes by ingredient. They also will create a shopping list.

If only it could tackle the heaps of newspapers and cookbooks that blanket my dining room table!

TAFFY APPLE DIP

This recipe was a keeper among those Leslie clipped from who knows where. It tastes like a caramel apple without the stick.

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

6 apples, cut into wedges

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth. Place in a small serving bowl; top with nuts. Serve with apple wedges. Makes six servings.

Lynn Kessel can be reached at lkessel@mac.com or P.O. Box 286, Ruskin FL 33575-0286.

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