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Despite the fact that I love cookbooks and continue to acquire them at an alarming pace, I don't actually use them much (beyond the pleasure of leafing through them). More often than not, when I'm looking for a recipe, I turn to the internet. After I've found three or four serviceable recipes, I'll cobble together something that most closely approximates the thing I've got in my head.
It's a method that works, but sometimes, I find myself longing for the pre-internet days, when people kept a couple core cookbooks and continually tweaked the recipes, noting their changes in the margins. I fear that the days of much-loved cookbooks (like my mom's Joy of Cooking that is pictured above) are nearly gone and the cooks of my generation won't have a tangible reference at the end of their cooking days.
I especially regret this change because of the pleasure that can be gotten from consulting a trusted cookbook. When it came time to make the cornbread stuffing for Christmas dinner this year, I used the Quick Cornbread recipe from the book above. After the stuffing was completed and dinner was a pleasant memory, I returned to the cookbook to make a note that for the future, the cornbread could use some additional salt if it was going to be part of stuffing (I also added a little herbs? to remind myself that adding some chopped rosemary or sage to the batter would also be a nice thing). It's a comforting thing to know that I've left all who consult that Joy a little helpful cornbread stuffing info.
How do the rest of you document your cooking successes and recipe adaptations?
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12-30-2008 @10:07AM Dana said... I use my LiveJournal to document recipes I have tried and what I did to them, creating new entries as I further tweak standards. My friends enjoy the recipes and ideas, and it also gets me feedback from others who have experiences with various cooking techniques/foods so I can add them to my next try.
I backup those entries like mad, just in case....
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12-30-2008 @11:30AM kweenkmatt said... I love my internet recipes. Here's how I make them more tangible.
I copy and paste the text from the website into a .txt file that goes in a special folder. Then as I make the food, I will scribble notes and additions on the print out. Then I go back and update the .txt file with how I did it, along with any useful notes from when I made it.
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12-30-2008 @1:40PM Biscuit Butcher said... What I like to do is find the recipes on the internet and then as I make them I add little comments on the recipe printout. After I am done, I review the recipe and if I deem it a good enough one, I enter it into a big notebook I keep as my own personal cookbook, usually adding photos as well so that I know what to look for the next time.
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12-30-2008 @2:53PM Sally said... I do much the same as Biscuit Butcher -- sans the photos. I even type and print favorite recipes from cookbooks and put them in my notebook. If it's a keeper, it's in the notebook.
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12-30-2008 @3:25PM LizAndrsn said... My cookbooks and computer are almost next to eachother; if the books don't have it, the Internet will. I'll copy off a 'Net recipe to make notes, then put them in a binder for future use.
I suspect cook books are going the way of the homemaker and home cook. Sad, but true.
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12-30-2008 @9:24PM Lady Bear said... I've started keeping a computer file. I copy recipes from the net or enter thelm from a cookbook when I make them. I will then add my notes and pertinent comments from reviewers. This helps me assess changes to make to the recipe. Tonight I'm working on Molten Lava cakes. The first was a liquid disaster!
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12-30-2008 @8:22PM RJ said... I have 200+ cookbooks. I cannot bear to write in them so I have a recipe journal where I write down what recipe from what source and comments and a rating. :-) I hope to pass this down to my kids.
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12-31-2008 @12:10AM rainbowgem said... I create a doc file where I list all the recipes that interest me in that genre. Then I make my own version of the recipe, writing it at the top of the list. Then I upload the recipe to google docs so I have a version of it online and can access from any computer that has an internet connection. MmmmMmmm.
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12-31-2008 @7:19AM Sally said... I disagree with LizAndrsn -- I don't think cookbooks will go the way of the homemaker and home cook. Given the current economy and other influences, I think we'll see a rise in home cooking. It's better for our wallets and our health. I don't think it will be complicated, gourmet cooking though. Just simple home cooking with real ingredients.
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12-31-2008 @2:37PM stacey said... I print out internet recipes and keep them in a binder, making notes on the paper. I also have a notebook of notes about recipes in my cookbooks. Due to a childhood & young adulthood spent almost entirely with library books I have a fear of writing in books, even if they are mine. I have gone so far as to underline the recipe if I have notes about it but I can't bring myself to actually write anything.
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1-02-2009 @10:15PM natashaball said... I have a blog where I keep recipe notes in a sort of test kitchen format. I have several friends who do the same thing. mylifeastoldbyfood.blogspot.com is mine; havesporkwilltravel.blogspot.com is my favorite among my friends'. Trading recipes via blogging is useful, too, and is also a lot of fun.
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1-04-2009 @11:30AM wez said... Firstly I should say there gems out there but there are some real dog's breakfast recipes on the internet.
Some just stink.
I either save them in my recipes folder as a html file or convert them to .doc.
The thing I like about a computer for cooking is the ability to generate a copy of the recipe through the printer than can be spilled on, burnt, ripped and consumed by the family pet yet it doesnt affect the orig.. I scan those recipes out of books for the same reason.
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