Alice 42 posts Jan 14, 2010 12:19 PM	I'd love to hear how people organise their recipes! I have a lot stored on my computer but when I want to use one, I want a printed copy. If I can't find a printed copy easily, I print out another one - and then feel bad about the waste of paper and ink. Even those on my computer aren't organised, they're just all in one big 'recipes' folder. Any suggestions?!
Bryanna Owner/Moderator 2688 posts Jan 14, 2010 12:45 PM	I have the same problem, Alice! A little while ago I gathered up all my printed recipes and sifted through them, got rid of duplicates and placed them in binders according to course (main dish, dessert, sides, soups, etc.). This is better, but I still have to alphabetize them or something! On the computer, I have many document folders and have my recipes organized in those. I use Copernic Desktop Search to index my computer files-- it saves alot of time!! You can either download the free Copernic Desktop Search http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/download.html (more about it here), http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/index.html or you can use Windows Indexing (I'm totally ignorant about Mac, but I believe that MacSpinner or Spotlight indexes and searches). I think that Copernic is the easiest and most reliable, because it automatically indexes everything (you just tell it which kind of files you want indexed-- dics, music, videos, photos, etc.) on all drives. (Google Desktop Search is also free and sounds similar, but I have not tried it.) I think Copernic does a better job of searching than Windows, and I'll tell you why: Using the search term "bakery-style" (as in the example I use below), I knew that I had a recipe for muffins with that term in the title in two folders. However, the Windows search consistently only showed one folder and Copernic showed both. When I just used the word "muffins", they both showed up in Windows search. Another example: I searched for the term "soy and seitan" (which is in the title of many of my seitan roasts and cutlets). Windows came up with 10 hits, Copernic with 19. To search Vegan Feast in Copernic Desktop Search, you can specify the type of file you want to search for (html or pdf, for instance), or just have it search all types. Then, under the last box on the left, marked "folder", you can click "browse" and specify your folder. Then type in your search word or phrase and search. (In Copernic, place phrases within quotation marks, even words with a hyphen between them!-- but they have to be the RIGHT sequence. For instance, if you were looking for the bakery-style muffin recipe, "bakery-style muffin" won't get you to the right recipe because the actual recipe name is "Big Bakery-Style Low-fat Vegan Muffins". It's better to go with simply "bakery-style" [within quotation marks], which will bring up only two files.) However, if you don't want to use Copernic, you can use Windows Indexing. Now, I have Windows XP, and it might be different for other versions, but here is what I've discovered: INDEXING: Go into "My documents". You have to right-click on the folders you want to have indexed, and click "Properties". (NOTE: You can highlight all or some of the folders all at once and do them together-- you don't have to do each one at a time.) When the Properties box comes up, in "General", make sure that the "Read Only" and "hidden" check boxes are NOT checked, and click "Advanced" (down on the lower-middle right). Now, in the "Advanced Attributes" box that comes up, make sure to click the boxes that say "Folder is ready for Archiving" and "For fast Searching, allow Indexing service to index this folder". Click "OK", the "Apply". Another box might come up asking if you want hidden and sub-folders searched-- click that one or say "Yes", then OK again. Make sure that your PDF files are indexed, too. Do this in D drive as well as C, if you have some material stashed there that you want indexed. To search in Windows, click on "Start" at the bottom left-hand side of your screen an click on "Search". Click on "all files and folders" and then click on "More Advanced Options". Type in the box that says "a word or phrase in the file"-- we'll say bakery-style again (in Windows you don't have to use quotation marks IF the words are hyphenated). Then, in the "Look in" box, click the drop-down menu and choose "browse". Choose your folder to look in, if you know it, then search. Good luck!
LLLove Mom 5 posts Feb 21, 2010 8:00 PM	Alice Bryanna is way ahead of me in searching - I just use the little happy dog on Windows and put in "a word in the file" and search. BUT I do have my files sorted in folders. You need to create subfolders, just as you would have created your basic folder. Then when you pull up recipes you will have subfolders of breakfast, sandwiches, soy, soups or whatever. (I even have one that is "bryanna" so I know where to find her things.) If you have a recipe that fits in soy and sandwiches, or baked goods and desserts, you just pull up the recipe, save it to soy, then with your recipe still up, save it to sandwiches. Then when I get ready to make it, I print it, put it in a three ring binder behind a tabbed file -- the multicolor 8 tab ones we used in school that you put the little slips in with the label - only now we get to put in sandwich spread or dessert instead of algebra and history. I too just went through and worked on my notebook, because when I run across something in the newspaper that I find interesting and think I might want to veganize, I throw it in the notebook. But then I had all these loose scraps of newsprint, so I got some scrap printer paper - where I had printed off something for my mom or such and no longer needed it, taped it down and punched three holes in the paper and stuck it in the notebook. It is quite nice to pick up my binder without all kinds of things falling out. It will not be a short term project if you are seriously collecting recipes, but it will make it easier. Last Edited on 21-Feb-2010 8:02 PM
Rio 12 posts Feb 22, 2010 6:46 AM	I do the same. And just like with my closet, I occasionally go through the binder and discard the recipes I've had for a while and never used. That being said, I still have a pile of printed recipes that I want to put in the binder and have not done yet. Every time I'm looking for a specific recipe I have to go through a 2 inch thick pile of paper to search. My other problem is that I take the recipe to the kitchen when I make it, then put it somewhere (on top of the fridge perhaps) to file later. Sometimes that never happens. I have recipes laying around in various places. I started a memory stick with all my recipes not on paper but luckily I don't have a printer at home so I have to scribble it on a piece of scrap paper or bring the laptop to the kitchen.