Organise your Recipes on Computer

By: Jill - [self]

Organise your Recipes on computer

With so many great recipes in magazines, newspapers and on the Internet, here is a simple way to keep them all organised in your own recipe collection library.

In Microsoft Word open "New Word Document" or equivalent on a Macintosh computer system.

Type in the title of your document.

My Personal Recipe Book

Jane's Recipe Book

Smith Family Cookbook

Under your title type in the category headings, one per Line, for each section required.

Meat Chicken Fish Egg Dishes Snacks Savouries Cakes Desserts Soups

And any relevant headings in the order you would like to have them appear.

Next: On your toolbar, go to the box that says "Normal".

Highlight each category, and click on style "Heading 1" from the drop down menu box to format the text.

When you see a recipe on the Internet that you can use, highlight it, go to "copy" then "paste" it into your document in the appropriate category.

Next highlight the recipe (e.g. Chocolate cookies) then using the style box again, make it "Heading 2".

Then go to "Insert" on your top bar and select "Index and Tables" then insert "Table of Contents".

Your recipe categories will now appear as chapter headings and the name of the recipe appears as a section within the chapter.

The page numbers in the table of contents are hyper-linked.

To go to a particular section or recipe click on the page number with your left mouse button.

Over time you will end up with a very large document full of recipe ideas for you to try. Just be sure to back up your data every so often.

What about Magazine and Newspaper Clippings?

Magazine and newspaper clippings can be scanned into the appropriate category of your recipe database or manually typed in.

It takes a little time to put them onto computer a few at a time but it is well worth the effort.

Hint: Put the recipes you use all the time at the beginning of each category. This makes them quick to locate.

You will end up with a very professional looking cookbook that can be printed out and kept tidily in a ringed binder or easily accessible from your kitchen laptop.

If you don't have a scanner, or laptop in the kitchen, on a blank piece of A4 photocopy paper paste your recipes - in category groupings - and place in A4 clear plastic sleeves designed for use in ring binders. Insert the sleeves into the relevant section.

Note: A4 is a common paper size in New Zealand. Use the common sizing relevant to your country.

Your recipe book is a wonderful gift to give your children when they leave home. They can keep a copy on their computer or make them a special printed version of their own.

Jill is the editor of "Simply Home Life" a free weekly lifestyle publication for women living and working from home offering a range of ideas for taking control and creating the personal, home and professional life they desire. For more articles and ideas visit: http://www.netwrite-publish.com To subscribe mailto:SimplyHomeLife-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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