 
Great recipes can transform any cook into a five-star chef, and make an everyday meal a special occasion. Get your recipe collection organized with this easy and effective idea. Chances are you'll be delighting in the joys of cooking your favourites more often.
The School of Organization
There's a good reason why many of the most popular cookbooks use a three ring binder format. The traditional grade school organizer works perfectly for arranging your recipes in an easy-to-find fashion, too. A three ring binder enables you to organize your recipes in the way that suits you, and change it later if you decide that a different way works better.
Recipes in a three ring binder are easy to remove and take to the grocery store or carry around in the kitchen. They're also easy to copy if they become tattered or splattered while cooking or if you simply want to share them with a friend.
Create Your Own Cookbook
Purchase a three ring binder and section tabs in a size that suits you and start building your own cookbook. Gather up the recipes that you've torn out of magazines, received from family members, scribbled on notepads, etc. and arrange them on the sticky photo pages usually used in photo albums. You can easily remove your recipes if you want to make copies for friends.
For those treasures you don't want to copy, like grandmother's handwritten pumpkin pie recipe, purchase a few clear sleeves that you can place at the back of your binder. That way, they still can be part of your new cookbook but you get the enjoyment of using the "original" recipe.
Keep extra sleeves handy to insert new recipes into your binder. Try to set aside a time every month or so to copy and incorporate those new recipes into your cookbook so it doesn't get to be a big job that's easy to put off. Your cookbook, like your car, will operate more smoothly with regular maintenance.
Settle on Sections
The biggest decision you'll have to make about your custom cookbook is how you'll divide your recipes. Obvious choices are sections for entrees, vegetables/side dishes, salads, soups, desserts, appetizers, and drinks. Within those sections, however, you may want to sub-divide recipes for easier reference, such as dividing the entrees section into meats, seafood, pasta, etc.
Less obvious section choices might add efficiency. For example, a Favourites section for all those recipes you use frequently might be handy. Other sections like Thanksgiving, Holiday Treats and New Year's Eve Party can be used to clump all the recipes you typically make on a specific special occasion. The beauty of the three-ring binder/copier cookbook system is that it's easy to include recipes in more than one section. So, go ahead and keep that spinach and artichoke dip recipe in the appetizers and New Year's Eve sections if you want. You're making the rules; you decide what works for you.
Using a three ring binder to organize your recipes also makes it easy to create a thoughtful cookbook gift. Purchase a binder that has a clear plastic sleeve on the front cover that allows you to insert a photo into the sleeve. Use your photo software and colour printer to create a custom photo for the cover of your gift cookbook. Then, select your favourite recipes, get them copied and create a theme for your gift by using special paper, handwritten notes and even photos of special moments you've shared with the lucky recipient. Lastly, don't forget to include some of the fantastic recipes you've found at Home Made Simple!
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