Cooking Diary?

August 9, 2009 3:04 PM

Where can I buy a notebook/journal intended to let me record the meals I cook?

I'm looking for not only something to hold recipes, but something where I could also put the date and my opinion of the recipe. In essence, it'd be like a cooking diary. Does such a thing exist?

posted by Maia to food & drink (7 comments total)

A normal diary? Why couldn't you record your opinion in a regular diary?
posted by fire&wings at 3:12 PM on August 9

DietMinder Personal Food & Fitness Journal (A Food and Exercise Diary)
posted by netbros at 3:54 PM on August 9

I have a recipe system that I'm quite fond of: I have a plain 1 inch binder and about 50 clear sheet protectors that fit standard 8.5 x 11 paper. When I get a new recipe (from a cookbook, friend, website, whatever) I type and print it in the format I'm fond of, and stick it into a protector. For kitchen use, I can tape the recipe anywhere without worrying about it getting dirty (you can wipe pretty much anything off of those protectors), and when I'm done I take out the recipe and make notes in pen. At the end of the day the recipe goes back into the binder, and everything is in one central location.

What I like about this system is that: a) by typing the recipes up I have back ups on my computer in case I want to make changes or if I somehow lose/damage a recipe, b) I can take out individual recipes for kitchen use without having to bring in a whole book, and c) I can continually reorganize the order of the recipes themselves (I fill the protector sheets back and front so that the binder reads more like a cookbook).

Of course you could include dates and have a place for opinions as well. I promise that this might sound like a lot of work, but once you get going it's actually rather easy. And no more loose scraps of paper or lost recipes!
posted by farishta at 3:59 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

Amazon (UK, US) has quite a few potential candidates, although none of the ones I clicked on had any detail about the layout/contents of the actual pages.
posted by peanut butter milkshake at 4:14 PM on August 9

Why not put recipes on 4x6 cards and write notes on the back? Then you can sort by food type and not by date.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 4:19 PM on August 9

Thanks guys, I think I'm going to get this journal from Amazon.

(The reason I don't just use a plain journal is because it's a gift)
posted by Maia at 4:31 PM on August 9

OP, not sure why you needed the hive mind, but that's a great little journal, I think I'll get one myself. Thanks for the link!
posted by nax at 6:28 AM on August 10