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 answers 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, 2009

DietMinder Personal Food & Fitness Journal (A Food and Exercise Diary)
posted by netbros at 3:54 PM on August 9, 2009

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, 2009

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, 2009

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, 2009

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, 2009

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, 2009