My Recipe File - Part II - Organization

My recipe file is organized in a way that I have found makes the most sense for me - mostly in the order of the courses served at a meal; ie, the order in which foods should be eaten for maximum enjoyment.

This portion of my file begins with Amuses Bouches (little tidbits served before a meal to stimulate the palette), moves on to Opening Courses, then to Soups, to Pasta, and to Vegetables, followed by Fish, then Poultry, then Meat (since in a large traditional meal, these might all be eaten, and this is the order that is gastronomically logical - both physically and psychologically.)

I originally learned about the order of courses in a traditional meal when I was in fifth grade, in beginning French class, and I have never forgotten it, surely because this lesson spoke to my gastronomical soul.

Even at the tender age of 11 years old, I understood how important it was, also, to drink the correct beverage with each course. In this picture from my old textbook, by Mauger, the various wines are illustrated according to bottle shape - something every 11 year old needs to know! At a young age, the die was cast, and I would forever be enamored with the French sense of organization a table.

The desserts section of my file, has lots of subdivisions, as I love patisserie. I have separate categories for Christmas (huge in my family's culinary annals); Valentines Day, Easter & Tea Parties; what to serve at Weddings, etc. This way, I can find always what I need in no time.

Sometimes, I just spend an hour or so looking through these files, getting fresh ideas and tweaking my memory of forgotten recipes and pictures. It's like reading a book on decorating. After time, I have new ways of looking at and thinking about old ideas, so that even something I've seen several times before becomes suddenly new and interesting. Going through my files is a great way to stir up my brain and get my creativity flowing.

My Recipe File - Part I - A Lifetime Collection of Memories

My recipe file contains years worth of food stained recipes I've collected from various cooking classes over the years, as well as restaurants I've worked in, magazine clippings, and best of all - treasured recipes handwritten by my mother, father, sisters, cousins, aunts, a great aunt, my husband, my brother's girlfriend who later became his wife, and various other family and friends, some of whom are no longer living. Every time I see any of these, it brings back memories of the person and situation it came from. Although I never intended it as such, this is my treasure trove!

A divine recipe from the first person who taught me to cook - my mom - in her handwriting.

My dad's Mediterranean Sour Dough Bread, in his handwriting.

Plating instructions with wine pairings, written by my husband, before a dinner party we gave, years ago.

Soup recipe written by a dear friend.

Dip instructions written by another dear friend.

Recipe given to me by my sister-in-law, before she married my brother. (It has her maiden name).

A recipe from one of my aunts, copied out in my sister's handwriting.

From another aunt, in my college handwriting.

A recipe from my dad's mother. My mom's mother was also a great cook, but she did everything from memory - never wrote her recipes down.

My mom's Florentine Cookie recipe, which I copied in grade school. I think I had just learned cursive handwriting!

I wrote out this recipe of my mom's, when I was in high school.

My great-grandmother's Blueberry Cake recipe, written for me by my great aunt (her daughter), when she was in her 80's.

Brownie recipes from a neighbor, my 7th grade home economics teacher (the purple mimeographed one), and the wife of our neighborhood grocer.

Menu and plating ideas from a class with Lydia Shire.