I’ve posted this elsewhere – I copy and paste my recipes into emails sent to myself in Gmail. Then I tag them “recipes/food” with sub labels like vegetarian, healthy, low carb, etc. This way they are in the cloud and I can access recipes anywhere I need, including at the grocery store for shopping lists.
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Another happy Paprika user here. Like biondanonima above, I used Pepperplate when it was free, and abandoned it when it went subscription. Paprika’s not free, but it’s a one-time charge and importing from Pepperplate, edits and tags and all, was a snap. As others have said, Paprika does everything you ask. (I haven’t bought the desktop version, which is pretty steep to me, but while I might read recipes on my laptop, I will never be using it in the kitchen.)
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Although I’m replying here to Caitlin because I don’t know how to reply to ALL of you in one single reply, I want to tell all of you how grateful I am for your thoughtful responses. They are extremely helpful.
I’m still not sure how I will proceed, but all of you have given me much to consider. Again, my thanks.
(P.S. One realization is that I don’t want to follow a recipe from a device; I want paper. But I still need a way to store recipes–especially recipes I’ve not made yet–on line.)
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To reply to the thread as a whole, hit the blue Reply button at the very bottom of the thread (below all the responses, rather than the reply button on the last itself).
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Sounds like a 3-ring binder is the way to go. I used to create binders of tailored recipes for engaged couples. I’d get the tab dividers from Staples, and print out and/or tape smaller versions of recipes into the pages in the binders. Categories were usually something like this: Beef, Poultry, Pork, Seafood, Appetizers, Salads, Soup/Stews, Side Dishes, Vegetables, Cookies, Cakes & Pies, Desserts. Probably one or two more I can’t think of.
I’d give them the binder in a basket along with some spices and herbs, maybe some kitchen tools or dish towels.
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Most of my recipes are now in Word documents on my computer. I try to made the document titles specific enough to help search the file list, and note inside the document the date(s) I made a recipe, keeping notes of changes. I copy/save unformatted (to remove extraneous stuff, links, photos) from online recipes I intend to try, keeping the link to the original inside the file. When something is particularly good I add EXCELLENT to the file name. When something is a flop I add Dont Make to the file name. When I’ve decided to make something I print a copy and if it remains readable after cooking (often not - splash happens) it gets added to a stack that about yearly -or when a foot tall - gets sorted/catergorized and considered for upcoming meals.
When we (infrequently) travel and I might be cooking, I copy the Recipes folder to a thumb drive, or export it to my Android notebook computer, primarily used for reading ebooks.
I also subscribe to Eat Your Books, which acts as a master-index for my cookbooks, as well as for dozens of indexed magazines and links to online versions of recipes from cookbooks.
Realistically, math says that I will NEVER make all of the 5600 recipes I’ve captured in Word documents. 4 cooked meals weekly (leftovers/reheats/sandwiches for others), average 1 baked recipe weekly x 52 weeks = 260 recipes per year, so 21 years worth of ideas already and I do keep adding more.
I’ve been doing something similar for the last few years, trying to add abbreviations to the recipe title so I know what the original source was (eg. “ATK/CI”), and in the doc itself I’ll add notations to changes I’ve made and whether I liked and kept or didn’t like so I don’t repeat a mistake.
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I have about 3,000 recipes in my ‘folder’ - plus additional in a folder ‘recipes to try’
no , , , I will never every re-make them all . . .
fortunately I have no loyal/interest/whatever in looking for recipes from ATK/CI etc. I deal only with the recipe. if coming from some recognizable source, I do try to include that URL in my file top lines.
all the file names contain the ingredient/dish type - I use Everything (dot com) which searches instantly all file names for any full/partial match.
under “Recipes” I have ~190 subdirectories - Fish;Shellfish;Eggs;Beef;Pork;Stews;Cheese;Caturday . . . - etc etc etc
I prefer .txt or .rtf or .pdf files - simply because I don’t have to tap dance while MSWord loads . . . the issue often comes down to whether or not I wish to have pictures ‘included’ in the saved file - i.e. .txt files will not contain ‘images/pictures’
everyone ‘does it differently’ - but being a really old dude, I’ve seen way too many people ‘invest’ in ‘software’ which thenceforth goes belly-up and they lose everything
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Unless I was planning to write a cookbook or some such endeavor, I can’t imagine trying to preserve thousands of recipes for future use. Were they good or bad? I usually remember the failures. Some of you have more get up and go than I do.
Older recipes for which I have hard copies: 3-ring binders. I have one for mains, one for desserts, and one for everything else. Within each, colored tabs to sort (mains by protein, desserts by type, etc.)
More recent recipes: I use an app called Recipe Keeper - found it when Pepperplate went subscription, ugh. It was a one time purchase (currently $20 for iOS) and syncs across multiple devices on that platform, so I can use it on both my iPhone and iPad. I LOVE it. It can import recipes directly from a website, from photos (including screenshots), and from some social media platforms (DS sometimes sends me TikTok recipes). I can also create meal plans and grocery lists in the app. The best part is that all the tags are customizable - so I created categories for InstantPot, big batch, fast, gluten free, etc. in addition to the obvious things like cake, chicken, pasta, etc. Have I mentioned that I love this app?
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I’m learning from each reply and I’m grateful. New question (which will probably reveal the depth of my ignorance, as I am a techno-peasant): If I created a new Google email account, and created folders in that email account for recipes (such as Soups, Appetizers, Yeast Breads, etc), would that be a decent way to store recipes? Could I alphabetize within the folder so I’d see within the Cookies and Bars folder, for example, Anzac Cookies, then Brownies, then Chocolate Chip Cookie, then Date Bars, and so on? Of course, there would be the hassle of having to go into the folder, search the recipe list, click on the desired recipe, then click on the link within the recipe—unless I had pasted the recipe right into the email.. Does this sound hopelessly complicated and/or inefficient?
P.S. I have, after reading your replies, become worried about using an app. As Lectroid wrote “As others have cautioned, you can NEVER really rely on a consumer level application for long term support.”
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Somehow my school supply order became insane this year. Like who orders 10 boxes of mechanical pencils? Not me! Well I now have 15 packs of index cards that I don’t need. I’m thinking about creating an old-school recipe box!
I have an iPhone but would never use it for recipes unless there was no other option. I think what I want is this: 1) to print off and store in three ring binders recipes I’ve made and would make again; and 2) a way to store on my computer in an organized and easily accessible way the hundreds of “scattered all over, great-looking-yet-to-make” recipes I currently have in a huge stack of paper and/or stored in a mish-mash fashion in multiple places: Pinterest, on my Bookmarks Reading List, in King Arthur recipes, and several other places. If I make and love one of these “scattered all over, great-looking-yet-to-make” recipes, I would print it off and add it to my three ring binder. When I cook, I want to be using a paper recipe, not a recipe on my computer or my iPhone.
I love my Paprika! 1700 recipes to date…
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If I may add a suggestion, I use Avery PV-119 Sheet protectors for some of my recipes. Some are in my mother’s handwriting, cut from magazines, old printed out recipes (that can’t be duplicated), etc. These sheet protectors keep the recipe “safe and sound” in its original format, while allowing it to be easily added to a 3-ring binder.
I’ve also scanned some recipes (printer has a scanner feature) into a .pdf format, and backed up on my external hard drive. You could also use a thumb drive for backup.
At any point, I can plug in my external hard drive and print out a particular recipe I need.
Interesting ideas! I keep a folder of recipes ripped from magazines too. I have some printed out with a dot matrix printer! Rarely use them (or the dozens of Gourmet, Fine Cooking, Lucky Peach or other magazines), but I like having them. A binder with protectors sounds like a good project.
well, I agree not everyone is ‘computer skilled’ - so paper and binders and etc is certainly the ‘classic’ methods.
however,comma,and,all,that . . . I can find a recipe in seconds. typically before DW can find ‘the right binder.’ there are utilities that search file names, others that search the text of every file for specified words (limitations apply…)
I have a folder “Recipes to Try” - that where all the new&weird stuff goes. when I do the recipe, it’s either kept - and moved to the appropriate folder - or deleted. stuff that turns out well, I often ‘rewrite’ into a sequence which works ‘more better’ for me.
I have a scanner, so I can scan printed stuff into an electronic file (pdf or jpg ot “text” via OCR).
and if you don’t have a scanner, take a picture with the smart phone and transfer it to your computer.
I have a screen clipper - produces files I can save.
we also have 5-6 3x5 index card files/boxes with recipes from grandparents, parents, family, etc . . .
a number of which I have scanned and computer filed, because . . . it takes a long time to go searching all those boxes, , , , and if it is not properly ‘re-filed’ - it’s a days-long-search.
so, this is not a problem/issue where a simple one-fits-all ‘solution’ is going to work…
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I added a category (tag) to Recipe Keeper called BAD! DO NOT MAKE AGAIN!!! 
this was after a fool-me-twice mistake with something a while back…I’d made it once, hated, deleted, forgot, and saved and made it again. Not doing that a third time!!
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I hate it when I do that!
