Recipe Trapper Keeper

Lesson Five


Recipe Storage
Pages 142-143


(Black Nails-Much like my current mood)



The inspiration for the lesson is once removed from the inspiration for this blog, Karli Elaine's Martha-rific Mother, SYDNEY! This past summer I took a girl's trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, to see Karli Elaine in her natural habitat. I, OF COURSE, traveled with my essential accessory, Tipper Tapper (Glossary of Terms-Tiffany Alyssa's nickname.) We left the Big Apple and went on our own version of City Slickers meets Big Love. We submerged ourselves into the culture so much so that we actually rode horses on Robert Redford's Sundance Ranch (It always go back to Hubel!) Meet Bo, Chisum, and Jug...
As if the site of an Anglo-Saxon, African American and PR/ Cuban Mutt on horses like a parade of the United Nations is not enough-I can actually top it! This trip actually centered around the realization that we all had mother's with a plethora of 'Martha Moments.' Carol Anne and Estrellita have it going on in the East Coast but Syd is representing all that is Martha in the West. This became abundantly clear when after preparing a perfect outdoor meal under the honey-suckle, Syd went into the Haglund Kitchen and plopped this epically large binder onto the counter. She furiously flipped through pages looking for her chocolate bunt cake recipe. In moments a lamented recipe sheet appeared and the sifting, measure, mixing and baking began.

Efficient! Syd's Master Recipe Binder was simply perfect. Easy to navigate, well-organized and quite frankly I wanted to shove it in my luggage on my way out. My attempt at theft was clearly thwarted by my retail purchases and inability to fit ANYTHING in my luggage (Including my Nike G-Shocks which remain in Casa de Haglund.) It was no surprise that after perusing Martha's suggestions for Recipe Storage she advises to create a three-ring binder with lamented pages and dividers organized by food category. Sound familiar? It was as if I had a cheat sheet for this lesson!



First, I needed to make a trip to Target for supplies:
1)Three-Ring Binder
2)Dividers
3)Clear Plastic Page Protectors





Organize Recipes:
Take all of your loose recipes and begin to place them into piles of categories that make the most sense to the manner in which you cook and entertain. For example, I may divide recipes in categories like, "Meals to Cook in Efforts For the Evening to End in a Lip Lock" or "Desserts that Induce Chocolate Comas."


Always Use Protection:
Each recipe will require a clear plastic page protector. For recipe cards, use photo page protectors found at your local Bullseye in the scrapbook aisle. This will keep the text safe from spills or splatters when you actually use the recipe. So smart Martha!
Here Comes the Trapper Keeper Flashback:
Remember Trapper Keepers?!? Think back to the days of sporting a Jansport Backpack using only one-strap...The Velcro closure...The fabric covers used to tag friend's names in white-out pen...Anyone? Bueller? Well you will need to become acquainted with the three-ring binder once again. Simply place your dividers into the binder and then sort your recipes into the appropriate category.
Find a Home for your Recipe Trapper Keeper:
The Recipe Trapper Keeper should be placed in an easy to access area of your kitchen. Martha reminds us not to place it in area close to the heat, humidity or steam. So inside my newly cleaned oven is NOT the recommended location but next to my fierce Ikea knives is perfect. Loving the color coordination!

• Difficulty-2 out of 5. (I am only saying 2 because I cheated. I had an A++ sample to model my modest Recipe Trapper Keeper after.)
  
• Execution-I give myself a C because I do not nearly have enough recipes and I forgot the P-Touch Maker to properly label the dividers. Not happy about that but will easily be fixed tomorrow.
  
• Fun Factor-Anyone that knows me knows that any kind of paper or stationary product is my own personal crack/heroine etc. For that reason alone I LOVED this project. I had an excuse to spend hours in the school supply area. Ahhhhh, mecca!
  

ONTO LESSON NUMBER 6!!

And next week is dedicated to Birthday Blogs!
I am turning 28 along with Jenny Bear!
Get ready for gift wrapping tips!
And a "27 Photos" montage bidding my golden birth year a fond farewell!!

In fact a bit of a sneak peak...
I received my first Birthday present of the year from, Jessica Brooke. She felt her gift was so special and my mood was so well black like my nails that it needed to be presented EARLY! I turned 27 on November 27th so it was considered my "golden birthday" what better gift for 28 than a SILVER BERGDORF'S BOX!!!

Marc Jacobs Over the Shoulder Clutch in Fall Rust!!
(Cue my theme song to life that forever makes me smile-John Travolta and internal monologues of babies-I am SOLD!)