We made it! I like the feeling of accomplishment and the satisfaction completion has.
A couple of other items people have in their homes that they would like to get in control of are recipes and owners manuals. Mr. Wonderful collects owners manuals. I am a massive collector of recipes and cook books. Which is quite ironic because I am sugar-free, gluten-free and I have mostly baking books. About chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. It's all about the chocolate. mmmmmmm. But I digress.
You'll need to decide if you are going digital (and avoid all those little, torn, worn, lost, grease splattered, space hogging paper recipes and cookbooks) or if you will maintain cook books and clippings. Or maybe a combination? Say perhaps to scan in all your paper recipes and keep only your very favorite cookbooks. That might be a happy medium. Either way, the system you use is the same.
1. Gather everything together
2. Put likes with likes
3. Purge, baby, purge!
4. Find the proper storage solution
5. Invite me over for dinner
Ok, maybe that last one is wishful thinking. But, hey, you could invite someone over and cook for them. Isn't that the goal of recipes and cookbooks? To actually cook? Truthfully, I like to read them as books as well. Especially the ones from Cook's Illustrated. This one is my favorite:
The Banana Bread recipe on page 685 is the best. And of course, I put mini chocolate chips in it. Oh, and it's really good if you slice off a hunk, put it in the toaster, then slather it with butter when it pops up. But I digress.
As for those manuals, you really could go paperless because everything is online nowadays. But, if you must keep them, follow the steps above and keep only the manuals you actually have the products of in your home. Discard anything you no longer have. You can sort them alphabetically by maker (Frigidaire, John Deere), alphabetically by item (lawn mower, refrigerator), or by type (appliances, tools). When you think of the item and what you would automatically look for it under, that's where to file it.
To celebrate your victory over the paper piles (and boxes), enjoy a breakfast of Light and Fluffy Pancakes (recipe on page 648) or treat yourself to the Seven-Layer Bars on page 815.
Blessings,
Melissa