WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR OLD COOKING LIGHTS ?

[A Male Reader]

Ladies & Gentleman,

I have both a question and an answer. I was wondering what you all do with your old issues of Cooking Light ?

How do you organize them and what becomes of their columns and recipes ?

What I do with mine - I have been an avid reader of Cooking Light for more than 3 years. Last year I even got a subscription for my birthday ! Best present I ever got !

For as long as I can remember I have been saving their recipes and interesting articles in a regular (1") black binder. I buy plain transparent insert sleeves from Staples in a pack of about 100 for $5. Each month when I have exhausted the magazine I tear out the pages of interest (recipes/articles) and slide them into these binder bound sleeves. I place the torn pages back to back into the sleeves for maximum storage space. This way all of the pages are easily accesible and highly visible. Sometimes I mark important recipes with a yellow post it note (which pops over the top of the page a wee bit for easy retrieval in the future). When I find a recipe I want to prepare I simply pop open the binder and take out the sleeve. *The plastic sleeves protect the recipe from moisture and residue when they're lying on the kitchen counter during production !* *Friends also find it enjoyable to flip through its organized/entertaining/educational pages when they come over for a visit. Its becomes like a coffee table book with a lot of recipes (Just watch your "friends" so they don't steal any of the pages from you !) This method has proven to be a great one. I will have to start a new binder (#3 !) for storing the great recipes from the June 2001 issue !!

Any other ideas/methods/tips out there ?

[This message has been edited by A Male Reader (edited 06-06-2001).]

[hka]

Actually, I like your idea. That's great! I usually purchase the bound cookbook of all the recipes at the end of the year and end up giving my magazines away to people that don't know about Cooking Light. That's how I got one of my friends hooked and she now has a subscription. I think I might try your idea though because I end up not being able to keep articles that I like. Thanks for the tip!

[A Male Reader]

:)

[CHRIST1NE]

I have some phobia about cutting up my CL's so I actually have 2 of every issue from 98, 99, 00 and 01 (thank goodness for e-bay). I keep my "good" set in the CL binders and will sit down and read them like a novel. The duplicate copies are in a stack in my home office.

I also have a 3-ring binder with the sleeves. One is "What's for Dinner" and the other is "What's for dessert". Whenever I find a "keeper" recipe, I cut it out of the duplicate issue and add it to the appropriate binder. Like A Male Reader, my friends love to go through my binders.

I also have mastercook that I enter all the recipes into. That way I can do searches based on ingredient, shopping lists and the biggest benefit - scaling a recipe down.

It takes alot of work to keep all this going, but I must say it's my favorite hobby!

[Lynn B]

Interesting! We have discussed this type of thing on past threads, and it always amazes me to hear the suggestions/ideas of others. But one thing I know: I could NEVER EVER NO MATTER WHAT tear ANYTHING out of my CLs!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif So any way I organize MUST ALWAYS include another method! (I guess that's another QUIRK!) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
Lynn

[Jewel]

Boy, you all are so much more dedicated than I am!! I've been reading CL for about 3 years, but up until about a year ago I threw away each issue after I'd 'copied' a recipe that I really liked. I bought the Annuals from Oxmoor House (ugh) and didn't give the mags a second thought. Suddenly, here comes this BB making reference to different articles and recipes from past issues, and the only bad thing about the Annuals is that they don't contain many photos! Most of the time the recipes people are raving about are ones I'd skipped over, and I didn't have a way to go look 'em up! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif

I started purchasing the Annuals on Ebay, and now I have 1990 through 2001. No more Oxmoor House (ugh!). I started seeing 'lots' of magazines being sold on Ebay really cheap, so I picked up all of 1998, 1999 and the 2000 mags that I had tossed. I keep them in my 7' tall bookcase in my bedroom in date order, so when someone mentions a recipe and the Annual doesn't give me much more than the written word, I'll go back and look up the original to give me some more perspective. I don't think I'll ever keep more than 3 or 4 years worth at a time as long as I'm purchasing Annuals, but they're great reading on a Sunday afternoon when DH is traveling and the dogs are cuddled up next to me! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[SQ]

Originally posted by Lynn B:
[B]But one thing I know: I could NEVER EVER NO MATTER WHAT tear ANYTHING out of my CLs /B]

I couldn't agree more w/you on that, Lynn B. I save all my CLs (I even have some from the late 1980s). Years ago CL had coupons for a salad dressing I used, but I didn't use the coups b/c of my "NO CUTTING" rule!

The thing I love about saving the magazines - instead of just the recipes I like - is that down the road I see my family's tastes have changed. Some recipes I bypassed years ago are favorites now!

[Cindy Rafferty]

I'm with the no-cutters and no-throwers. This is the only magazine that I keep. I use the index when seaching for a recipe that each issue has. I refer to techniques discussed in the "Cooking Class" section when trying something new, like making pizza dough.

It's been helpful to go back and reference recipes that other readers mention. My other favorite resource is the Complete Cooking Light Cookbook.

My library has the annuals for the past five years or so, so I can borrow them there.

[Chefmom]

Oh, I am so totally anal, I too will not cut or butcher any of my magazines! This is how I keep ALL of my mags:

I buy "D" ring binders, the 2 1/2-inch size at Walmart. Then I buy the magazine holders with the pre-punched holes at Walmart. They are designed to hold magazines in binders. I print out the name of the magazine with the computer and cut to fit the side of the binder. Then just slip the magazines in the binder.

I like to re-read the mags by season. So when it's summer, I like to go back through old mags from past summers. I have colored post-its that I mark interesting pages. If I make an actual recipe, then it immediately goes into my hand written books, and I make a copy in my computer data files. Usually I read magazines and I put together recipes and ideas from many and then cook something completely different, but that is my style.

I'm thinking about the cutting up idea for Cooking Light. All other magazines fit MANY years in one binder, but I can't even get 7 issues in one of the CL, they are just too fat. Plus, I stick any other "Light" or "Low Fat" magazine I may pick up on a whim in with CL.

I don't sub or buy Cook's Illustrated, I like the years issues in the book form too much! I am thinking about checking into having some other magazines bound like that, but I fear it's expensive!!

http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Tami

[Grace]

I'm sure I'm going to sound like a broken record, but hey, he asked!

I have all my old CL's in big, red CL binders (June 1991 to the present!) That's a lot of CL's. I keep them in chronological order, but I have to say I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the idea of sorting them by month (all the Januarys together, all the Februarys together, etc). I may just change mine around to that someday, since it would be fun and inspiring to go back to all the same month's issues for ideas. I also have CookWare software and buy the monthly Cookpacs, so I also have all the recipes in my software, making searching easier, and allowing me to cook without messing up my magazines (particularly on those that get made over and over again!) I just print out the recipe I'm going to make, and then when it's all wet and smeared and splattered, I toss it. There is a favorites category in the software, so if something is really good, I put the recipe there so I remember. The software also gives the original issue and page number for each recipe, so I can refer to the magazine for pictures, the article that accompanied it, etc. (which I often do). I belong to the group that wouldn't DREAM of cutting up my CL's!!! But I keep wondering, what will I do when I have 20 years of CL's, or 30??!!!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif Buy a bigger house, I guess.... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[HedyL]

I have to admit ...i tear the recipes out that i think are interesting! then i throw out the magazine. i put all the recipes in a "to try" pocket in a loose-leaf binder. If i try a recipe and like it, I then punch holes in it and add it to my binder.

[schuh]

I'm a cutter and a dumper! HAHAHAHAHA!
On this thread I feel like some sort of a ruthless butcher!

Seriously, I just don't have the room for lots of back magazines. I'm intrigued about "male reader's" method. How many binders do you have? Three total -- or just three this year?

[jliah]

My method of organization is almost identical to A Male Reader's. At the end of each month, I pick out all the recipes I plan on making again and scan them to make copies for my binder. I stamp on the month and year so that if a friend asks for a copy, I can go get the original magazine and easily make a copy for him/her. I also use the plastic sheetcovers. I have organized my binder in the same categories as CL Magazine does (Appetizers, Poultry, etc.)

I keep my old issues right now, but I just started getting the magazine in January. So I don't know how long I'll hang on to them.

P.S. I also got my CL subscription as a birthday gift, and I agree with A Male Reader that it's my favorite gift. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[LaraW]

You are all so organized!

I do keep my CL's intact. My mother is a librarian, and she taught me that I can't cut up a magazine (it's all her fault, right!)

My current storage method is to store the magazines in magazine boxes in my closet. This, I realize, is ineffective, as I never seem to go back to find a recipe. However, I also recognize that where we currently live is temporary, and once we buy a house (later this summer) I will use my magazines that I have saved. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[SusanL]

Thank you Grace I keep all of mine in a bookcase, six years worth and still running, in tact categorized by month. I do go through each month's grouping for recipes. Lately, because of this board, I am focusing more on the current month's issue and forget about the older ones. There are more of us "anal retentive" than we would care to admit!!
I thought that hacking at the Psycho Chicken was being adventurous, I could never hack a CL magazine!!
Now, how to organize the recipes I get here is another story...

[CHRIST1NE]

I forgot to mention on my thread above, I also have the cumulative index for 96 - 00. It is a chapter in my 3-ring binders. I highlight things I've tried in green, things I want to try in blue and things that I will not repeat get scratched off. For the year 2001, I xerox the index and put it with the others. At the end of the year I will combine 2001 to the cumulative one.

I like having the cumulative index because I have all the years that go with it and if I want to try a new chicken dish, all I have to do is look through the "chicken" index for blue highlighting instead of going through a bunch of magazines trying to find something inspiring. As I mentioned, I read the big red CL binders like a novel so whenever something catches my eye I just highlight it in the index. I was actually forced to swicth to this highlighting method after realizing that I had cut out WAY to many things that I want to try - it was overwhelming.

The big index is also a great way to feel a sense of accompolishment - I can't believe how many different things I had made!!!

[olive101]

I have a question...
Since I am a new reader of Cooking Light, where can I get the recipes from old issues? I hear some of you talk about ebay, Cooking Light Cookbook, Annuals, and Master Cook. I am confused?!?

I admit that I an anal about certain things, but this thread reminds me of the movied High Fidelity! :-)

[A Male Reader]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by olive101:
[B]I have a question...
Since I am a new reader of Cooking Light, where can I get the recipes from old issues? I hear some of you talk about ebay, Cooking Light Cookbook, Annuals, and Master Cook. I am confused?!?

Ladies & Gentleman,

As an addition to the places to look for old Cooking Light recipes do not forget the recipe search engine that Cooking Light operates via its main page at www.cookinglight.com. (http://www.cookinglight.com.) Although it does not have all of their great recipes you may be surprised by the treasures you can find.