Retro Kitchen: Let's Organize Our Recipes

Inspiration for cooking can come from anywhere. The back of a can of diced tomatoes or black beans. In a newspaper. In a magazine. In a direct mailer. Or online.

The women in my family - gram, mom, and aunt - collect their recipes on 3x5.25 index cards and keep them neatly organized in metal recipe boxes. 

Images courtesy of The Aviary $11 and Plaid Pony Vintage, $12

I'm less organized than they are. I have clipped recipes from magazines and newspapers and filed them in envelopes or manila folders. I have more stuck haphazardly into the pages of an old photo album. (I did start out in with my recipes in a metal recipe box. I stashed it in a storage unit when I was in between apartment leases, and unfortunately when the storage unit was robbed I lost it.) Electronic recipes are scattered across various inboxes and more recently here on this blog.  

How do you organize your found (and created) recipes?

I'm fascinated by what people chose to clip as well as how they modified a recipe or who they cooked for. I love finding handwritten notes in cookbooks. 

Looking to start a collection of vintage recipes? Here are some options I found on Etsy. 

1. Carol Mai, $42; 2. Gryphon Vintage, $125; 3. Bunny Rabbit Vintage, $145 for complete recipe file: $45 for recipe box, $40 for Beef recipes, $30 for Chicken recipes, and $30 for Pork recipes; 4. Elsephanie, $5. 

1. Industrial Relic, $24; 2. Foresttina Vintage, $9 (I have a soft spot for this collection as it's the same metal recipe box I once had); 3. Lucy and Ellen, $34; 4. TKFindz, $12.99.

1. Disco Queen Highness, $13.95; 2. JulieAnnaNicole, $24; 3. Lady Libertine Vintage, $8.75; 4. Bunny Rabbit Vintage, $75; 5. Cookbook Addict, $45.

In case you're curious, here are my searches for vintage recipes: "handwritten recipes" "recipe box" "cooking clips" "recipe clipping book" "clipped recipes" "recipe binder." 

Weekly Wrap: Neat and Tidy

Do you ever wonder what a blogger's, an illustrator's, a stylist's, or other creative's workspace looks like when it's not being photographed? I do.

I'd love for my workspace to be free from clutter every time I sit down to start working, but I can't see it happening in this lifetime. In the meantime, here are the workspaces that inspire me to at least keep trudging on.

Credits: Unknown workspace spotted on Ill Seen, Ill Said; Olimpia Zagnoli's workspace spotted on Design*Sponge photographed by Miro Zagnoli; Workspace by Ishtar Olivera spotted on decor8; Abbey of Aesthetic Outburst's workspace spotted on Ill Seen, Ill Said.

Here's a sneak peek of my (aka SpriteKat's) workspace. This is my launch pad for sewing, photography,  and scrapbooking.

How are you doing on your new year resolutions?

Next week's wrap up won't be about workspaces or getting organized; I promise! I'm going to show you the dishes that have caught my eye and taunted my stomach.

Between now and next Saturday, I'll reveal my favorite kitchen gadgets - you know those things you just can't live without. I'll also share my next attempt at dairy-free, refined-sugar free ice cream. Bon appetit.

Retro Kitchen: Stoneware Crocks

Our utensils cannot contain themselves any longer. We have tons of spatulas, spoons, skimmers, spatulas, tongs, and more. Because it's so convenient to have utensils out and accessible while cooking, we have them in an antique stoneware crock and IKEA stainless steel utensil holder. Post-registry shopping at Crate and Barrel, we now have more items that would benefit from being neatly organized: sushi mats and a baster. Our new skimmer displaced our potato masher so it's also in search of a new home.

It's obviously time for another container. But what type of container should we get? Stoneware or stainless steel? How do you store/organize your kitchen utensils?

Before we start searching, we need to set a couple of requirements. Our kitchen has wood cabinets stained a honey brown with black granite countertops and a mix of black and stainless appliances (photo of our kitchen). What we chose needs to be complementary with this color scheme. The only space on our counter where these utensils can live is next to our countertop oven (photo of how our countertop is currently organized). With the limited space, a metal container could potentially end up being hot to the touch. Of our current containers the crock won't fit, but the IKEA holder would fit perfectly. It's dimensions are 4 3/4" in diameter and 7 1/8" in height. Finally, I'd prefer to get something that's been gently used.

As I waited for the water for the coffee to boil (and the coffee to steep), I headed to Etsy. After three searches ("stoneware pot," "utensil jar," and "crock") and about 15 minutes, I had a few options that met our requirements. 

Where to Get the Look: 3" diameter, 4.5" tall crock from Vintage Junky Style, $8 + $6.10 shipping; 4 1/2" diameter, 5" tall crock from Bailiwick Vintage, $10 + $10.50 shipping; 4 1/4" diameter with 3 1/2" opening, 6 1/2" tall crock from Vintage Variables, $15 + $8.50 shipping; 4" diameter with 2 1/4" opening, 4 1/2" tall crock from Overlook, $8 + $8.50 shipping;  Just under 3 1/2" wide mouth, 4 1/2" tall jar from Humming Among Treasures, $6 + $6 shipping.

What would you chose?