Your mom probably had a small metal box filled with index card size recipe cards.  This treasure trove held recipe secret’s passed along from family and friends.  You can create your own electronically using Excel.

Excel (or Numbers on a Mac) is a standard program preloaded on most computers.  It’s a spreadsheet program designed for math and accounting functions.  Don’t let this scare you off - it’s pretty easy.

For the ingredients use the first column for item name, the next column for measurement type i.e. lb, the next column for quantity.  A tip for the third column use decimal for fractions i.e. .25 instead of 1/4. Use one row per ingredient and cooking step.  Remember to include notes on temperature and time.

To step it up to the next level you can use formulas to scale up or down the recipe.  Make the cell format for the third column numeric with 2 decimal places. At the top of the column put how many servings are made with that quantity.  In the next column create a formula multiplying the value in the third column by how times bigger you want the recipe.  If you want to double a recipe multiply by 2, to triple multiply by 3 - you get the idea.  If you want half multiply by .5.   Make sure you adjust the the serving quantity at the top of the column.  You can have multiple column for different serving sizes.

Save each recipe as it’s own file.  While cooking leave your laptop in a safe place and open each recipe you need in it’s own file.  You can toggle back & forth between them.  Once you start entering, the process goes quickly.  This is a great way to get your own recipes in an electronic form.

Soundtrack to Post: Excel Formula Tutorial

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