Old Cook Logs - Comical


 
BFletcher

BFletcher

TVWBB Platinum Member
I began my outdoor cooking journey late 2015. Many of you started long before this. Sometimes, when I look at those old logs I chuckle at my notes, which I suppose is a testament to some progress I've been able to make thanks to your collective help. Do you find any of your own logs are amusing?
 
There is an awful joke just waiting but, I’ll ”pass” on that. Sorry, that just slipped out. (Really sorry)
People have told me that I should do that but, I’ve never been able to discipline myself enough to do it. I’m sure I’ve made the same mistake more than once but, the mistakes end up right alongside the successes. And the few times that I really try to repeat any recipe exactly, there Is a variable in an ingredient, moisture content, slight flavor difference, better tomatoes, etc. it just doesn’t always happen. Consequently, as man is incapable of perfection, I have learned to be happy with excellence.

Good for you Fletch! Give the logs to your kids, they will get a kick out of them.
 
As I have mentioned here before, I have been keeping a record of all recipes made since back in the '80's. I am now filling up my 6th binder. One of my favorite thing about doing this is I also keep track of who we shared that recipe with. And I made notes of what we thought of the recipe and how to improve it (if needed). And yes, I also hope our grandkids (and great-grandkids and .......) will get a kick out of them.
 
I had never kept a log until I got my first WSM in 2010 and joined this site. Chris Allingham provide the template and I still use it. Going from the WSM to a pellet grill was an easy adaptation. In my case I didn't find any old entries that were especially amusing but what struck me was my reaction to using a WSM instead of what I used before it. I noted that it was so much easier to cook on and now I have that same reaction to the pellet grill after it replaced my WSMs.
 
Not only do I keep track of recipes made in a binder, but I also make a list each month of what we made that I started posting here a while back called "Hit and Misses. I keep track of how we rated each recipe. I also have a section of "Tried and True (T&T) of recipes we have made before. As I have mentioned in an earlier post on this thread, I make notations on recipes that we make that are like keeping a journal. I have soo many recipes that mention family member get togethers that sad to say are no longer around and it gives me comfort to read them. I don't know what will happen to them or if they will ever get passed on, but, for now, they exist.

It really is not that much trouble to do this. Take a sheet of plain white paper with 3 holes punched. Tape the recipe to it. Mark the date you made it at the top. Under the recipe, the date, who cooked it and your comments, then your rating. We use Excellent, Very Good, Good, OK, and NO. Then I clip them with others made that month until I do the Hit and Misses, then I make notations in a binder marked Tried Index where I keep track of recipes made by name in sections under the main ingredient (chicken, beef, pork etc) or category (bread, dessert, soup etc.), and the date made. That way, at a quick glance I can see where I can find that recipe and also see if we have made a certain recipe before. I know what some of you are thinking, but like I tell DH, at least it keeps me off the streets. :giggle:
 
Brett-EDH said:
Now I’m walking around with three hole punched paper taped to my head. That’s where all the recipes are.
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Brett, I'm sure there must be something you could put on paper. What if it was something really good that you would like to make again? Don't forget, the older we get, the worse our memory is. lol
 
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I worry about maintaining important data on paper. I also appreciate the ability to sort and filter data. I'm a Paprika App fan but I'm also concerned about relying on external server-based vendors, so I use the app's export functionality to store recipes on my local drive.

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We make notes on the recipe and a grading scale similar to Joan's along with the date we made it. Seeing that all 3000 recipes are in word on my computer if I need a fresh copy or to modify a recipe it's easy to pull a copy up and make changes.
 
Joan said:
viBrett, I'm sure there must be something you could put on paper. What if it was something really good that you would like to make again? Don't forget, the older we get, the worse our memory is. lol
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i do bookmark the ones i like and refer to them every so often. once i "learn" a recipe, i usually don't refer back to it, unless i totally forget what i'm doing.

i made salmon three ways last night for dinner; a spg CI pan seared (4 pieces of the fish), cubed for poke with two sauces, one a soy garlic sesame and the other a hurricane sauce (kewpie, sriracha, paprika, mirin, seasoned rice vinegar), and a gently cured sashimi slices, cured in very light kosher salting and mirin, all for around 10 minutes then dried on paper towels. all this with some english cukes sliced up, sushi rice and furikake.

this is the stuff that's in my head.
 
I use MS OneNote to keep my recipes and make a log entry after most cooks. Our oldest daughter and I have access to each others recipes. Last night she was reading some of my notes and said that some were funny. She recently co-authored a cookbook and I tested their BBQ recipes. Both women have been teaching homeschoolers for a long time and they combined a Geography book with a cookbook. It's a cool concept.

God Bless the USA Cookbook (US Geography God Bless the USA): Curtis, Meredith Ludwig, Nolette, Laura Newby: 9798821735119: Amazon.com: Books

God Bless the USA Cookbook (US Geography God Bless the USA) [Curtis, Meredith Ludwig, Nolette, Laura Newby] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. God Bless the USA Cookbook (US Geography God Bless the USA)
www.amazon.com

 
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