There are certain kitchen gadgets and tools that I simply can’t live without. For instance, I have one particular knife that I absolutely love. I cannot imagine working in the kitchen without it. There’s also a large stirring spoon that is certainly my go-to implement, and when it’s dirty I feel lost.
It’s a funny thing having those kinds of favorites in the kitchen…or really anywhere.
Among my computer programs and apps, Evernote falls into that category. I use it for so much that I don’t really think about it. If for some reason it’s not working, my productivity grinds to a halt. That’s especially evident in the kitchen. I literally use Evernote for everything! One of the biggest use cases is for recipe storage and organization.
This week I’m going to skim the surface of Evernote and give you an idea of why you should consider converting your favorite recipes to digital format. Honestly, it’s been a life-saver for me, and I think it will be for you too!
What is Evernote?
In case you’re not familiar with Evernote, I wrote about it in a prior blog post. Essentially it’s an electronic filing cabinet for all your stuff. It can hold screen snapshots, photos, videos, or pretty much anything that you can think of. It’s also available on computers (both Mac and Windows), smart phones (Apple or Android), and tablets.
While the storage capability is awesome, the killer feature is the search feature. In a recipe box that holds your paper recipes, you can only file things one way. You have to decide how you’re going to organize your recipes, and then you have to determine where each recipe will actually reside. There are some recipes that simply don’t fit into a single category. With a physical recipe box, you have to make a choice…and in my case it’s almost always the wrong one.
The beauty of Evernote is that there are two overlapping organizational schemes, notebooks and tags. Both can be used for searching, imbuing Evernote with it’s power.
For instance, I organize my notebooks so that all the breakfast foods are grouped together. All the breads live in one notebook. All the main courses in another. My side dishes have their own notebook. So if I’m just browsing for ideas, I usually use my notebooks to search. But if I’m looking for any recipe that contains rice, I search by tags. Using the tag for rice, I’ll get back recipes for rice pudding as well as savory vegetable-rice pilaf.
Try doing that with your physical recipe box!
How do I get started?
Rather than dig into the specifics of using Evernote as a power user, I’m going to recommend that you start slowly and build as you go. Don’t worry about setting up a bunch of notebooks and tags. Heck, you can start without any real organization at all. You just need to start getting your recipes into Evernote.
The first thing you have to do is sign-up for Evernote. Don’t worry…you can start with the free version. Pick the place where you’re most likely to actually use it, whether that’s your computer, phone, or tablet. You can install it on all three if you want…the Evernote data will be shared across them seamlessly. Download the app.
Next go to Evernote.com and setup your free account.
Once you’ve got your account, create a notebook and name it whatever you like. I called mine Recipes because I’m terribly creative. You can follow my lead or use a bit more creativity.
Now you need to create your first note and put a recipe in there. When I first started out, I simply took photos of my recipes and pasted them into individual notes. If you’re using your phone or tablet you do this three steps
- Click on the big plus sign
- Click on the camera icon
- Take the photo
I guess an essential fourth step is to give the recipe a useful name. If you don’t name your note, it’ll still be saved…but looking through a bunch of unnamed notes isn’t very rewarding. Take it from somebody who created a bunch. As my family often says, “Don’t be like Jeff…be smarter than he is!”.
What about recipes in the browser?
You can also grab recipes right out of your browser. Let’s say that you’ve located the ideal Fruitcake recipe (don’t laugh, I’m the one person who actually loves those fruitcakes that y’all keep passing around to each other). It’s sitting there in your browser, but you know you’ll never find your way back to it. In the old days you’d print it out, right? And just as likely…it’d be lost before you needed to use it.
If you download the Evernote Clipper (just search the available plug-ins for your browser), you’ll be able to click on the little elephant icon and grab the contents of the web page. Then when the holidays roll around, you can search for fruitcake and you’ll be all set. Honestly, it’s so easy you can’t imagine!
What should I do next?
My advice is to collect a lot of recipes before you do a whole lot more with your Evernote notes. You’ll know when you need better organization…it’s when you can’t find things easily. You can always search “how to organize Evernote recipes” when that time comes. Or come back to this blog for more information. When the captured recipes are difficult to use, you’re going to be thinking about creating notebooks and tags, but for today, just grabbing recipes is probably enough.
By getting started with Evernote you’ll have a shot at getting your recipes under control and actually being able to find them when you need them. To me, that’s one of the best ways to make it a great day in the kitchen!
