Writing down a recipe
 

I have been looking through the church type of cookbooks.

I have found that its easier for me to follow/understand some of them than others.

I have also found that the contributors often leave out important details (which I did, when I made up cookbooks for my kids and grandkids!) that they just "know" - such as pan size, when to poke the holes in the cake before adding the glaze, when it's okay to ad lib, and when the recipe should be closely followed!

Anyway,

I find it helpful to have included:

All the ingredients needed - listed at the beginning at the recipe. It's kind of frustrating thinking I have everything I need and then an important component is at the bottom of the recipe. Okay - I should have read the recipe to the end before starting - but I usually don't, if there is a list at the top.

Measurements sizes for cans or components - a large can of something? - some things come in gallon cans.m How big is a large box of spaghetti? How big is a nickel-size Hershey bar?

For things like soups, salads, and casseroles - I have started to put in approximate measurements -
example: 1/2 to 1 cup onion, 1/2 to 1 cup celery - I have heard of someone throwing away 1/4 of a carrot when making vegetable soup because the recipe called for 1/2 cup of diced carrots.

Size of pan needed to bake the item. I remember when I was a little kid and I tried to make brownies using Mom's recipe - and the pan she always baked them in. However, I did not know/realize that she doubled or tripled the recipe for that particular pan!

Yield: Something like "six 1/2 cup servings" is helpful. "Serves six" is not - two of my sons would consider a 1/2 cup serving an annoyance!

It is getting harder to write recipes now with the package sizes getting smaller and smaller.

Also, with things like Jell-o - write down the package size in ounces instead of "large" or "small" -

Writing down a recipe is a bit like knowing how to assemble a quilt. After a while,with experience, a lot of the steps do not need to be written down, so it is challenging to know how much detail is needed when writing instructions for either activity.

"Season to taste" - I really appreciate a little more help with this than just that phrase - how about 1/2 to 1-1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 to 1/4 tsp pepper - maybe that person usually adds some unusual spice or herb that makes that recipe unique?

If I write a recipe in paragraph form, I use a highlighter on each ingredient - then I can see at a glance if I have everything.
If I List the ingredients at the beginning, I prefer to write it like this: Brown sugar (on the left) and 1 cup (on the right).

I have found some recipes recently, that do not list the items in the proper order of being used.
It is confusin, so I just copy/paste the list to notepad and then separate those from the first part, down lower to when/where they would be used.

"All the ingredients needed - listed at the beginning at the recipe. It's kind of frustrating thinking I have everything I need and then an important component is at the bottom of the recipe. Okay - I should have read the recipe to the end before starting - but I usually don't, if there is a list at the top."

THIS!!

I find it funny, in the community cookbooks, when there are like 2 or 3 recipes for the same thing, with 95% the same ingredients - you just know there was a heated discussion - "Why is her ambrosia recipe in there, what about mine!!??"

Yup .... I've seen the exact same recipes though perhaps written up differently, with each printed with the different names. My conclusion was that they were not going to risk offending any of the ladies who submitted. Though feathers were still probably flustered, with some asking ...... and why did "her" recipe get printed first of the lot? and mine last? :)

Or - the one recipe has - submitted by "Mrs. John Homemaker" at the top of the recipe

and then - below the recipe - also submitted by "Mrs. James Housewife, Mrs. Joe Homebody"

Have you noticed that in the older books, the women frequently go by "Mrs. James Housewife" instead of "Betty Housewife"?

I think writing down instructions on how to make anything is difficult. My husband sells some specialty parts for trucks and writes extensive installation instructions. He's very good at it. I tried to tell my friend how I did something on a quilt in an email and had the worst time of it.

I actively dislike any lists given in paragraph format.

I actively do like the idea of writing up the ingredient on the left - and the amount needed on the right.

I am so impressed by the women that could bake decently with a wood stove. How did they manage to regulate the heat of their ovens?

I would imagine it would be similar to using a flame burner, you just developed a “memory” for the fire level for each type of food. If they made bread each week or so, the baking was an ingrained habit, just like each woman’s recipe before cook books.