Do you find yourself looking through note cards, torn-out newspaper or magazine recipes to find your favorite one to make? Here is a tip about organizing in the kitchen. Most people have a container to hold their recipes whether it be a file card holder or accordion file as I have. But the problem comes when I try to find one particular recipe out of all the ones I save. I have my recipes divided into categories that the accordion file made up, so that is a help. But I have too many!

So, here’s the idea: keep only the ones you use most often in the kitchen and bundle the rest into an envelope and store them elsewhere. I tried that last year and it worked. It was much easier to find each recipe in the accordion file which I keep in the kitchen. I only went to the envelope with other recipes that I “think” I might make one time. What does that tell you about those recipes? It helped me keep my New Year’s resolution to “get my recipes organized.
- Barbara Boone, Busy Bee Organizing Services, www.Bzbeeorganizing.com

Ok - I LOVE this idea once a have tried a recipe. How many of you bend down corners, tear out recipes and stick in a folder to try later and everything gets all messed up. Here is a solution I use. When I see a recipe I want to try, I tear it out and stick it in a red folder (my must try) - remember then to throw that magazine in the recycle pile as you are now done with it! Then I have 2 other folders, a yellow one that is for tried needs some work but like, and my green one which is great - love it….can’t wait to try again. My green one is actually the accordion type which I then categorize by main course, dessert, side dishes. I even take things one step further - I have a green notebook with family favorites recipes.

Once I have tried something enough times that I know it is a life-keeper recipe, I transcribe it into this sacred notebook - and it travels with me everywhere so that I am never at a loss for something to cook. (A perfect example is our popular menu item Pork Tenderloins with Chile-Apricot Glaze. This was a modified recipe I found in a magazine years ago and modified it to my family’s tastes and it eventually become part of the Let’s Dish! recipe database. Now it ranks as one of the top favorites on the Let’s Dish! menu among our customers too.)

Here is a favorite recipe that I added last summer - My friend Tracy Stone (a long-distance disher from CT) tipped me onto this one!

Orzo, Pine Nuts and Feta Salad
(Serves about 8-10 as a side dish - or about 4 as a main course)

1 lb orzo (I like whole wheat best)
4 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
1 ¼ cups (about 6 oz) crumbled feta cheese
½ cup thinly sliced scallions (you can skip these and add more parsley if you prefer)
½ cup chopped parsley
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved

To Cook:

1. Cook orzo in a 6-8 quart pot of boiling salted water until tender, then drain well in a colander. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
2. Whisk together the lemon juice, oil, a little kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl.
3. Add the hot orzo and toss. Set aside to cool.
4. When ready, toss with the pine nuts, feta, scallions, parsley and tomatoes.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chef’s Tip: To toast pine nuts, place pine nuts in a shallow baking pan, single layer. Toast in a preheated 350 oven until golden, about 5-10 minutes.