9
Sep

Blank Recipe Cards vs The Cranky Granny

   Posted by: Matilda   in Recipe Cards

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For Blank Recipe Books, click here.

Blank Recipe Card Madness

Ruth and I collided as I pulled ginger snaps out of the oven. “Oh my goodness, Matilda, I’m sorry,” she said. We both creak over to pick up the mess of recipe cards scattered across her kitchen floor.

“Ruth,” I say patiently, because Ruth sometimes needs a little patience. “Recipe cards? Why not punch cards? Or better yet scrawl some symbols on slabs of stone or papyrus?”

“I like to be able to pick up any card for any time to get cooking at a moment’s notice.” She looks at me a little shy. Like she isn’t 64, hasn’t cooked for 7 grandchildren, and hasn’t ever seen anything as confrontational as a cranky granny who owns a cookbook software company.

“Ruth,” I say, maybe a little less patiently. “I can’t even make out some of these, scrawled out in pencil and nearly rubbed out with butter and grease. And how long does it take you to find a card? It takes a moment’s notice to stuff a card in that old box, but how long does it take to find it again?”

“But I just like blank recipe cards. You take a blank recipe card and you can write anything you want on it. A blank recipe card is like a new day. Anything can happen.”

Ruth is a romantic. Romantic grandmas can be very stubborn people. But she’s only 64, still young and impressionable. So I put up my best argument.

“If you use my software to print your own recipe book, all your recipes will always be in alphabetical order every time by recipe type. All your cookies will always be with all your other cookies. All your soups will be with all your other soups. And when it gets so warn out that you are embarrassed to show it to your best friend–ahem–you can just print another copy. And print out a copy for her too.”

She flinches a little. “But the blank recipe cards, Matilda! I love the blank recipe cards!”

I knew I had her. “So you can still use the blank recipe cards. Write on them all you want. But then staple them to the blank pages inside your recipe book. That way they stay organized. A cookie recipe card gets stapled to a cookie page in your cookbook. Once a year, type all the cards into my software, hit print, and just like that you’ve got an updated cookbook.”

She stayed silent, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I had another customer. She may have only been 64, and a romantic 64 at that. But she was old enough to see a little reason.

For more information about cookbook software, click here.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 9th, 2007 at 9:55 am and is filed under Recipe Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

19 comments so far

Denise Chamie
 1 

What a great idea. I have not bought the soft ware yet ( I am a little tech challenged) but I am seriously considering it. I had never thought about how long it takes to find a favorite recipie, even if it is in a cookbook, if it isn’t your cookbook, it could take too long to find. I just thought of another way to compile my recipies. Thanks again for all this wonderful information.

September 12th, 2007 at 9:32 am
Mandy
 2 

I am seriously considering purchasing this software as well. I am one of those people that spent hours trying to make my own recipe book, only to find that the next time my husband messed with the computer all of my work was gone. AARRGG!! The only problem I see is that I don’t have a lot of counter space so I prefer to be able to pull out individual recipe cards from my cookbooks so I can hang them as I prepare them. Is that a possibility or is this only in magazine type format? Don’t get me wrong I am almost sold on your product…

November 28th, 2007 at 5:56 am
Matilda
 3 

Mandy-

You can definitely print out individual recipes in our software if you like. Very easy to do.

I definitely hate it when the husband messes with my computer, too. I can’t promise that our software is completely Husband-Proof (is anything?), but it’s definitely Husband-Resistant. You may want to reinforce your anti-Husband security with a good solid rolling pin.

Matilda

November 28th, 2007 at 11:14 am
David Hocker
 4 

I have bought Matilda for my mom while she can still type with her arthritis. Basically I’d like to know two things

1. If I buy another copy of Matilda can I back up her recipes and load on my computer at home, so that I can print on my color laser printer?

2. Also, is there a possibility of merging/copying/whatever recipes and combining them?

Thanks for your help!

David

p.s. My mom thinks your software is great.

January 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Matilda
 5 

Hi, David-
I’m glad your mom likes it!
There’s no simple way to merge different recipes right now. Basically, you’d have to copy and paste each individually.

However, what probably makes the most sense is to buy a second copy of the software, install it on your PC, and then copy her data onto your PC. The data is stored in C:\Program Files\Matilda\MatildaBack

Just move MatildaBack to whichever PC you want to work on and you’ll have the most current recipes.

Matilda

January 16th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Astrid
 6 

I also like pulling out one card at a time. So I was just thinking that whatever program I use (and it will likely be this one), I will just bind it in a large ring binder and cover the pages with plastic page protectors rather than do the spiral binding kit sold here.

Astrid

January 26th, 2008 at 1:18 am
E.J. Cygan
 7 

My granddaughter and I want to make a cookbook. We will exchange recipes via email. What would be the best way to use the software so that we both can make decisions. can I email her templates?
She lives out of state. Also is the software apple ibook compatible?

January 26th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Matilda
 8 

Astrid-
That could definitely work.
Matilda

January 28th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Matilda
 9 

EJ Cygan-
I’m afraid our product isn’t compatible with Mac.
Once you both have the software installed, just email the file C:\Program Files\Matilda\MatildaBack between computers and you can easily see the work each of you have done on the book.
Matilda

January 28th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Carol
 10 

I just bought the software and am going to make a “remembrance cookbook” from my mother’s receipes. Many are written on bridge score pads, backs of receipts, cards, etc. That’s part of the memory I want to capture. Some are in letters that have preserved part of the letter and therefore parts of history. I hope to make pictures of the papers and letters by scanning and then include with the receipe. Will this work?

March 28th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Carol Robison
 11 

I am looking at your software for out family and have the following questions.

Is there a limit to the numbr of recipes you can type in?

Do you have to use all the sections (history, birthdays, address etc.)or just what you want in the cookbook? If you don’t use all sections do they show up as blank pages?

Can we create our own cover from scratch?

Which templates are the 5.5 X 8.5 size?

I think your product look very easy to use and would fit our need.

Carol

April 11th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Matilda
 12 

Carol-
There’s no limit to the recipes. I’ve seen people enter thousands of recipes without a problem.

You don’t have to use all the sections. Many people just want to make a recipe book.

You can add a custom photo to the front cover. Of course, you can always create your own front cover in photoshop.

Matilda

April 15th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Suzanne
 13 

Although the 2 page conversion chart is great… it has a big mistake for butter.

1 stick of butter = 1/2 cup (not 1/4 cup)

I haven’t reviewed the complete list, but it would be nice if the pdf file could be corrected and reposted on line.

April 16th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Matilda
 14 

Thanks, Suzanne. I’ve fixed it.
Matilda

April 21st, 2008 at 11:33 am
blank recipe card template
 15 

[...] , Family … to use the software so that we both can make decisions. can I email her templates?http://www.cookbookpeople.com/blog/2007/09/09/blank-recipe-cards-vs-the-cranky-granny/Recipe Cards, Shopping Lists, Gift Tags and To Do Lists to Print Out …The 4 x 6 recipe cards with [...]

July 5th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Matilda
 16 

Not sure I understand your question–you can find all the cookbook templates here:
http://www.cookbookpeople.com/samples.htm
Just send your friend/family the link.
Matilda

July 7th, 2008 at 11:45 am
NATALIE
 17 

DOES THIS PROGRAM SPELL CHECK?

August 1st, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Matilda
 18 

Hi, Natalie-
Yes, it does for nearly everybody.

Truth is we’ve run into a few glitches on a couple of computers, but they are a small number and we always recommend they use TinySpell, a free little program available here:
http://tinyspell.m6.net/

Matilda

August 1st, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Becky Francis
 19 

If one downloads TinySpell, how does one use it?

How do you access it to check the recipes in your software?

Becky

September 30th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

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