If you know me you know I love to entertain my friends and cook big Italien meals.    During the summer my family hosts friends for big garden BBQ's.   I love to cook so it's more fun than work.   The key is preparation.   I usually make all the dips and sauces that morning or the night before.     It's all in the marinade.    My favorite foodie mag is FOOD & WINE.   Its elegant, contemporary, hip, has beautiful photography and lighting, and the recipes are easy and quick.

Most of the time I cook from memory or I improvise which is what makes it fun and creative.     However, there are some dishes you can't do that with.    I started a collection log book for my favorites.   Like the geek I am they are organized and separated by sauces, desserts, fish, salads etc.  Makes cooking super easy and fun.    I took this one step further and use this method to save clippings, design ideas, stories etc.    When I renovated my house I used a lot of ideas from magazines and it was easy to show my contractor a visual.   Works great for clients on jobs as well, show them a visual and everyone is happy to know what is happening.



































































































To do it, you just need glassine  inserts from staples or an office supply and a binder.    I like the plain white ones and I type the dates on the back and file them in my bookcase.    You can also put colorful food shots on the cover.    (I also collect tears, design and historical articles for inspiration this way, its easy to file, you can see the visual and makes for a clean presentation)  This is super easy and a great way to stay organized by subject.

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