Do you write in your cookbooks?

nameless

Tue, May 28 2013, 8:08 am

This came up recently when I wanted to look up a recipe on Shabbos. Some people hold cookbooks are muktzah and other don't. When asking our LOR he said that it depends on what the norm is in the world and wouldn't give a psak... If most people write in their cookbooks they would be muktzah if most people don't then they wouldn't.

So out of curiosity do you or do you not write in your cookbooks? This would include anything from checks and minuses to changing quantities and leaving notes.

My first reaction to the question is no, but as time goes on and cookbooks don't stay in the same condition as before I have thought about it although I still haven't done it.

aebz

Tue, May 28 2013, 8:25 am

How else do you keep track of what changes worked (or didn't work) from time to time?

I generally start by writing on post-it notes until I'm sure of a change and then I'll transfer it to the actual recipe.

yo'ma

Tue, May 28 2013, 9:15 am

Yes, but very, very little. After I make something, I don't check the cookbook to mark the changes that I did or if we liked it.

Mommy3.5

Tue, May 28 2013, 11:10 am

Yes. I add recipes I've found that I like. I write how much the recipe yeilded in real life. My cookbooks are filthy and well loved. I'm not much of a recipe follower, but when I use the books they are used for real.

MrsDuby

Tue, May 28 2013, 12:36 pm

yes !!! ALL THE TIME !!!
first of all - I like to know if the recipe went over well... if people LOVEED it or not. Also, sometimes there are "surprises." with my latest Shavuos cheesecake, the batter was HUGE and didnt fit into the specified pan. so I marked that down to use the larger size.

I'll also mark down changes I did... if baking time is longer / shorter ...

because if you make something once in a while you wont remember those little details.

PS - why would a cookbook be muktzah ? please explain.

Marion

Tue, May 28 2013, 12:48 pm

Never. I think, in all my cookbooks, I have 3 post it notes with comments on them. And I think they're mostly notes like "engagement party".

watergirl

Tue, May 28 2013, 1:13 pm

YES! I write changes, and things like "ds Ploni likes this one" and "don't double this". Ive also been known to cross out a recipe that was a major fail (its always the recipes fault, never mine, mind you). On more than one occasion, I have actually ripped one out of the book (and thrown it at DH who requested it too many times. I will not make patchkas during pesach. Got it, DH? In case your trolling here...).

checkbefore

Tue, May 28 2013, 1:34 pm

I don't understand; you can't look at a book that is written in? What about a gemara?

dee's mommy

Tue, May 28 2013, 1:39 pm

I don't do it often, but sometimes I write notes on substitute ingredients, or amounts if the original way didn't work the first time.

wife2

Tue, May 28 2013, 6:54 pm

if I always double a certain recipe, I cross out the old numbers and put in the doubled amounts. or if I always substitute something in the recipe (broccoli for zucchini, oil for margarine, etc) then I cross out the other thing and write it in. also, sometimes I find that recipes need more or less flour or different amounts if I change it to whole wheat, so I write that in as well.

September June

Tue, May 28 2013, 7:01 pm

checkbefore wrote:

I don't understand; you can't look at a book that is written in? What about a gemara?

I learned that the one who cooks the food cannot read the menu she wrote for the meal on Shabbos/Yom Tov because it may lead her to write to make corrections. I would imagine cookbooks could fall under the same category if ppl. generally write in corrections.

I personally don't write in my cookbooks.

chocolate chips

Tue, May 28 2013, 11:49 pm

Yes!!
I write the doubled or halved or whatever I usually do on the side (why work it out more than once?!)
I also add my own experience tips such as length of time in oven, more or less sugar etc.

But I also have several cookbooks which I use as picturebooks when I am bored....so I once heard that in that case it is not muktzah. Meaning I heard that if you are looking up a recipe it is muktzah if you are looking at pictures its ok.

bamamama

Wed, May 29 2013, 1:23 am

I write in them. I inherited some of my grandmother's cookbooks when she died and it's such a joy to come across her notes.

That it makes them muktzeh...well, I won't come to build a raft or fix a bike or write in my cookbooks on Shabbos. But I love reading cookbooks for fun.

nameless

Wed, May 29 2013, 8:06 am

Wow! I didn't realize how common it was. I guess I can understand it, but you ladies aren't making my life easier!

I also enjoy reading cookbooks for fun but don't mind avoiding it on Shabbos. It's more for salad dressing recipes that I seem to always need after Shabbos already started...

busydev

Wed, May 29 2013, 11:43 am

nameless wrote:

wouldnt it depend on each person?

can you rewrite your common salad dressings on one sheet of paper that is accessible for shabbos?