Matha Stewart Would Not Approve

I own tons of cookbooks and have mounds of recipes. Because I have so many places to search for recipes, I often get overwhelmed by it all. And then stuff like this happens: I'll find a kick-ass recipe on the Internet, print it off, cook it, then promptly lose the hard copy while simultaneously forgetting where in the worldwide web I found it in the first place. It's exhausting, really.

I can't believe that I am the only one this happens to. And to combat this, I really, really need to get my recipes and cookbooks organized.

Our mother has all of her recipes organized in overfilled yet neat envelopes, sorted by category and housed in plastic storage bins. She also makes notes on her recipes, indicating any changes she made, who she served it to, and how it was received. Martha Stewart would love to compare notes with Mom.

I am not like my mother. I have piles stashed away, clippings here, there, and everywhere, and print offs folded up and stuck inside cookbooks, etc. It's complete and utter chaos.

I don't like the idea of putting everything on index cards. Binders seem intimidating. Scanning every recipe I own into the computer appeals to me, but seems like a major undertaking.

So I am going to ask you--our readers (all three of you!)--how you organize your recipes. Does your current system work? How long did it take for you to get set up? Also, do you make notes in your cookbooks? (I do, sometimes!) Please leave a comment and let me know what you do. I'm hoping one of your suggestions will be my ah-ha moment and will get me going with my goal of organizing my damned recipes once and for all. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have!