This Nostalgic Kitchen Staple Seriously Deserves A Comeback (It Helps Keep All Your Recipes Organized)

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Retro kitchen items are back as the mixing of modern and old-school elements is having a style moment. While stacks of vintage cookbooks add charm to kitchens, designers and aspiring chefs alike are bringing recipe boxes back into fashion. Handwritten recipes not only add a touch of nostalgia to home decor but can elevate classic meals. Though notecards may appear trivial, recipes written on them preserve memories of loved ones and offer recollections of holidays and dinners shared with family and friends. 

Online boards and mobile apps encourage users to save recipes digitally, but there's something deeply satisfying about using actual cards with handwritten instructions. As more people move towards life away from screens, notecards offer an alternative from having to handle phones and tablets with ingredient-covered hands. Some cooks have taken to printing digital recipes to keep in the kitchen. Plus, turning recipes into tangible objects pays homage to cooks and the histories associated with recipes. 

Some netizens describe using cards owned by their grandmother's grandmother and preserving decades-old recipes in boxes. "They're memory aids for me, so they're just lists of ingredients with minimal instructions like 'fry onions & garlic, fry spices & tom paste, add everything else, simmer til taters are tender, add cream,'" explained one Redditor. "I got good at reducing extraneous words. Ingredients on the front, pared down instructions on the back," added another.

If you're starting your own collection of recipe cards, stock up on card protectors, permanent markers, or pens with archival ink. Protecting recipe cards in plastic sleeves can ensure handwritten notes are guarded against haphazard spills and the wear of time. "I love using recipe cards. I use them for recipes I get from friends, family, and the internet. Over the years I've laminated most of the cards so they stay clean. They're organized by category in recipe boxes. A surprising number of people I know, including people in their twenties, use recipe cards," wrote a keen recipe-card user on Reddit.

Cards can be purchased in a range of sizes. These 4x6-inch recipe cards are just $5.99 for 70 on Amazon. Whether you prefer cute 3x5-inch cards or larger 5x7-inch sizes, you can use one side to list ingredients and the other to outline instructions. Some cards are preprinted with columns, or you can purchase plain lined cards like these index cards. Once made, recipes can be organized according to your preference, with sections devoted to authors or types of dishes. Though not everyone has calligraphy training, handwritten messages can become keepsakes bridging generations, and recipe boxes filled with recipes offer nostalgic gifts to pass on. Recipe formats may have evolved over the decades, but love for food will remain a constant.