Ode to Blu Tack

I’ve already shown you my ugly duckling recipe binder with sheet protectors. This plain but practical system keeps my printouts and magazine clippings under control. But what about the hundreds of old-fashioned recipe cards I’ve collected over the decades? I keep promising myself I’ll transfer the scribbles from my stack of 3X5 index cards into my high-tech, photo-enabled, sortable, searchable, ultra-chic recipe database. So far? I’ve typed in three. Only 997 to go!

Ever practical and 100% computer-free, my mom stores hers in mini photo albums –each with its own theme. This is handy given her kitchen arrangement, but in mine? A bunch of little albums would get shoved behind the encyclopedic Cook’s Illustrated or get ferried to another room by mistake.

Then there’s the old get-clever-with-a-clothes-peg trick. Available at a country craft show near you.

My solution? A standard recipe box and Blu Tack. Grab the recipe, tack it to your cupboard and it’s out of the way.

Recipe continues on the other side? No problem. A gentle tug releases the card. Flip it over and away you go.

You can tell by the stains that I learned this trick recently. But now that I stick my cards on the cupboard skirt, they stay clean and won’t get lost amidst the ingredients. The best part? Blu Tack leaves no residue, doesn’t dry out and costs $2.36 at your local office supply shop.

How much do I love Blu Tack? I wrote a poem about it.

Roses are red
Blu Tack is blue
Stronger than Post-Its
Cleaner than glue.

Let’s compare it to my Umbra haiku:

Cookbook solutions
Drive me to the point of tears
Money down the drain.

When it comes to recipe control, Staples is right. “That was easy!”