Welcome to the redesigned I Ate The 80’s!  We have been working on fun new features for MONTHS. Let me share them with you!

New Home Page

The blog got a front-page facelift to include our new features.  When you get to the Home Page, you can choose to visit the blog to read all the recipe tests, visit the recipe archive (!), register a new account (!!), or log in to your I Ate The 80’s account and add a recipe (!!!).

To visit the blog like usual, click the “Tested Recipe Blog” link at the top of the page:

Or the Tested Recipe Blog Image in the navigation slider:

OR scroll down a bit and click on one of the latest Tested Recipe Images:

Recipe Archive!!!!

I am excited to announce that we have added a Recipe Archive to the page!! What is this recipe archive? Well, it’s only my DREAM! It is a searchable database of vintage recipes from my collection. I am truly out of space to store loose recipes, so the idea was born to do a recipe archive gallery! I scan and type up recipes over here, add them to the archive, and purge my massive clipped and loose recipe collection!

To see the Recipe Archive, you can click on the link at the top:

The image in the slider:

Or you can scroll down the page and choose one of the recently added recipes:

Once you are in the Archive, it is a blast to navigate around in it. You can scroll down to see the newly added recipes. OR You can use the bar at the top to search for titles, ingredients or tested recipes. This has been very useful for me during testing. I just put in some ingredients that I have in the fridge and see what pops up. You can even search for cooking methods!

Another way to browse is to click on the gray “Browse” button on the upper left. This will give you a drop-down list of Categories, Ingredients and Cooking Methods to choose from.

3. Personal Accounts!!!!

Another fun addition to the site is the ability for you, my favorite readers, to have personal accounts for the site! This is where you can store your favorite recipes from the archive or even add your recipes to the archive!

First, go to the Registration Link-up at the top:

Once you are on the registration page, you can put in your information in the boxes. If you ever lose or forget your password, there is an easy password retrieval feature on the My Account Page where you log in.

There, now you have your account!  The accounts are all FREE for now; however, keeping the Archive free was a hard choice. The cost to keep so much knowledge available online is significant.  Right now I have no grants or interns to help me out with this, so it is just me doing my best to keep up. I made a tab available in the account section titled I Need Your Help.

If you are enjoying using the Archive, if you use it significantly or if you are just moved by the spirit, this tab enables you to contribute to the running of the I Ate the 80’s Archive and the Mid-Century Menu Archive (coming soon!). There are options there for a one-time gift, or for a traditional subscription that you can set up for weekly, monthly or yearly contributions. Thank you in advance for your help in keeping the vintage recipe dream alive!

Now that your account is set up, you can save your favorite recipes to your recipe box.

To “favorite” a recipe, click the little heart in the corner. To see your favorite recipes, go into My Account and go to the “My Favorites” tab.

Add A Recipe

You can also contribute vintage recipes to the archive!  If your family has a favorite, or if you are looking for a way to keep your vintage recipe box searchable and at your fingertips, you can easily add your recipe to the archive.

Please note, recipes contributed are checked for dates. The date range for I Ate the ’80s is 1970 to 2000. The date range for Mid-Century Menu is 1900 to 1980.

To add your recipe, click on the Add A Recipe Tab in your account.

This lovely form will pop up, and you just fill it out.  Titles are mandatory, images are not. However, images are preferred! Even if it is just a picture of a handwritten recipe card, it is better than nothing!

Feel free to do a description if you want, it isn’t necessary. Then you can add your ingredients:

And then your directions:

You have the options in directions to add step photos if you want a tutorial-style recipe page.

And then submit your recipe!

After that, I will go through your recipe to make sure it has the proper keywords and categories, and then it will be approved and added to the archive! Easy Peasy.

So that is the new site! I am so glad that the months of work have ended up in such a fun outcome, and I hope you find it fun, too. Thank you so much for all of your support and views. Without all of you, none of this would be possible! And stay tuned to Mid-Century Menu, because a similar update is going to be done on that site in a few weeks!