Can you have too many recipes?

I have a lot of recipes.  More than I will ever be able to make.  Probably.  It isn't really that I have tons of cookbooks.  I have 24 or so actual bound books, which may seem like a ton to some people and to others may be a pittance.  However, that really isn't where I keep the bulk of my recipes.  My computer (sneaky little thing) is my real cookbook.  The program I spoke of before, the one Little Man attempted to sabotage, is where I give a home to thousands of recipes.  Thousands.   And I am constantly adding more.  Every time I open up my blog reader, another appealing recipe catches my eye and I paste it into my recipe database.

The reason I will probably never be able to make them all is that most of them fall under the dessert or snack category.  Oh, I believe I could probably cook through all of the savory, main dish type of recipes.  I could probably cook a new dish every night for the next three years without repetition and get through at least all the ones on my computer.  But while you eat dinner every night of the week, there are a limit to how many sweets and treats you eat in a week.  Especially since I don't like Little Man to have to much sugar and Hey, Babe claims he isn't much of a dessert person (I sometimes wonder at the truth of that claim as pieces of cake and cookies disappear).  That leaves most of the eating of those aforementioned baked goods up to yours truly.  While I may be thrilled to eat them, I know my body would rebel.  A steady diet of to much sugary fattening foods is unhealthy. 

This is why I collect recipes.  Reading about them and other people's experiences making them is almost as good as being able to try them myself.  Almost.  I know that I will probably never be able to make them all (hey, you never know!) but I like having them.  Collecting recipes is one of my hobbies.  I hoard them, and I'm always looking for more.  As far as collectibles go, recipes don't really take up much room (especially the ones on my computer) and there is the potential at any given time for me to use one. 

This blog is helping me to realize that potential.  Since starting it up a little over a month ago, I have already made 20 or more new recipes.  That's about 4 new recipes a week.  Not all of them are on here yet, some of them are part of the Daring Baker's challenge and so will be revealed on the 27th, others I just haven't finished a write up on, and one of them I am wondering if I should even post it, since it was a recipe I will probably not make again (not even to tweak it). 
 
I checked and I have now made a bit more than 12% of the recipes in my main dish recipe file. Perhaps I actually will be able to work my way through all of them in the next three years.  You never know unless you try!  I am really enjoying this new outlet for my recipe collecting hobby.  It makes me more inclined to schedule in new recipes for our monthly menu.  Knowing that I have posted my intent to make something in particular will make me more likely to follow through since someone may return looking to see the results. 

I only foresee two problems with trying to cook through all of the main dishes in my recipe hoard.  The first is Hey, Babe wanting to eat something I have already made again because it was soo good (although, is that really a problem?).  The second will be my inability to stop collecting more recipes for my database.  You all keep making so many delicious things that I want to try.  My only hope is to cook faster than I collect.