Friday Favorites

I love cooking, but one of my favorite things is finding new recipes. Growing up, I remember seeing my mom tear out magazine or newspaper pages, and more recently, printing out pages from foodnetwork.com
The problem was, she put these pages in a big envelope. So, when she wanted to look for one of her recipes, she would just dump the whole thing out and hope to run across it, AND hope it wasn't torn. It drove me crazy!!!! And, it really deterred me from starting my own collection of recipes.
I have several great cookbooks that I refer to often:


But, my favorite cookbooks have to be the personal ones. For my family wedding shower in 2001, my Dad put together a cookbook full of recipes from the Ballards, Shaws and Wrights. It has some of my favorites (my Dad's buttermilk pie and my mom's lasagna), Jason's favorites (his Granny's banana pudding), and some old family recipes (my great grandmother's Hershey Bar Cake). It is a real treasure.

Recently, I started collecting recipes and wanted to start my own notebook. My mom gave me a large 3 ring binder and 2 packages of sheet protectors. Caitlin even drew a cute Minnie chef for the front of my binder! I went a step further and bought 2 packages of tabs for making dividers. Then, came my favorite part- putting it together!!! My sisters were making such fun of me, and I did kind of feel like Monica (Friends reference), but I really loved organizing it into different sections.Now, whenever I see something on Food Network or find something in a magazine, I can just tear or print it out, and put it in it's appropriate section- YEAH!
Really, the reason I love it is because it gets me to try new things, and learn new flavors. I love to cook, but I do need something to keep me excited about cooking everyday. So, finding new recipes is a great way to keep me interested, and keep my family happy.

Happy cooking!

Comments

Katie McB. said…
I love cooking too, if only cooking didn't mean doing the dishes afterward. Do you have the Altamesa cookbook? It has some of my favorite recipes!
Ashley C. said…
My mom has been doing this for years!! When i went away to college she made smaller binders that were more specific (desserts, breads, holidays, etc.) I will fight for these someday!
Elizabeth said…
What a great idea. I also have some great family cookbooks, but I need to start my own book, too. You have inspired me!
Caitlin said…
I remember when you were setting up all of those tabs...haha! I did think it was funny, but it is so impressive that you got all your recipes so organized! I would panic if I tried to do something as thorough as that!
Anonymous said…
Honey- your cookbooks are something else. My favorite "chef" is often confused as Giada but your my number one! Valentines dinner was amazing: chicken breasts stuffed w/ proscuitto & fontina, grilled veggies and lemon spaghetti. Magnificent! Words do not describe! -Jason
Deborah said…
Family recipes are the best.

I'd say your husband said it all in his comment--you must be a great cook!
Anonymous said…
You are so Monica! That is great. I think what you need to do now is: go to Kinkos with your nifty binder, have them print several copies, have them bound and sell them. People like me would buy it! Love your Valentine pictures!!

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