Monday, April 6, 2009

time to dig out the recipe box...



Do you have a recipe box? I do.. Well actually I have 10 of them.. plus I collect cookbooks. I have about 750 of them.. OK, I have looked through each one.. I love the old ones. Those are my favorites.. I especially like the ones that are advertising cookbooks. There were cookbooks you could get for anything. I have several that were offers from TV shows, several that were written during the 2nd World war.. even some old ones that came with the "New" wood cook stove. There are cookbooks from insurance companies, Church groups, and other "civic" groups. Books from the folks who made your pots and pans (guardian ware) and those that came with your "new" Frigidaire. There are books from cooking schools, readers digest, gourmet magazines, Betty Crocker, singers, senators, and president's wives.. Yep there are books for just about every food stuff you've ever heard of from baking powder to jello..

I love them all. they are colorful and full of wonderful goodness. I love the old books from the late 1800's and the early 1900's.. that give recipes for invalids. They show how to set a table. How to present yourself to your husband, children, and guests. I love to see how the books have changed through the years. The changes are interesting. They begin with women being at home, cooking on the old wood stove.. recipes for whitewash for barns and fences, pickling recipes for 100 lbs. of pork.. How to "put up" all the vegetables and fruit you grow in your garden. Then come the days when there are no eggs or sugar, ones that you could use with your ration stamps..

Those old Books tell how to make nutritious meals for your family, and how important it is for your family, your community and your country to grow a "victory" garden. Newer ones are time saving for the woman who works outside the home and still needs to keep meals full of nutrition and quick and easy..
Today it's raining/snowing .. it's cold, and damp. I didn't want to go out.. So I got out the small recipe box that I take with me to the cabin. It holds the recipes we like the best. lots to choose from, and all are good..

Today I decided to share a few recipes with you that would work for Easter Dinner on Sunday.
OK, don't panic.. go ahead and make your family favorites.. then try these over the next few weeks and see how you like them.. they may become new family favorites for the occasional holiday, or something new for Thursday nights. It's always good to change things up at mealtime.. keep 'em guessing.. :-)

Yep, time to get out your old recipe box, look through.. get some recipes out.. think about the one who passed the recipe on to you.. was it a favorite of your mom's or grandmothers'..??? Was it from a co-worker, your mother-in-law? maybe you carefully cut it out of that food magazine you found at your last Dr. visit.. get it out and cook. Your family will love you for it..

It will make new memories, and traditions for them.. So many now only make convenience foods. It's easy to fall into the habit of eating stuff out of boxes, cans, and take out containers..
Try something New.. Cook an old favorite.. or try a new one.. just get out the old recipe box..