Like a lot of you, I am into the New Year's re-organizing state of mind. I decided to open my recipe boxes and clear out the recipes I don't use. Now mind you, the box on the left was given to me with a few recipes included for a bridal shower about forty years ago. (You may see how my daughter "decorated" it for me when she was a little girl.)
The collection has grown so I had to buy another index card box to hold the "new" additions. The boxes include only the recipes I have on index cards. I have an entire folder of them on my laptop and stashed in a real live folder that holds full sheets of papers run off from the Internet.
I began looking through, I mean actually looking and reading the recipes in there. They are precious to me. I have recipes from my grandmother, Maw, and recipes in my mother's handwriting, as well as the scribbles from our daughters' recipes from 4-H or Scouts. Each one reminds me of those times when I shared these foods with the ones I love. I decided to close the boxes up and keep ALL of them. Some day I may transfer them to a computer file, but not today. Sorting through the memories, I just want to wrap a cozy blanket of nostalgia around me.
6 comments:
Janet, I have a couple recipe boxes also. The ones I cherish most are the ones in my mother's handwriting. Like you, I go through them periodically and seldom throw any of them out.
What a sweet post. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy...and hungry. I have no need for a recipe box. I have "how to boil water' committed to memory, and that's the extent of my love for, and ability to cook. *lol*
That is one of the wonderful things about recipes. They get handed down from others--usually folks whose cooking you enjoyed--and you can remember all the wonderful things about these people and how important they are to you.
Thanks for sharing.
I have my recipes too and look back fondly. I used to cook tons, but quit when my family grew too busy to indulge in it. I had more time this Thanksgiving to explore more and had nice compliments.
Good stuff!
I have recipes all over the place - computer, cookbooks, manila folders, looseleaf binders, my cooking blog. Noo recipe boxes, but I can see how they'd have great sentiment for you, JQ. I've come a long way for a meat-and-potatoes Irish girl, mostly because of my late mother-in-law. She taught me so much, and when I make her delicious ethnic Arabic dishes, I always think of her.
Thank you so much for your sweet comments. Recipes are memory joggers for sure. They help to inspire people to write a story about their loved ones or events around that recipe. Quick, go write a story now to give to your kids!
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