Gathering recipes

 I have been mulling over the idea of putting together a cookbook of my favorite recipes.  I think it would be fun to do, and people seem to be very encouraging about the idea.  I am thinking it would be something along the lines of the church/junior league/fundraiser cookbooks that I have so many of.  That feels appropriate since that is where most of my favorite recipes have come from.  I believe that there is an automatic feeling of comfort whenever you open up one of those types of cookbooks and read it. These recipes were not developed in any kind of a test kitchen but in someone's home.  They are recipes passed down from one generation to the next.

For me, it is a way to preserve some history.  Some of the recipes would be those of Mom's and of Grandmother's and of other important people in my life. Others would be from the wonderful recipes I have found in cookbooks like the kind I would be creating.  I have so many church cookbooks and I love them.  I love seeing the names beside the recipes.  I especially love it when I see someone's name multiple times. It gives me an idea of what that person may have been like and how their kitchen operated.  It's fun to imagine these things for me and I hope other people would find joy in it.

I have already started compiling some recipes for the cookbook.  I decided to limit my number to 100 recipes. At first that sounded daunting to me but once I got started, it was a lot easier than I anticipated.  I have so many recipes that I have enjoyed making that now I am to a place where I need to pick and choose.  I need to create a balance so that the different sections are similar in size. Like I do on my blog, I want to include stories about the recipes when I can. I think that gives it a more personal aspect.  And that is part of the beauty of cooking to me, the stories behind the recipes. 

Whether or not there is an audience for this remains to be seen.  But I am going to keep going and see where this takes me. I have already enjoyed the process so far.  I know there is a lot more to it than what I have been doing, but it will be a learning process for me.  And, as I have said before, I love learning.  I especially love learning in the kitchen and want to spread that joy!