My Favorite Recipes

Ever wonder why some recipes become family favorites and are passed from one cook to the next? There is something special about those recipes. Every cook has a collection of special recipes, saved in some manner. Sometimes the treasures are filed away in box, written on index cards. Once in a while the recipes are tucked between the pages of a cookbook. Quite often the best recipes are stuck in a drawer, doomed to the darkness of the back corner, hidden behind the bits and parts and oddities that also are tossed in the drawer. This book is for you to catalog and preserve the best recipes that were shared with you. Each page is designed to capture the heart and soul of the recipe. Not just record the ingredients and the preparation steps, but to document who gave you the recipe and why it is favored. Fill in the blanks to save your recipes from languishing in the drawer. Recipe Name - what is the name of this recipe? What does your family call it? Some of the best recipes handed down come with classic names such as: "Grandma's Oatmeal Pie" or "Aunt Linda's Meatloaf". Often the name is a bit more obscure: "Mrs. Cramer's Best Pumpkin Pie". Obscure because nobody remembers who Mrs. Cramer was. From the Kitchen of - where did this recipe originate? Maybe your best friend gave you her Aunt Linda's recipe. By noting your friend's name, you'll know who Aunt Linda is also. Appetizer, Side, Soup, Salad, Main, Dessert, or Drink - what part of the menu does the recipe call home? Circle the appropriate category. Or pick several, if the dish can work double duty as a side and an appetizer! Ingredients - list the goodies that go into this dish. Make sure you've captured the exact measurements so you'll be able to replicate that culinary delight each and every time. Directions - what are the steps pull this recipe from a list of individual ingredients into a complete dish? Don't forget to include baking temperatures and times. Remember to note if this dish is best served the same day as prepared or better the next day. Serves - how many people can have a bit of this goodness on their plate? Maybe you count the cookies instead of deciding how many servings it might be. Perhaps that chocolate delight is supposed to serve eight, not just be a single serving. Notes - this is where you add anything that you want to remember. My grandma often noted things like "Wendell's BD" or "Leave out onions" in the margins of her cookbooks. Use the Table of Contents as you fill in the pages, to record on which page you wrote the prize winning chili, for easy future reference. Fill up the pages, satisfy your cravings and feed your family & soul. Create a book of your favorite recipes that will become a longed for heirloom.
About the Author: Noel Lizotte has been saving recipes for years, stuffing clippings in drawers, shoving scraps of paper in the pages of old books and squeezing index cards into recipe boxes until they explode. Thankfully, recipe explosions generally result in delicious meals!