2 February 2014

In the recipe book

There are a lot of things I think of when I think of home. 
but one of them is the sight of my mum in the kitchen baking. She is a fantastic baker and the cake tin is always full. 

I remember as a little girl looking through her recipe book, scribbles on lined paper, pencil revisions and loose newspaper clippings. There are photocopied recipes from magazines and ideas scribbled on scrap paper, passed on by friends. 


In the summer when I was heading off to uni I realised that I needed to write down some of those favourite recipes. Recipes that Mum knows by heart. Recipes that have lost their original name and are just called "sylvia's" because of the lady who first made them. 

So I sat there with a little notebook and a black pen and copied my favourite ones out. 
As the term has gone on the notebook has become splattered and a little bit dog eared. 
Just like my mums recipe book, bits of paper stick out all over the place. 
Recipes I have scribbled down from the internet and revised. Recipes I have pencilled across old bits of diary whilst on the phone to home. 
Recipes titled "chicken and rice" which are actually a lot more than just chicken and rice. 

I'm so excited to see this little book filling up. In one book, memories of home and my mum and housemates and university piled together through a shared love of food. 

Where do you store your recipes? 

12 comments:

Jane said...

my mother is 90yrs now and I still like looking through her little notebook of recipes, it brings back so many happy memories.

Miriam said...

In a very tatty blue folder! but I have a little book that looks a bit like yours, full of memories. I wanted to get one started for my son who loves food and cooking but when I mentioned it to him he said "Oh, me & the guys have one on line where we all add stuff to" there are times.....

Missus Wookie said...

Well my original was a notebook very much like yours, then it moved to a folder, finally a roladex ( http://www.mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/organizing-recipes.html ) but these days I have a recipe notebook in Evernote which I've shared with Princess. Although she can't cook this year she's looking forward to it next year already.

Sian said...

I have a little folder I was given as an engagement present and I'm still tucking pages into it all these years later.

TTO has been flat hunting with his friends this week - it has got me thinking about getting a few recipes ready for him for next year!

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

I have a green exercise book from my college years, which I added to until quite recently. A lot of my recipes are titled with the person who gave them to me in mind. Helen's chocolate cake being one that immediately springs to mind! I wander why? Now I tend to find recipes online and use Evernote to store them. That makes it easy to shop for ingredients as I can access from my phone when I'm at the shops.

Lou said...

I have some of my mums recipes tucked away in a little book in the corner of my baking cupboard x

Barbara Eads said...

You are so smart to start this now. It will be fun to see how your taste changes over the years too. Another way to document what is important to you!

alexa said...

Such a great idea to start early :) and the dog-eared look is a must-have! I have a little red hard backed notebook for over thirty-five years now :).

Karen said...

I'm not sure what happened to my mother's recipe book. I know my father kept it, but after he died it disappeared. I would love to have it back. My recipes are in a notebook on 4X6 cards; fortunately I do have many of my mother's recipes. Now many, many of the recipes I use and want to try are on a fantastic recipe app called Paprika. My daughter and I both use it, and share recipes through it.

Lizzie said...

I bought an index-card filing box, when I had my first flat at nineteen. It's deep blue, made of metal and a great way to store the cards with recipes on. There are divider cards, with section names on the tabs, like "Soups and Starters", "Rice and Pasta", "Desserts"... The cards are a nice size - about 7x5" and I devised a system for them, so they all had the oven temp, ingredients etc in the same place. A great thing about my box, is that it's just a perfect size to fit the clippings, recipes from friends (or their mums!), stuff I scribbled while on the phone etc...
James has started talking about a book of useful info to take when he goes to uni (2 1/2 years...I bet that'll whizz by!!). He favours a ring binder with plastic sleeves to store the notes he and, he hopes, I will write down, including recipes. I will make sure there's room for those clippings & cuttings in his folder!

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

This is so sweet, Abi. I love that you have already started a collection of recipes like this, and that your book is already becoming worn from use. It will be fun to see this book grow and expand through the years!

Beverly said...

I have always used a recipe box with the recipes on individual cards. Both of the boys had them start recipe books for them. They have page protectors that the cards slide into.