I started this recipe binder about six years ago when Avery was a baby and I actually had time to organize things like recipes. I used to tear recipes out of magazines or print them from the internet, punch three holes in them and stick them in the binder under the appropriate tab - I was so organized back then I had tabs for different types of recipes, from breads to egg dishes to desserts to vegetables and even different types of meat. Somewhere along the line, punching holes and inserting a piece of paper in a binder became too much work, and I started shoving loose recipes in the binder haphazardly.
Now there are more loose recipes than recipes in the right place. When I am searching for a recipe, I have to shuffle through pages and pages before I find what I am looking for. While at times this seems annoying and inefficient, I often find this search inspirational. I find recipes along the way that I forgot about, recipes that have been hand written by dear family members, recipes that were used to jot down notes or messages, reminding me of days gone by.
Just the other day I was looking for my aunt's recipe for black pepper buttermilk biscuits and noticed this caption in the margin:
"Bread is the warmest, kindest of words. Write it always with a capital letter, like your own name."
Reading that quote in my aunt's handwriting flooded me with warm memories of cooking alongside my aunt and cousin in their wonderful kitchen. In an effort to both share these recipes with you and to facilitate my own search for recipes when I don't have time to sift through my giant stack of culinary goodness, I have created a new flickr set of recipes and a link to recipes on my sidebar. A virtual recipe box sitting on a counter in cyberspace. May you find inspiration between the cups, teaspoons, sticks of butter and bake times.
Awww. Look at that beautiful gift you have given all of us. Thank you for sharing your recipes. I'll be making the potato leek soup within a couple of days. I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeletep.s. I posted a recipe for black bean and corn chowder on my blog this morning. Consider it a swap. =)
what a beautiful quote - looking forward to the recipes!
ReplyDeleteOh My Gosh, whoopee!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing treat to find all of those stupendous recipes in your sidebar!
I am feeling beyond inspired, I'm down right starving looking at it all...mind you, I just finished a rather large dinner.
Thank you ever so much, that soup shall be made this week!
And to answer your question from the last post, yes, I do agree that a picture Does make it taste better.
Thank you for this. My binder is similar and funny, I make the same 6 things out of it all the time.
ReplyDeleteLove your eggs, too. So Spring.
You just made me hungry!! And I noticed a few of my favorites that you make that you forgot.... What about your lemon dill salad dressing? I could drink it straight from the bottle!
ReplyDeleteThat quote is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI too, tried to organize them in a binder. And I too, got lazy and started sticking them in every which way, and now it is a search party to find anything.
Since I get alot of recipes from the internet, I've decided to start a recipe box on my hard drive. But I agree, sometimes searching through the paper recipes is inspiring, and I find things I thought I'd forgotten. Or those old old handwritten ones (which I'll scan).
Just need to make sure I back it up!
Great idea Molly! I just pulled out my binder yesterday and it's exactly the same way you described yours. I shuffle through all the pages of newspaper clippings, magazines and hand written recipes to find anything.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for the recipe set up!
As my recipes (and waistline - just mine not Dad's)have expanded over the years, I've gone from binders to the plastic file folder cases. I have the files labeled and can just shove the numerous recipes I print from the Internet right into the folder. I actually do make many of the recipes before I put them away, it doesn't get filed if we don't like it.
ReplyDeletei have a binder and it is a mess, too! the flickr set is a good idea...going to check yours out.
ReplyDeleteauntie-gma has her nose in a book, so I will have to respond for her. This bread is incredible.
ReplyDelete-- Mark
(copied from William Sonoma)
This bread is almost effortless to make because it requires no kneading. Instead, the dough is allowed to slowly rise over a long period of time. Then it is baked in a preheated covered cast-iron pot, which helps produce a crispy, bakery-style crust on the finished loaf.
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp. chopped lemon zest
Cornmeal as needed
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, rosemary and zest. Add 1 5/8 cups water and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and very sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at warm room temperature (about 70°F) until the surface is dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours.
Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and fold the dough over onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel, preferably a flour sack towel (not terry cloth), with cornmeal. Put the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise until the dough is more than double in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours.
At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready, put a 2 3/4-quart cast-iron pot in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F.
Carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over, seam side up, into the pot; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake the pan once or twice if the dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the loaf is browned, 15 to 30 minutes more.
Transfer the pot to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, turn the pot on its side and gently turn the bread; it will release easily. Makes one 1 1/2-lb. loaf.
Adapted from Sullivan Street Bakery (New York City) and Mark Bittman, "The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work," The New York Times, Nov. 8, 2006.
What a wonderful idea. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when I saw your binder -- that's pretty much exactly what mine looks like. I'm in love with your aunt's quote and know I'll be thinking of it the next time my husband bakes bread :-)
ReplyDeleteThis really resonates with me. I am in the same disorganized boat, but an inspiring one it is, just on a very leisurely, casual cruise. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, this is such a lovely post! I love that Bread quote. I am a huge fan of hand me down recipes, and gathering new ones also. I will be checking out your flickr group right away.
ReplyDeleteI just found your potato leek soup recipe on flickr....yummy!
ReplyDeleteI have the same binder! Lots of organization in it before the kids and many more loose recipes since. I was thinking today of what might be the solution. It's so true that you find gems while looking. Thanks for sharing the recipes.
ReplyDeletewonderful quote and binder. My tabs have long ago fallen out, but I can still go right to the favorite, well-splattered few. Really like this post.
ReplyDelete