Writing My Cookbook

Since childhood, I have always enjoyed creating in the kitchen and trying family recipes.  I wanted to preserve this heritage of cooking, and also provide an opportunity for the other sisters in my church to do the same.  I invited everyone to contribute at least five recipes.  The result is The Fruit of the Spirit, 27th Anniversary of Locust Fork Branch Cookbook.  I also recorded a brief history of the branch as the introduction.  

At one time women "cooked out of necessity, but with pride and confidence,"  (Lynn Anderson, Country Woman, J/F '00).  I think that's what's missing in a lot of homes today.  I enjoy seeing women and men and children take pride in their cooking and develop confidence in this skill.  For years I heard folks belittle real cookery, and yet some of the most famous (and wealthy) people in the world are chefs!  Our family loves watching Master Chef.  Cooking really can seem like magic.  To a small child, mixing a soupy concoction and pouring it on a hot griddle which turns it into chocolate chip pancakes is no less than a small miracle!

One of my favorite things is to collect cookbooks from the past.  I especially like old books on preserving food.  Some of the information in these old books are all but lost.  Just today I found another book on this subject and thought, if the economy crashes at least I'll be able to learn how to cook from scratch--without a grocery store and modern conveniences if necessary.

Whenever possible, I like to get copies of recipes written by my friends and relatives in their own handwriting.  It's especially poignant when the recipes are from loved ones who have passed on.  I like to make notations next to every recipe I've ever tried in each of my cookbooks (usually smiley or frowny faces or I might suggest less or more of an ingredient or omit it completely).  These help me know what I have tried and whether the recipe was worth trying again.  Who knows, maybe some great grandchild one day will try the very same recipe and follow my advice.  Below is a recipe from my late Aunt Phala.

Sometimes I challenge myself to try every recipe that sounds interesting in each of my recipe books.  I could while away the hours just sitting quietly, reading my cookbooks.  I also have an "Idea Book" that is full of recipes clipped out of old Southern Livings, Taste of Homes, etc.  I look at this book for my weekly menus before going to the grocery store.  Then I try the recipes.  If I don't like the dish, I throw the recipe away.  If I love the dish, it goes into a 3 x 5 recipe file.  If I use the recipe enough, then I type it into my latest recipe book I'm creating on the computer using Typensave (more on that in a minute).

Sometimes I'm looking for a new peanut butter cookie recipe to try, or meatballs, or picnic sandwiches.  These are filed in my extremely obese "Idea Book" under Cookies, Appetizers, and Special Meals (or Lunches).  Of course I have a Large Crowds section complete with wedding cake recipes and ideas.

Typensave is a computer program that I got from Morris Press Cookbooks (www.morriscookbooks.com). At their website they give you step-by-step instructions.  I made sure my church cookbooks would sell for $5 each.  I was not trying to make any money off this project so I did the typing myself and used every coupon and cost-saving tip they offered.  I looked at a lot of different companies, but Morris had the best-looking cookbooks and the easiest set-up.  You can even arrange for contributors to go on-line and type in their own recipes!  It couldn't be any simpler.

Another great idea for publishing a cookbook for your own family is to blog your family favorite recipes and then use a site like the following to print the blog:
http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/cutestblog/index.html.

Teaching Children to Cook

A girl should learn to make a bed, 

To bake good biscuit, cake, and bread;

To handle deftly brush and broom,

And neatly tidy up a room. ~1899

These instructions are from our collection of American Girl cookbooks.  They pretty much covered everything so well, I decided to include it on my blog:

1. Always work with an adult.
2. Wash hands with soap and water.  Wear an apron, tie back your hair, and roll up your sleeves.
3. Read a recipe carefully, all the way through, before you start it.  Look at the pictures.  They will help you understand the steps.
4. Gather all the ingredients and equipment you will need before you start to cook.  Put everything where you can reach it easily.
5. A good cook measures exactly.  Here is a hint for measuring flour.  Spoon the flour into a measuring cup, heaping it up over the top.  Then use the spoon handle to level off the flour.  Don't shake or tap the cup.
6. Learn from an adult how to peel, cut or grate with sharp kitchen tools.  Always use a chopping board to save kitchen counters.
7. Pay attention while using knives so that you don't cut your fingers!  Remember, a good, sharp knife is safer than a dull one.
8. When you stir or mix, hold the bowl or pan steady on a flat surface, not in your arms. 
9. Make sure your mixing bowls, pots, and pans are the right size.  If they are too small, you'll probably spill.  If pots and pans are too large, foods will burn more easily.
10. Clean up spills right away.
11. Pots and pans will be less likely to spill on the stove if you turn the handles toward the side.
12. Have an adult handle hot pans.  Don't use the stove burners or the oven without permission or supervision.
13. Turn off the burner or the oven as soon as a dish is cooked.
14. Potholders and oven mitts will protect you from burns.  Use them when you touch anything hot.  Protect kitchen counters by putting trivets or cooling racks under hot pots and pans.
15. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.  If you plan to make things early and serve them later, store them properly.  Foods that could spoil belong in the refrigerator.  Wrap foods well.
16. If you decide to make a whole meal, be sure to plan so that all the food will be ready when you are ready to serve it.
17. When a recipe gives two cooking times--for example, when it says, "bake 25 to 30 minutes"--first set the timer for the shorter time.  If the food is not done when the timer rings, give it another five minutes (or more as necessary).
18. Cleanup is part of cooking, too.  Leave the kitchen at least as clean as you found it.  Wash all the dishes, pots, and pans. Sweep the floor.  Throw away the garbage.

We may live without poetry, music and art:

We may live without conscience and live without heart;

We may live without friends, we may live without books,

But civilized man cannot live without cooks.

~Owen Meredith