Write in Your Cookbooks!

I cherish my cookbook collection. I can spend a Sunday afternoon reading a new cookbook as if it were a novel. While I enjoy this immensely, I also really use them for cooking. Some of my fondest memories are of cooking recipes with my Mom from her 1960 version of her Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. The pages are a bit tattered and filled with the inevitable splatters that happen while cooking. They also include hand written notes for how some recipes were altered.

                                         "Soup could have used more salt"

                                 "Chicken needed ten more minutes in the oven"

                    "Cookies were better when I used half butter and half shortening"

                                        "Dad's favorite coconut cream pie!"

 Sure, these notes provide great insight that help me make recipes better and seeing my Mom's handwriting always makes me smile. They have become a sentimental reminder of special times in the kitchen with my Mom and I will pass down these memories to my daughter and granddaughter. 

My favorite, go-to cookbooks are filled with notes, just like my Mom's. Don't be afraid to write in yours!