Preserving Spills & Thumbprints

 I am working on a family cookbook. It's a effort to preserve the precious recipes that are disappearing as fast as the generations of my family.I will be using old family photos and a few photos of my own for the book. I have been and will be taking photos and making a few recipes in the process just for fun! Tonight I made my Mom's recipe for chicken casserole and it was delish!

You can tell a lot about a woman by her recipes. My Mom's recipes all seem to be easy,quick,inexpensive and enough food to feed a small army. She raised 4 kids and ran a business with my Dad yet she still found time to feed us a yummy meal each night. Amazing! I have no kids and work 32 hours a week and can't manage to cook more that 2-3 times a week!

As I sit here at my computer copying the recipes I get a sentimental twinge..I love these recipes just the way they are..the newspaper clippings and food spotted recipe cards written in the handwriting of generations of women before me.

Then my eyes turn to the version I have just created....

My heart sinks. What have I done? But wait...I'm trying to make these last another few generations..isn't that good? Perhaps I need to scan some the recipes just as they are and add them to the book that way?Oh yes...brilliant... that makes me feel better! :) Off to keep at it..my goal is to have this book written,designed and printed by Mother's Day 2011..and that's pushing it!