Live LARGE on Little
  • Blog
  • About
  • Quotations
  • Contact

FOR THE COOK & COOK-EE

7/2/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
"Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon."            Dalai Lama

I am not a great cook. Unlike the above quote, my cooking is either reckless or abandoned. I can do it but not very enthusiastically. However, I have family and friends that are spectacular and creative cooks and I admire them greatly as it's not a skill that comes easily or joyfully to me. I have cooked to keep children alive, impress a man, fill an obligation and feed myself when I can't face one more frozen dinner.

For Christmas several years ago my sister-in-law who is tremendously clever (and may become famous as a result of this very blog) put together a family cook book. She put a call out to all of us to send her our favorite recipes. My recipes were a paltry pile of rather unremarkable quality but she recieved many from my rest of my family. She also did a bit of research and came up with recipes that went back two generations or more. She compiled all the recipes in three ring binders for every household in the family. She entitled it Home Cooking: A Special Collection of Recipes and designed a snappy cover sheet that slid into the clear pocket on the front of the binder. Over the years she has sent out updates to the book that consist of new favorites and favorites of new members of the family. And as it's a 3-ring binder we can add to it easily. And...it stays open to the page as you work, which is a huge bonus. It's happened more than once that as I am cooking, unbeknownst to me, the page has turned itself and I have combined two recipes with inedible results.

That cook book has saved my metaphorical bacon many a time when I needed to come up with something fast that was relatively simple and most of all tried and true. Thank you W.S.!

Since I am not a wonder in the kitchen I'm not sure why I have used this gift idea over and over again. I guess I figure if I can't cook or bake someone has to. I find a recipe for muffins, bread, a casserole...something homey and yummy and make a hand printed copy of the recipe. I buy the ingredients for the recipe and place them with the recipe card in a basket lined with a pretty kitchen towel or sometimes I will buy a serving dish or casserole as the container (or regift one that someone mistakenly thought I would love??). One of the best things about this gift is you can shop for all of it at the grocery store while you're doing your other shopping. Top it off with a recycled bow or strips of fabric tied into a bow and Ta-Da...someone else will be doing the cooking and maybe they'll invite you over.

Now you might think I was going to close with my favorite recipes for herb infused olive oil or salsa fresh from my garden as a most special hand-made gift, but no. I merely come up with these tasty ideas not the actual food item. That's my gift to you. Trust me, you can be thankful for that.






1 Comment

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    October 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010

    Categories

    All
    Advice/Criticism
    Animals
    Anniversaries
    Anonymous Gifts
    Baby Gifts
    Bartering
    Birthdays
    Books
    Children
    Container Gifts
    Cooking
    Correspondence
    Forgiveness
    Gardening
    Gifts Of Our Time
    Gifts Of The Heart
    Gifts To Self
    Give Me A Break
    Giving Away
    Giving On Our Own Birthday
    Giving Time
    Graduation
    Green Gifting
    Grief
    Hand Made Gifts
    Holidays
    House Warming
    People As Gifts
    Present-tation
    Quotes
    Receiving
    Re-Gifting
    Re-Purposing
    Stuff
    Synchronicity
    Think Ahead
    Thrift
    Traditions
    Traditions/Food
    Unusual Gifts

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.