The Solution to Too Many Cookbooks

        I've got way too many cookbooks on my shelves. But each one has got some recipe, on some page that's a family favorite or an old standby. A few years back I came upon a solution, but as you can see it hasn't really reduced my stash of cookbooks all that much.  It is so hard to part with these old friends of bygone days.

        After my kids would ask such questions as, "Mom, where's your recipe for corn muffins?" or "What recipe do you use for  macaroni and cheese?" I thought of a plan to eliminate or at least decimate my cluttered mish-mash of cookbooks. The plan would also put all our frequently used recipes into one easily accessible file.

         What I've done is put all our favorite recipes, new and old alike, into the computer via WORD, printed copies of each one, then placed them in vinyl sheet protectors and put them into an organized 3-ring binder. The name of the binder is "Anderson Family Cookbook: A Compilation of Most Often Used Family-favorite Recipes from a Variety of Sources." I always include the source of the recipe along with any special notes or variations.

           The benefits: 1. No more hunting for favorite recipes 2. All our most often used recipes are in one place 3. The favorite recipes are on my computer and easily shared with those who request them and can even be e-mailed  4. The kids and husband know where to find them and have quit asking me to find a recipe for them  5.I can get rid of cookbooks especially those of which I only use 1 or 2 recipes.

Cooking With Children: The Payoff

I know its a hassle bringing your kids into the kitchen to "help" make meals but oh, the payoff is worth the effort.Yes, kids make messes, sometimes big ones, and yes, they leave important ingredients out or put the wrong ingredients in, like the time my daughter put 3 tablespoons of baking soda in cookies instead of 3 teaspoons of baking powder. Lets face it...they mess up big time. But I know for a fact if kids are part of the cooking process they are more willing to try new foods and they are more willing to venture into cooking in general. Too many people these days have grown up not knowing how to cook. The answer: bring them in to help in the kitchen  when they are little and keep them in there as they grow. At one time we required our kids to plan and cook a family evening meal once per week. Sometimes we didn't eat until 9:00 PM but hey, they eat supper at 10:00 o'clock at night in Spain!
Now let me tell you about the scrumptious meal we had tonight. After I realized neither my husband or I would be home in time to cook supper I asked my 16 year old daughter to make some soup or something out of the rest of the broccoli in the frig. She looked up a recipe for broccoli cheese soup(on the internet of course) and VOILA! When I walked in the door at 6:30 PM the heavenly aroma of soup and baked french bread sent me into a salivary frenzy. Need I say more?