Family Favourite Recipes

Yes, I know this is my third home-made book post recently, but I want to share another very special book with you that is used almost daily in my house. It, like the Endo-something book is all about feeling good, feeling at home and feeling nourished (or treated). On leaving home my mother presented my brothers and myself each with one of these... A little ring binder. On the cover is a copy of a family characture I did when we were all still teenagers. Inside are copies of recipes that were firm family favourites in our home. What I love most, is that my mum wrote out the recipes by heart, using many 'Whalenisms' and lots of 'in' jokes. Over the years I have added to the book, and the recipes map out a history of where we have been and who we have been with.

This recipe was written by a very special friend who isn't around anymore. How I love seeing his hand writing and remembering when he cooked this for us and we shared the meal together. Food is like that for me; as much for the soul as for the body. Over the years I have gathered many recipes, from friends, newspapers and magazine and of course the intenet. So my book was getting over loaded with lots of scraps of paper just 'filed' into it.

Yesterday, my mum sent me a whole load of new little pockets for my folder (having seen the disorganised state my folder was in on her last visit). So I set about orgnaising it.

I'm always looking for ways to recycle the children's pictures, so I have used some of them as dividers. I put all my recipe scraps into the the pockets and all into some kind of order.

Now I'm feeling pretty organised. Also what was really nice was coming across recipes that I haven't made for ages. It has given me a little inspiration in the kitchen.

I think this will be a tradition I shall keep within my family. A gift of home cooking and love for my children to take with them wherever they go wherever the wind will blow them.