Preserve Your Family Recipes

Being one of three brothers, my mom used the kitchen as a place to keep her sons occupied when playing outside was not an option. To keep us out of mischief, she would turn a rainy day into a day of making snicker doodles, cakes, brownies, and pies. It was also a time where all three boys learned how to cooks meals; not just for a few people, but for large family gatherings.

Over the years I have called my mom to get recipes and the process of accumulating these recipes has been very slow.

My wife and I continued the tradition of cooking with our children and now that they are going out on their one, it’s interesting to see history repeating itself with requests for favorite recipes.

After watching a cable network craft show that encouraged viewers to create scrapbooks as gifts, my wife was inspired to create recipe scrapbooks for our children, but after some consideration, we decided to make 10 scrapbooks at one time. There were not just our kids to consider, but nephews, nieces and others who would be interested in acquiring many of our family recipes.

Over a five month period, my wife and I cooked each item, took photos of the completed dishes, and created the content for each set of pages that revolved around a recipe. We typed up each recipe on our home computer, making sure to include any special instructions and grocery lists. The recipes were printed on a wide variety of stationary and then glued to a page. We also scanned old family photos; printing them on our photo printer. My wife added borders and accents to each page making each recipe a special presentation.

When the project was completed, we invited everyone over for a family gathering and presented the scrapbooks. Needless to say there were some tears of happiness and amazement. We encouraged everyone to start making scrapbooks for their own children and to make it a family project until it was time for their kids to start their adult lives.

A closing thought...while a recipe’s ingredients and instructions are important, so is the cookware. Make sure you have the right pot, pan, and utensil to do the job right. For some very unique kitchen items order Lehman's Non-Electric Catalog from EZ-Request.com.

 

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Top 5 Things You Need in Your Kitchen

If you are just starting to cook, or are moving in on your own, chances are, you don't have much in terms of cooking equipment.

Here is what I recommend for you to get, as you are starting out. As times goes by, you will, of course, get more kitchen gadgets. But here are five that I recommend starting out with:

• Chopping board. This is something very basic, as you can't chop anything without having a chopping board. It is very versatile, as you can chop pretty much anything on it - onions, potatoes, tomatoes,
  meat, herbs, etc.
  
  Some people prefer to get separate chopping boards to meat, dairy items, vegetables, etc. Others get differently sized chopping boards, and use them depending on the volume of things they need to chop. Start out with one, and see what else you need.
   
• A knife. Again, this is very basic, but you will not be able to chop or cook anything without a knife. A good, sharp knife goes a long way to help you prepare food. You can go to some stores, and hold the knives in your hand, so that you know which one you are comfortable with.
   
• A big pot. You need a pot for pretty much anything - from boiling pastas to making soups to stewing to pretty much anything else. Some pots come with colander inserts, which makes it easier to cook pasta. Or, you may get a colander separately, and use that.
   
• A saute pan. I love saute pans, and use them all the time. Again, they are very versatile, and I recommend getting ones without wooden handles, so that you can put the saute in the oven as well.
  
  Use the saute pan for preparing stir fries, sauteing meat and fish, cooking vegetables and much, much more.
   
• Roasting Pan. These are perfect for preparing things in the oven. From roast to roasted chicken to roasted vegetables, a roasted pan can help you cook your favorite dishes in the oven.

Cooking is great fun. Start getting the few things I recommended above, and add to your collection of kitchen equipment as time goes.

Below are some featured catalogs at EZ-Request.com you might be interested in ordering. Click on the images for more information.

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