There is this wonderful woman at my church, who always brings outstanding deserts, on the professional level. Now, I am not given to much of these types of “foods”, but I do admire her rather large repertoire of recipes, and ability to always bring a “hit”.
I had the pleasure of sitting at a dinner with her at a women’s function, and out of the blue, she offered one of her little tips. She actually came out and said that whenever she finds a recipe she likes, whether it is in a book or wherever, she copies it down into her own recipe book! Now she’s gotta have an impressive recipe book indeed! 
If you would like to emulate the best, pick up your own blank recipe book here, and make your own legacy.
Yesterday was my husband’s birthday, and so I made his favorite dish, Beef Stroganoff. Now, this is one of those dishes that his mom made, and he just loves it. When we got married, I asked my new father-in-law, Madison, what the recipe was, since my mother-in-law passed away before I met my husband. Madison didn’t know where her version of the recipe was, and he gave me very vague instructions on how to make one of his wife’s well-favored recipes.
If my late mother-in-law would’ve had a blank recipe book to record her recipes in, nobody would be left to wonder, and it would’ve lessened the stress on one young bride who didn’t know how to cook! (Now my secret’s out!) A blank recipe book should really be in everyone’s kitchen! I’m sure Madison would’ve looked there for the recipe, had she had one of these.
So, for many years, I either didn’t make beef stroganoff, or guessed at how to do it correctly. I have, I think gotten pretty good at this, without ever actually looking up a recipe online (!) until today, the day AFTER his birthday! (I did make it yesterday!)
This one recipe strikes me in particular. Maybe it’s because of the white wine, the green onions, or the way the mushrooms look in the picture, or all of the above. I am going to have to try this recipe! It calls for a lot less sour cream than what I used (what have I done?), but it looks well worth the try!
I will get my version posted here soon.
Technorati Tags: blank recipe book, beef stroganoff
Today I would like to bring to your attention that there is a book written specifically for young children, What’s Up With That Cup? that teaches children about the measuring cup, which was the subject of yesterday’s entry. I am delighted to know about this book, as we have young children that will be interested in this as well! Perhaps this will help avoid early mistakes in the kitchen:). Thank you Kathyrn, for bringing this to my attention!
I also liked the review of Eat Healthy, Feel Great, which categorizes foods by “green light, yellow light, and red light”, very neat idea!
You know, I was good at math, but I never really understood some things about fractions until I started cooking.
Most recipes involve 1/3 of a cup, or some other fraction, and when you have to double or triple it, well, it is a great kinesthetic and visual aid to learning fractions! The same goes for pints, quarts and gallons. To someone that doesn’t know the difference between those in real life, the classroom may as well be teaching greek, if you ask me! Learning to prepare meals from a recipe really takes learning math from the classroom – to real life. I guess you could say it “brings it home”.
Maybe this is why our forefathers were so smart – they did more cooking at home! 
For those of you who are trying to find something else for your children to do besides go on the computer, how about getting them interested in learning how to make something in the kitchen, and recording their creation in their own blank recipe book?
Children are notorious for liking to help, especially the younger ones, and if encouraged, will often keep this up.
You could start with something that you need to make anyway, and give the child a task, like cutting something up (if old enough), or stirring something, while you add ingredients.
Having them copy a recipe into their own personal recipe book is starting a lifelong good habit. A great way to get some quality time in with your children! :)
Tonight I would like to share one more way you can “scrapbook” with My Personal Recipe Book: add recipes to your recipe book by first printing them onto stickers (such as the postal kind) that you then stick right onto the page.
Our customer was able to fit 2 such stickers on each page, and was delighted with the results! She did this with 5 books, and gave them to her children and nieces.
Happy memory making!
~Roxanne
Hi Everyone,
Today I would like to share some ways that scrapbooking can be used with My Personal Recipe Book. While it’s main function as blank recipe book is to record recipes, there is definitely room for scrapbooking; and this will truly help to make this book “yours”.
Places in the blank recipe book to scrapbook:
The tabbed dividers: they are not lined, and there is no writing on them on either side. They are made of heavy duty almost cardboard like paper, perfect for decorating however you choose! Since they are to divide the book into sections, appropriate artwork can be done, or, for something entirely different, anecdotes from your family’s traditions can be recorded here. Maybe decorations on one side, and family traditions on the other?
The recipe pages themselves are lightly lined except for the “ingredients” section, and there is a little bit of room at the bottom of each page, maybe for a line or two of mementos or whatever notes you wish to include.
At the front of the book there is a “This book belongs to” page, which is blank except for those words and a line to write your name on. The other side of this page is blank as well, if needed to record any notes on.
So, altogether with the 8 tabbed dividers there are 16 pages to scrapbook that are heavier duty. These, along with the other areas mentioned, will go along way in making this book yours.
Enjoy!
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In this post I would like to share a couple of ways that you can create precious family memories using My Personal Recipe Book. Since this is book that you can write in over time, sort of like a recipe journal, the capabilities for this formerly blank cookbook to become a treasured family heirloom are great!
One way would be for you to sit down with your child, and help him or her write out one of your favorite recipes, in their very own book! This is a great idea for several reasons:
1) they learn to appreciate cooking and favorite family recipes
2) you are spending time with them
3) they have a copy of a favorite family recipe, so if you ever lost yours, they have a back up! This has actually happened to me, and I was very grateful that my daughter had her book handy!
4) If you are improvising in the kitchen, they can write it down, as you are doing it (or after they have tasted your creation), so you have a record of it before it leaves your mind. :)
With my above two suggestions, you might see how your child’s blank recipe book could become the family heirloom! Not to mention the fond memories created by quality time spent with your child. Often discussions of where I got the recipe from come up when I do this with my children. It is a time honored way of passing down your heritage and creating memories with your family.
Til next time,
Roxanne
Basically, this is a book that replaces your recipe card box! You write in your favorite recipes, in one of the sections that are divided with tabbed dividers that you label. The last divider is for the index, so you can easily find everything! There are 8 sections, including the index, and there is room for 210 recipes, 2/3 of them are shorter recipes, and 1/3 of them take up the entire page (of a 6 x9) book.
As your own recipe book, it not only replaces the recipe box, but it eliminates “lost recipe card” syndrome! I don’t know how much time this is going to save many people, but it will be considerable!
The binding is heavy duty spiral binding (not the cheap gbc plastic), technically called “wire-0″, and makes the book easier to use, since you can fold it back against itself and/or it stays open when you lay it flat.
There a four different covers to choose from, with cover choices that appeal to men as well as women, so now you know what to get your favorite male cook for a Christmas or Father’s day gift!
Enjoy!
