Recipe Junkie’s Faves

I come by it naturally…my fascination with recipes and cookbooks. My mother has always combed through recipes looking for something new to try. Her passion and experiences have been passed along to her daughters. Last Christmas, just after her 95th birthday, she gave both my sister and me a large manila file folder full of recipes she had printed off the internet. Yes, she surfs the internet in her mid-90’s. She loves to try out her “finds” on the neighbors at her senior living apartment complex. I admire her for keeping her passions and her spirit alive: food, entertaining and people, a very nice triplet, indeed. She remains lively with the best of them, out spunking many of her friends as much as a decade or two younger. She is, indeed, both memorable and a people magnet. One of her favorite activities is baking with her great-grandboys, and helping them pack tasty cookies to deliver to the neighbors down the hall. They have converted her red walker into a delivery cart!

These same experiences are intrinsic in my enjoyment of life as well. One of the most fun traditions of Thanksgiving, for me, is planning for seasonal decor and a grand, doable and memorably pleasing menu. I comb through my recipe collections, saved magazines, and stacks of cookbooks, until the table is prepared and the meal is planned. We have our old favorite dishes, but we also love to find newbies that will become “old faves.” My adult son has one-upped me in the cooking talent, as children often do. He makes a roasted turkey that even turkey-haters would love…if only he would jot down his methods and ingredients from year to year, we would have the best turkey cookbook on the market.

I’ve been saving recipes since I was a little girl and first tried my hand at cooking. I have two old wooden recipe boxes of Mother’s, which are a sampling of a childhood full of church socials and family gatherings. For my mother’s 95th birthday, we had an old fashioned pie social and served pies made from these recipe boxes. KH recently found an old recipe box from his elementary school kitchen chef who created some of his favorite meals. I’m rubbing my hands together anxiously awaiting the opportunity to try out some of these jewels.

We have a ranking system for each newbie attempt. It’s a simple scale of 1-10, “10” being “can’t get any better than this.” If a dish makes the 8+ category, it makes the “keeper cut” and is deemed worthy of being repeated. Some of our “10’s” have become new holiday traditions, like Pumpkin French Toast. The whole family spends the night before with us, and wakes up to this awesome Thanksgiving morning breakfast.  They wouldn’t have it any other way.

I hope you enjoy this sampling of our “Faves”.  If you try one, email me your 1-10 ranking. I’m always interested, because I love to cook for friends and family. You are welcome to reciprocate with some of your favorites as well, and if you have a fun experience to share that compliments the recipe, I would enjoy hearing that, too!

From our kitchen to yours, THANK YOU!  lynncasey@captivatedbylife.com