Wedding gifts put me in a quandary and I’m not good at them, but I have decided to fix that. I think it’s a good idea to have a stash of gifts handy for weddings. Certainly family wedding gifts require a little more thought and love.
Over the years I have been slowly typing up my recipes and putting them in a binder so they are all accessible in one place. When the kids move out I can print out the recipes that they want and send them off with their own recipe books. It occurred to me that I could share these recipes with my niece who is getting married next month.
I bought a small binder and small sheet protectors from an office supply store and some pretty scrapbook paper on clearance. I have used a normal sized binder for recipes for years, but it is bulky and wastes counter space, so I think the smaller binder is better. I printed out each recipe on a half sheet of paper and assembled the binder with lots of pretty paper dividers. I took pictures because I will miss it when I give it away. I still need to make one for myself.
What is it about recipes and memories? Every time I use a recipe from a friend from Texas or Arizona, memories of them surround me as I cook. My aunt compiled family recipes a few years ago into small binders and I experience the same thing when I use them. Suddenly I’m back in Grandma’s kitchen.
I know the recipes won’t mean much to my niece for sentimental reasons, but hopefully she can make some great memories of her own as she prepares these. I wasn’t much of a cook when I got married, so cook books were some of my favorite wedding gifts.
My most requested recipes over the years have been our whole wheat bread, decadent brownies, chocolate chip cookies, butternut bisque, Mexicali pie, and black bean salsa.