I haven't snapped any photos of the kids cooking recently, so you'll have to settle for these shots of Edie and I working on Christmas cookies. Throughout the quarantine, Edie and Addie have been baking, and cooking, up a storm. And within the last few months, Addie has been more diligent in saving her favorite recipes, and learning which cookbook contains which cherished family favorite. I suppose the knowledge that she'll be leaving home soon is inspiring her to make note of her favorite foods so she can hopefully recreate them when I'm not around. We've also talked about creating (or maybe she's implying I should create) a cookbook with all the family favorites that I can send along with each child as they leave the nest. It's an idea that's crossed my mind before, I guess I just thought I had more time.
Our well loved family cookbook is actually one my grandmother gave me after I graduated college. She wrote in it several of her well known recipes, and I've added many more through the years, including those well loved copies from my grandmother's mother I mentioned above. The binding is falling apart, and there's more clippings stuffed in the front and back than there are pages in the middle, but somehow I'm still able to find what I need. But I suppose the time is coming when I will need to organize things a bit more for posterity's sake, if nothing else. I've also started recording everything I serve for major holidays, and the Christmas cookies I bake each year. It started by accident; I just happened to find several lists of dishes or cookies and related shopping lists stuck in my cookbook (left there after a hectic day of prep), but now it is an intentional act that will hopefully help inspire me, and now my children, as they eventually plan their own holiday meals and traditions.
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