Sifting through my recipe box is like rummaging through a time capsule filled with culinary memories. Card edges are lovingly crinkled and soiled by splatters of food prepared with love, honored by tradition. Throughout the holiday season my little treasure box is "loved" on even more! I frequently reach into my crowded pantry to pull out the box adorned in a vibrant print of grapes and pears. I place it on the kitchen counter so that I can sort, sort through moments photographed in casseroles and cookies. Even the box itself was a gift from a dear friend. She gave me the box as a birthday gift and put a few of her stand-out recipes inside. Recipes like Shortbread Sugar cookies; actually, she taught me, hands-on, how to make them during the Christmas season so that my girls could leave goodies for Santa.
My mother didn't cook...ever. Every dish or dessert I've ever prepared has come from someone or somewhere else. Recipes are collected like postcards, I choose the ones that best represent the time and place of a moment. Sometimes I wonder what recipe box I would own if the cards were my mother's, but I don't dwell on this long because in that fantasy kitchen I wouldn't possess the cornucopia of delights I have now. Like the recipe for fudge borrowed from Country Cooking, the First Baptist Church of Smalltown, Texas' cookbook or a recipe for cornbread dressing taken from an excellent cook with whom I used to work; I might not have Nana's green jello salad delight or Donna's pecan pie. Some of my favorite recipes have been given to me by The Cheryls, women who have positively impacted my life, significantly changing its course for the better. My pseudo mom, Cheryl T's recipe for breakfast casserole is the perfect brunch dish for a family gathering; my sweet Step-Mama, Cheryl C's recipe for lasagne, or comfort roast, or the holiday delight, cherries in the snow are all crowd pleasing recipes. I cannot imagine a collection without these dishes in its repertoire.
As Christmas approaches, I plan to cherish every recipe, every dish made. To cook with love means to honor the recipe maker, and mark the memories with good food and loving family.
