Not having many recipes in my repertoire, I hesitated to buy the top-spiral bound, nicely labeled, blank recipe book. But hey -- it was on clearance. And it was labeled so nicely. Did I mention it even stood up on its own? I love being organized (doesn't mean I always am--it just means I like to be), and I saw visons of trying out a new recipe (which I was already doing a good bit of), deciding if it made the cut, and then writing it down in my "Only Good Recipes Go Here" book.
I came to love that little book! The cover even had fruit on it to match my little kitchen, and each labeled page carried a Bible verse. Whenever I tried a new recipe, one of two things happened. I either (a) decided it was not something that was worth cooking again, or (b) deemed it worthy of my little personal recipe book.
Fast forward a few months later, and I found myself cooking my first meal for my now-husband (see that story here). He didn't enter into our relationship as an open-minded eater, but somehow along the way, I changed that. Now, he'll peak over my shoulder as I'm recipe perusing and suggest something that even I might not have considered.
When we made our first move from Tifton to Royston, we were still in our first year of marriage, and I was finding all sorts of new recipes to cook in my lovely, spacious, I-sure-do-miss-it kitchen. When asking Jeremy what he thought of each meal, I found myself asking one simple question,
"Is it book worthy?"
Most meals ended up in my trusty little book, but sometimes Jeremy vetoed a meal "Ehh...it's alright." (to this day I haven't cooked a meal that man wouldn't eat; I'd best go find some wood to knock on now!) and sometimes I would veto a meal. There are some recipes that weren't our favorites, but still made it in the book because the other spouse really liked it. Kind of like when I go to Moe's...it's not my favorite, but I'll tough it out because the hubby loves it so much.
My new "Book Worthy" recipe book made meal planning a breeze when I was short on time or wasn't in the mood to sort through lots of other cook books to find new meal ideas. I would simply slip to the section (poultry? beef? stew?) of the type of meal I wanted, and voila!, all of my tried and true meals were right there. Sometimes, when I really wasn't in the meal-planning mood, I would toss the book to the Hubs and let him decide....easy peasy!
Fast forward a few more moves, a new house, and 2 kids later, and my trusty book began to show signs of wear and tear. The spiral bound top was coming undone; recipes...especially the good ones...were barely hanging on for dear life. I'm pretty sure the recipe for Paula Deen's White Chicken Calzones is still folded up, sitting in my spice cabinet from when it came out one fateful night.
Soon after, all the recipes started falling out, and I could piecemill it together no longer. Sadly, I started looking for a new book, but despite my search, I just couldn't find anything as good as my old trusty book. Maybe I didn't like the labeled categories; maybe I didn't want to write on tiny little cards; maybe I was just being too picky. Despite getting several similar books and filling in family recipes as wedding gifts over the years, I just didn't find the one that suited me.
Finally, I compromised for a suitable replacement at Hallmark; I managed to re-handwrite most of my recipes....and then realized that in the years since my first Book Worthy book, technology had come a LONG way. When trying new recipes, I most often set the computer on the counter where a cookbook might have been. It made sense to store my personal recipes in a similar manner, for safe keeping, for sharing, and for utilizing on vacation.
So came along "Book Worthy: The Blog".
I still ask Jeremy if a recipe is "Book Worthy" and I'm still working on adding our favorite recipes. I'm still pinning things left and right with the latest internet craze, Pinterest, but my hope is that after I try all of those recipes out (yeah right - that would take years!), I can organize the keepers here, for fast, easy, organized access.
I hope you stay a little while and look around. It's a humble collection, by far, but one that is continually growing....even if I don't update the blog for months at a time! I hope you find some recipes that your family loves, and if you have any recipes that you think would reach our "Book Worthy" status, please send them our way!
Happy Cooking,
Jennifer
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