After watching the movie Julie and Julia Matt wondered if we could do an experiment like that. As he was saying that I think that I kind of glared at him (sorry Matt) because I was thinking of the challenging recipes, expensive ingredients, and time that it would take (that is non-existent with Grace) to go through Mastering the Art of French Cooking like Julie did in the movie.
However what really stopped me in my tracks was, why would I go out and buy the recipe book of Mastering the Art of French Cooking when I have about 15+ recipe books that I do not use as much as I should. Most of my cookbooks I have about 5 recipes that I love out of them, but the rest I do not touch. So I brought up that concern about our new experiment. He agreed with me that we need to go through the books that we have.
I liked the idea of working through the recipes that we already have, but where to start? Matt, in his wisdom, decided that I should not be too overwhelmed and also clean up the most frustrating part of our recipe area-the loose leaf recipe folder. Over the years we have gathered, copied, and written down many random recipes and just shoved them in this folder...never to be seen again! Till now...
So yesterday was the start of this experiment and I made "Easy Layered Enchilada Pie" (which came from the home of Steve and Sue...Thanks!). This was one of the first meals that I have actually made since Grace was born thanks to meals from friends at church and also the cooking marathon that happened in October. The meal was a success and has earned a place of honor in our family cookbook. The idea is that with each recipe we would choose...is it good enough to make again and be placed in the family cookbook, or do we avoid it from now on? This one was good :) A good way to start off an experiment!
The hope is that I will try to have an experimental meal about twice a week. I think it will be fun and also help us go through these random recipes that we probably would not see otherwise.
5 comments:
Sounds like a plan: Hunting for treasure in your own baker's rack. Enjoy the journey!
I recently did something similar. I sat down with ALL my cookbooks and picked several recipes out of each one. I wrote the recipe name/cookbook/page number in a notebook. Now, when it is time to go shopping I look up the recipe I want to try next.I found some really good ones, and a dud or two.
With the age of Grace, it's good you started with a recipe that has "easy" in it's name!
Enjoy your experiment!
It's a great idea. You get into a rut, where you are making the same food all the time. A project like this can be a worthwhile adventure. We did something similar with a 4-foot stack of BH&G's I hadn't had a chance to even open. Steve had some time, so I told him to look through and find some recipes he wanted me to try, and I promised to make whatever he clipped out. Sure enough, he found lots of new recipes that we now consider old standards. (As a bonus, I cleared out a messy corner when I threw out the old magazines.)
Have fun with it!
By the way, congratulations on the big house cleaning.
love,
sue
What did you decide to make for your Valentine's Day Dinner?
I feel your pain. I have so many clipped-from-a-magazine, scrawled out, or printed-from-the-internet recipes that I have never tried. A while back, I started keeping all those loose, untried recipes in one notebook. After I have tried them, they either go in the trash or in another notebook of keeper recipes, often with notes about what was good, what to change, etc.
Good luck with your experiment!
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