Move over Betty Crocker (or at least Betty's sister-in-law's cousin twice removed)

One of my New Year resolutions was to organize my recipes. They were scattered across multiple locations: tiny scraps of paper with hard to read scribbles, stacks of mystery photocopies and printouts, small papers, large papers, half of envelopes, magazine clippings, binders, books, all mixed up and everywhere...

My first task was to separate all the recipes into 3 piles. The trash pile. The keep pile. And the "need to try before it makes it permanently in my collection" pile.

A lot of my recipes came from very old "hand-me-down" cookbooks or from my Grandma and it became very clear very quickly that cooking back then was much different than cooking now. There wasn't a single recipe that didn't contain large amounts of beef, butter or a cream of something. There seems to have been just a different style of cooking back then...so sadly (or not so sadly) many of them ended up in my trash pile. It is interesting how food evolves over generations.

So it was "so long" crazy Fruit Loaf and Crabmeat Casserole. "See ya" Peanut Crunch Slaw and Beef with Raisin Sauce. "I will never try you" Orange Fluff, Mint Peas or Jellied Chicken...yes, these are all real.

But part of me felt like there were some I just had to keep. One day someone is going to want me to make a meat loaf or a potato salad and so I better have a recipe handy, right? What kind of good homemaker would I be without a sloppy joe recipe in my arsenal, even if I never make it?

And then there were the odd recipes, like home made tortillas. When is it going to be a better idea to try to make tortillas instead of buying them? When we live on a farm and the closest grocery store is 2 hours away? During Armageddon when all grocery stores have been destroyed and my kids really want tacos? Humm, I guess you never know....the tortilla recipe stays.

It took me a few weeks but now all my recipes are neatly typed up, filed by category and secure in a binder. (I saved a few of my Grandma's hand written recipes because there is just something about using your Grandma's "hand written recipe".) Now all my favorites are together including some jems of my Grandma's, family favorites, friend classics and new discoveries. Now....what to make for dinner?