Rantings of a Recipe Junky!
Do you own over one hundred cookbooks? Have you ever spent a great deal of time looking for “that” recipe in “that” cookbook? I have-frequently! I am a recipe junky-I admit it. I own many (hundreds) of cookbooks. I tear recipes out of magazines and newspapers. I print them off the web. I have files at home (big ones) with recipes I’d like to try. I will have to live to be 200 years old to try all of them. My husband kindly asked me to keep the number of cookbooks I own down to what will fit on our bookshelves. I agreed. The book shelf is now full, and when I get a new cookbook, I bring it to work. I am sure that there is a twelve-step program somewhere for people like me!
The positive part of owning cookbooks and clipping recipes is that I like to cook. I love to cook from scratch whenever possible, which is not as often as I would like. In these economic times, it is much cheaper to make dinner at home, or sack lunches, and much healthier. I remember when I was growing up, my Mom made everything from scratch-even ketchup. We had a garden and she canned/baked/made everything we ate. I was a lucky kid! She had recipes! Some were new, others passed down from generation to generation. These were tried and true recipes. These are the ones I am trying to put together in one place so I can pass them down to my children.
Years ago I decided to start placing my recipes in a recipe program. I went to my local electronics store and purchased a $10 recipe program that allowed me to place my recipes in the categories I choose, and also provided nutritional information for each recipe. I have since learned that I DON’T want to know the calorie count of some of my Grandma’s recipes! Ignorance is great. I have placed about 250 recipes in my program so far. I have a whole pile of family recipes to enter yet. It is an ongoing task. I add them on my computer at home, than transfer those to my computer at work, so I can send out tried and true recipes if someone asks for one specifically. My goal is to get them all entered, then add some family pictures and bind them to give to my siblings and Mom. My only problem is that I don’t know if I’ll ever be done! I have decided to add folder sleeves to my cookbooks so I can add recipes as I tear them out of magazines. 
If you are compiling recipes, you don’t have to purchase a program. There are many free programs online that you can use. Some companies like Kraft or Land O Lakes offers you their software to store your recipes in. I really like the recipes on their sites-and they print so nicely with pictures! If you are a recipe junky like me, send me your favorite recipes-I’d love to try them out before I retire! I am including one of my family’s favorite recipes. It is a chocolate chip cookie recipe that makes soft, chewy cookies, which taste wonderful warm, or straight out of the freezer.
Jello Chocolate Chip Cookies
| 1 | cup | butter |
| 3/4 | cup | brown sugar |
| 2 | eggs | |
| 1 | teaspoon | baking soda |
| 1 | package | chocolate chips |
| 1/4 | cup | sugar |
| 1 | teaspoon | vanilla |
| 2 1/4 | cups | flour |
| 1 | small | instant pudding mix- vanilla |
Cream butter, sugars, vanilla and dry pudding mix together. Add eggs. Add flour and soda. Mix well. Stir in chips. Batter will be stiff. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Cookies will look a little underdone. I like to chill the dough before baking. NOTES : These are a favorite at our house, and are the best if you eat them straight out of the freezer. I always make a double batch and use a small ice cream scoop to place the dough on the cookie sheet. This recipe works best when doubling if you use three sticks of butter and one stick of low-fat margarine. Makes 30 cookies.
