My recipe box is now a bit of a relic that I use more for odd notes to myself than for storing recipes I still make. I no longer even remember where the box itself came from - it's too far in the dim past.
Like most recipe boxes, mine has marked categories - cookies, cakes, sauces, casseroles - but the papers jammed in behind and in front of this section have taken over with a ragtag of clippings and notes.
There are recipes from both my mother and my grandmother - lovingly handwritten - recipes for shortbread, homemade mayonnaise, Chinese chicken wings and orange cupcakes. There is a recipe for Clever Judy Icing (very tasty) - it would be fun to trace the history of the name.
A random pull brings up a recipe for nasal spray. I remember initially refusing this recipe offered by a friend in favour of purchased nasal spray. The purchased spray turned out to be expensive French seawater; the very cheap homemade version was water and French sea salt. Live and learn!
Amongst the papers and clippings are recipes for rose hip tea, "elegant" cream "cheese" (no dairy), and vegan caramel sauce. Also chickpea nibbles, faux parmesan and something called "bean muck," in my ex's now indecipherable handwriting (name aside, I remember this as being quite tasty!).
My most recent addition to the recipe box is a note indicating that my summer tires are on the left in the shed (my husband's identical ones are on the right). Why we didn't just label the tires, I don't know.
From time to time, I clean out the recipe box, but I just can't throw it out. It's great fun to look through for the many memories, and every once in awhile, I make a great meal from a long-forgotten recipe.
