In search of..... Recipes

As a "foodie"  (I really don't like that word!),  I am always on the search for new recipes.  Outside my collection of cookbooks, and fellow bloggers, as well as sites such as Epicurious (which I use several times a week) and Food Network, there are numerous places, both usual and unusual I have been looking for and finding great recipes that I'd like to share.


I am not sure how I found the site, but I subscribe to My Recipes.com, and they send me a new recipe everyday and so far, every one I have made has turned out great. It is a great site to explore, but I actually love getting the daily email recipe- it has often helped me break that "whadda you want for dinner" deadlock that happens in my house. And the price is right - you can sign up for free!



Looking into other people's family recipes isn't something you usually get to do, but I am fortunate that a coworker had a very fastidious cousin who wrote on recipe cards every recipe she ever tried.  When she passed away, this collection passed its way through her family, where relatives took the recipes they remembered most fondly out of the collection.  Since my friend knew I loved cooking, once family was done she gave the cards to me to peruse, and I am making my way through them . I have to admit I am taking my time browsing through them.  First of all, it is quite an experience to think of the time she devoted to writing these recipes down by hand and the effort put into developing a collection that she could share with her friends and relatives. In the today of copy and paste, and computerized recipe boxes, there is something really special about this and I actually want to savor this experience, since it is unlikely that I will have many such opportunities again.


Recently a Fresh Market opened across from Jefferson Lab (now there's a triple threat- one stop across from your work with a Costco, a World Market and a new Fresh Market!!), and while I do not buy my regular groceries there  I do shop their specials and to look for unique items I can't find anywhere else (it is Newport News, by the way!)  After trying a few of their prepared foods (including a very good shrimp and grits cake) it occurred to me to check their website to see if they had recipes there, and what a treasure trove! From appetizers to desserts, there are some amazing recipes just waiting to be tried and some have already found themselves into my menu planning.  Whether you are lucky enough to have a Fresh Market near you, you can enjoy the recipes and other great tips on their website, and they even offer shopping online!

Writing this post made me curious.  What places do you go to search for a good recipe or inspiration?  How many of you still have an old-fashioned recipe box or binder where you keep recipe favorites? Sharing of recipes is a great way to share your heritage, your ethnicity, your unique tastes, and your love... of food and friends!



Comments

Thistlemoon said…
Fresh Market is a great store! I have only been a few times (it is far from where we live) but have always enjoyed visits there.
Kerrie said…
I keep an expandable folder (a nice brown leather one I received for Christmas) with all my recipes in it. These days they are mostly printer paper folded in half. I also like to write lots of notes, most importantly the date we first made something on. A habit from my mother, but it is special to go through her cookbooks and see notes like made Easter 1998. Yep I do that too write right on the pages of cookbooks.
Deborah Dowd said…
Jenn- I am really enjoying a new store with new ingredients, cheeses, etc!
Kerrie-Those cookbooks will be heirlooms one day!
Kolcho said…
I wish we have something like this close to our home :(
Glenna said…
I love how that your friend's relative took the time to write down every recipe. That is very cool. What a great gift to the family especially since most of us use our little core group of recipes from our heads and never write them down.

My mom did something similar and I have a couple of cookbooks of hers where she would write next to the recipe her own personal notes "good" "don't try again" "add such and such". I love opening those books and seeing her handwriting and cooking notes.
recipes said…
Hi nice blog you have here..
regrad
Cris said…
My mom recently gave me her recipe book, and it had recipes from my childhood that I hadn't tried in a long time... I keep my recipes in a recipe box, the ones I really like, and some on computer either as bookmarks or saved in files. Thanks for the my recipes website. I usually find inspiration for cooking in magazines, I like to browse food magazines and write down every recipe I want to try from that issue.
Diths said…
Have stumbled in your blog and amazed that you have ranked PR5. Hope you could share how you have reached that. I am a new food blogger. You may visit my website - http://lutongpinoy.info

Hope to receive your reviews and suggestions on how to improve it..
Deborah Dowd said…
Kolcho- While I am envious of the bloggers in the bigger cities with big ethnic markets, we do have some very good food resources here.

Cris-I think the ideal would be a system that could incorporate your paper recipes and online.

Diths- Not really a secret- I spend time almost every night reaching out to other blogs,participating in food events is a good way to increase traffic,too.(I actually had to look up PR5 after getting your comment!)

Recipes- Thanks,I hope you will be back!

Glenna- I was so impressed with this too and if you had seen the hundreds of cards there were! What a labor of love!
Vacuum Queen said…
You know, this year my mom sent out an email to our huge family of really great cooks that said something like, "email all of your new and beloved recipes of 2009." And now, she's making copies to hand out at Christmas. No fancy schmancy cover, because we all just keep 3 ring binders with plastic slip covers (and have been doing this for awhile). I love the idea, though, because we each have those one or two new and fantastic recipes of the year that should be shared. Each of our books are getting big by now too. Oh, also, we usually write a little blurb about where we used the recipe or other anecdote, etc.
Beatrice said…
I do have a box with some handwritten recipes in it, and a binder where I save recipes from cooking magazines, but more and more, I rely on the internet for recipes...
Hoo said…
Thank your sharing, a wonderful resources full of receipes.