Guess where I'll be writing this year? I've been selected to participate in the Writers' Room Residency program for 2024, so I'll be tippy-tapping away in the Eulalie and Carlo Scandiuzzi Writers’ Room at the Seattle Public Library! Whoot!
My collection of recipes comes in all shapes and sizes: torn out magazine pages, printed copies, hand-scrawled recipe cards, and on a variety of scratch papers...and they all ended up in a big box that I'd pull out and dig through before cooking time.
Honestly, I enjoy the process of thumbing through the pile of odd notes. Well, I should say I did up until more cooks entered my kitchen. Then, too many hands were sorting and moving recipes around, adding to the time it'd take me to find what I wanted. It became apparent to all us cooks, that we needed a new system.
Handwriting all my recipes onto index cards wasn't an option and regular school-type binders weren't cute enough. I discovered the blog Fresh Vintage by Lisa S and got down to the business of finding my own copy of the ring-bound Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book from the 50s.
I wasn't fortunate enough to find one at the thrift store, or patient enough to wait around. I went ahead and ordered a used version from Amazon, paying top dollar (*cough-cough*)...but I was happy with the quality and relatively clean condition...considering it's a used cookbook and all.
The opposite page boasts, "Served with hot coffee or chilled juice, [these snacks] put people at ease, spark good conversation." I bet!
Pardon me as I go back in time for a spell to jelly molds, green olives, and casseroles... I'll be back soon with more work-in-progress photos.
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Scrapbook paper options from Echo Park Paper Company:
I've read over 300 books for the 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge, which is a HUGE number for me mainly due to my Picture Book BINGO Reading Challenge last October. Due to the quantity, I easily picked out five of my favorites.
TOP FIVE CHILDRENS BOOKS:
1.) The New Rooster by Rilla Alexander
4.) Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor
3.) I Want to Be Spaghetti by Kiera White-Ruiz
4.) Little Witch Hazel by Phoebe Wahl
5.) Burt the Beetle Doesn't Bite by Ashley Spires
Picture books and easy readers aside, I read so many good books that I honestly had a hard time choosing five favorites. But after some mulling, five books rose to the top:
1.) My all-time 2023 favorite read goes to this SPECULATIVE FICTION...
2.) Best read from a local PNW author is this MEMOIR...
3.) Wonderful audiobook and great hook into a MYSTERY series goes to...
4.) Best COMING OF AGE / DYSTOPIAN read goes to...
5.) A gem! I highly recommend this CHRISTMAS ROMANCE audiobook...
