Food Lush

Great New Recipes: The Mile End Cookbook

By Dani

So, for Christmas, I asked my family for a few select cookbooks and guess what? I GOT THEM.

I spent the whole week after Christmas dreaming of delicious, homemade goodies, and some of the recipes that intrigued me most where those from The Mile End Cookbook.

This is a Jewish comfort food cookbook, and I'll be honest: the closest I've come to making anything remotely Jewish was a Seder experience in college, and I'm not even sure how authentic it was. But the recipes in this book are easy-to-understand, the conversational tone is endearing, and the photos look INCREDIBLE.

I first got turned on to it from the review in Food and Wine magazine and the New Yorker, both writers who actually know what they're talking about and are more convincing than I am, so you might want to click over for those reviews also.

If you have a holiday gift card to a bookstore and want some new recipes (smoked fish sandwiches and potato latkes, anyone?) this is a fun adventurous cookbook to try. (Also, if you are familiar with Jewish cooking I'd be interested to know what you think of their versions!)

(Image credit: Barnes and Noble.com)

The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook + Giveaway

Updated: The giveaway is now closed, and we have a winner! Congratulations to Stephanie M. (#7). I'll be in touch this week to get your mailing address to send your cookbook to. Happy cooking!

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Editor's note: Tara received a free copy of The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook with no obigation to review and her thoughts are all her own. 

By Tara C.

The holidays may be over, but fans of Downton Abbey still have a reason to celebrate--the U.S. premiere of Season 3. And what could make your viewing experience even more pleasurable? How about some tasty, Downton Abbey-inspired treats?

When I was offered a review copy of The Downton Abbey Cookbook: From Lady Mary's Crab Canapés to Mrs. Patmore's Christmas Pudding--More Than 150 Recipes From Upstairs and Downstairs by Emily Ansara Baines after reviewing The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, I jumped on the opportunity.

I recruited several Downton Abbey/cooking enthusiasts to help me try some recipes, including our own Food Lush writer, Erica. Never one to shy away from a theme, Erica arrived in a sparkly tiarra. I'm not pictured here, but let's imagine that I was dressed as a scullery maid.

Here are the recipes we tried:

• Lady Mary's Crab Canapés
• Crunchy Fig and Bleu Cheese Tarts
• Mrs. Isobel Crawley's Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches
• Sweet Cream Scones
• Classic Cornish Pasty
• Pork Pie Balls

 

Lady Mary's Crab Canapés

Crunchy Fig and Bleu Cheese Tarts (above) and Mrs. Isobel Crawley's Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches (below)

Perhaps not surprisingly, the cookbook contains more "upstairs" recipes than "downstairs" recipes, and, in my opinion, they're generally more appealing. An upper-class family at this time would have had access to a wider variety of foods than their working-class counterparts. Only two of the recipes we tried, the Classic Cornish Pasties and the Pork Pie Balls, were from the "Sustenance For The Staff" section. The recipes were pretty conceptually similar, as both involved meat wrapped in pastry dough. My friend Gina made the Classic Cornish Pasties and I made the Pork Pie Balls. While we made the dishes separately, we realized later than neither of us had used lard in the pastry as written in the recipe. We substituted Crisco. Other than that, we followed the recipes pretty closely. I think when you've spent much of your life avoiding lard, it's hard to consciously include it.

Classic Cornish Pasty

I somehow neglected to take a picture of the Pork Ball Balls, but they were not very photogenic anyway. Picture enormous meatballs wrapped in pie crust and you get the idea. 

Throughout the cookbook, the author includes Times Gone By sections that place the recipes within an historical context. There are also Etiquette Lessons scattered throughout. For example, did you know that a true tea sandwich has the crusts removed only after the sandwich has been prepared and not before?

While most of the recipes in the book call for ingredients that are easily accessible by modern cooks, a few of the recipes are a little authentic for my taste. Take, for example, O'Brien's Black Pudding, which calls for fresh pork blood, or Boiled Beef Tongue for breakfast. Erica and I may have surreptitiously eyed local turtles for the turtle soup recipe, but I can assure you that no turtles were harmed.

We thoroghly enjoyed all of the dishes we made. In fact, it was hard to decide which recipe to share with you. I think our favorites were the Crunchy Fig and Bleu Cheese Tarts, Lady Mary's Crab Canapés, and the Sweet Cream Scones. Mrs. Isobel Crawley's Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwhiches were quite good too. After eating them for breakfast for the next several days, I decided that you really should have the Sweet Cream Scone Recipe. I have made a lot of scones, and these are probably the best I have ever made. They are moist, somewhat sweet, and very tasty.

Sweet Cream Scones

 Sweet Cream Scones Receipe from The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspooon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into pieces
1 egg, at room temperature
Heavy cream for brushing
Granulated sugar for sprinkling

1. Blend sour cream, vanilla extract, and baking soda together in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a large baking sheet.
3. In a lare bowl, blend together flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in sour-cream mixture and eggs until just barely moistened.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, kneading briefly. Pat dough out into a 3/4-inch-thick round. Cut into 12 wedges and place them 2-3 inches apart on the greased baking sheet. Lightly brush with cream, then sprinkle with granulated sugar.
5. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.

If you are a fan of Downton Abbey who also enjoys cooking, you probably need your own copy of this cookbook.

(photos from: Target-book cover image, me)

Giveaway details:

Now, one lucky Food Lush reader can comment for the chance to win your very own copy of The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook!

GIVEAWAY: One copy of The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook
TO ENTER:  Comment, answering the question "Are you a Downton Abbey fan?" 
GIVEAWAY ENDS: January 11th (this Friday) at 11:50pm PST
SHIPS: To any U.S. reader
EXTRA DETAILS: One comment per reader. Winner will be selected through random.org and announced as an update to this post by January 14th (that's one week from today).

2013 Food Goals: One Cookbook Recipe a Week!

By Jennie

Every year, I put together a year to-do list with specific goals (some easy like update my passport and some a little harder like visit a new state). Some require some serious self-discipline (PR in a 10K) and some just require me to clear an afternoon and get cracking (paint the living room). 

I'm in the process of putting together this year's list, and a few food-related goals have popped up on it. One that I wanted to specifically share here, in case you'd like to join me:

Cook one recipe a week from my cookbook collection.

I own a lot of cookbooks. I enjoy buying and collecting them. I enjoy flipping through them. Then, as my past has shown, I enjoy tossing them on top of my fridge to collect dust. So, I'm not allowing myself any new cookbook purchases in 2013 (this is going to be HARD) and I'm going to focus on making recipes from my current crop. Don't worry, I probably have close to 30-35 cookbooks, so I won't run out of inspiration.

I'm going to share as many of the recipes I make here as I can. Maybe you'd like to do this too? One cookbook recipe a week, that's not too impossible. Who's in?

What are some of your 2013 goals--food-related or otherwise?

Gift idea for a young baker: Rose's Christmas Cookies Cookbook

In the late 1980s, when I was 11, my grandmother gave me this book for Christmas:

This is Rose's Christmas Cookies cookbook, and it was the first cookbook I ever had. My grandmother inscribed it with a message that she hoped I would use it for years of Christmas cookie making.  I certainly did not adequately appreciate the gift at the time. In fact, I remember feeling a little perplexed: she gave it to me on Christmas, just as it became irrelevant -- one can hardly make Christmas cookies on December 26th, right?

But over time, it has come to one of my most treasured gifts. It strikes me now that my grandmother must have realized even then that I loved food, and cooking, in a way that neither she nor my mother did, and that I might find such a book interesting and useful. Although I might not have fully appreciated it immediately, I do remember that it made me feel very grown up, to receive a cookbook of my own.

And I don't keep it around solely for nostalgia- Rose knows her stuff. The recipes are clearly-written and full of useful tips, and are helpfully sorted into categories like "good for shipping" and "to make with children." And the book includes all the classics, like Spritz and gingerbread men and moravian spice cookies, and Mexican wedding cakes.

A Christmas cookie book makes an excellent gift for this reason: while the pestos and sun-dried tomato dishes of the late 80s have given way to other trends, Christmas cookies are classics, and this book has stood the test of time. It was my first cookbook, yes, but it is also the only one besides The Joy of Cooking that has made it through all my many moves and closet clean-outs and changing tastes.

Every year when I bring it out, I read the inscription from my grandmother, who has now been gone for over five years, and send up another thank you. If you're looking for a gift for a special young baker in your life, I cannot recommend this book highly enough -- it really is a winner.

Coconut Cupcakes

by Jess M

I have always been a huge fan of cupcakes. (Even before they were cool and there were entire bakeries dedicated to the individual-sized dessert - cupcake hipster FTW!) Why go to all the trouble of cutting a cake and passing plates around when each person can have their own personal little cake. And no forks or knives to clean up! Anyway, I probably don’t have to convince you that cupcakes are the way to go. And once you’ve seen these cupcakes, I won’t have to work too hard to convince you that you should make these cupcakes in particular.

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. Overall, this is a great book for special occasions. These aren’t your throw together after dinner kinds of cupcakes; most of the recipes here require a little extra effort. And, in my opinion, I find Martha’s recipes and directions a little fussy. Yes, Martha, I know that best baking practices dictate that the eggs should be brought to room temperature first, but really, those puppies are going straight from the fridge to the mixing bowl.

 And so, the recipe:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup packed sweetened shredded coconut

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 ⅓ cup sugar

2 large whole eggs plus 2 egg whites, room temperature

1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¾ cup unsweetened coconut milk

Seven-Minute Frosting (coconut variation, page 303)

1 ⅓ cups unsweetend flaked coconut for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Pulse shredded coconut in a food processor until finely ground, and whisk into flour mixture.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in whole egss, whites and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of coconut milk, and beating until combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; turn out cupcakes onto wire racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread a generous dome of frosting onto each cupcake, and, if desired, garnish with flaked coconut (press gently to adhere). Cupcakes are best eaten the day they’re frosted; store at room temperature until ready to serve.

Martha calls for a seven-minute frosting, but I’ve never actually attempted one, so I just make a standard buttercream and replace half of the vanilla with coconut extract. And I do not go to the trouble of buying unsweetened coconut flakes when I’ve already bought the sweetened coconut. This is a great recipe to double as it only makes about 20. I double it, but then cram the batter into 36 cupcakes, since I only own 3 muffin pans.

Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup butter

4 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon coconut extract)

2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter in a stand mixer until creamy, add vanilla, gradually add sugar, add milk, beat until nice and fluffy.

 

(Photo credit: me, Amazon)

Giveaway: Simple Food For Busy Families

By Jennie

I was recently sent a review copy of Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach and was a little surprised when I got it in the mail. It wasn't a cookbook, like I was expecting, but something even better. It's really a lifestyle book, and it walks you through a switch from over-processed, packaged foods to a wholer, more nutritious way of eating.

The book is broken up into two main sections: 1) Whole Life Nutrition and 2) Everyday Cooking: Keeping it Real. I was completely drawn to the second section because it applied all the information to my everyday real life. There are recipes (like the below hummus recipe) but there are "mix-and-match" sections where you can build your own sandwiches, salads, smoothies, soups, pastas, and more by adding easy-to-find ingredients with a simple process.

Here's a snapshot of the sandwich portion:

You choose your "wrapper," your protein, your filling, and your condiment. Where lunch and grab-and-go meals are overwhelming to someone like me, this completely breaks it down. What do I have on hand that's on this mix-and-match menu? Combine those things and voila, delicious sandwich!

It simplifies eating, which isn't what everyone needs, but it's what I need. I really love this book.

Here's the hummus recipe I mentioned earlier:

Basic Hummus Recipe

1/4 C seasme tahini
1/4 C cold water
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 t ground cumin
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 (15-oz) can, rinsed and drained, or 2 C pre-cooked garbanazo beans
1 T olive oil

1. In a blender or food processor, blend together tahini, cold water, lemon juice, cumin, and garlic. Set aside in a bowl.

2. Puree the garbanzo beans and process until smooth, adding a little cooking liquid or water, if too thick.

3. Add the tahini mixture and process until mixed.

4. Put in serving bowl, add olive oil, and mix.

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We're giving away one copy of Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach to a Food Lush reader! Fine print section:

• How to enter: Comment with your last healthy meal or your favorite healthy meal
• Who can enter: Anyone in the U.S.
• Giveaway is open until: 11/9 at 11:59 PM EST
• Misc: one comment per person, winner will be selected via random.org, must be willing to provide your mailing address, and winner will be announed by 11/16.

Good luck!

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Editor's note: I was given a copy of Simple Food for Busy Families without obligation of review or giveaway. All opinions expressed above are, of course, my own.

My Cookbook Collection

by Jess M

I’ve been trying to shed all (some?) unnecessary clutter from our lives and now in the age of digital books and digital recipe storage, my bookshelves are getting lighter and lighter. As I cull through our library again and again, thinning things out, the printed books that I still actively use and use often are cookbooks. I try and be a careful cookbook shopper; I want to make sure that a book is something I will use before I add it to the permanent collection. I usually check a cookbook out of the library to give it a test run before committing to a new purchase. I also find that browsing through an actual printed book is very satisfying and it's sometimes easier to find something to cook when you don’t know what you want. Looking online you almost need a starting point to search for and narrow things down.

And so, let’s look at my cookbook collection:

This isn’t my entire collection, but these are the top 8, the ones that I use regularly and most often. (And, uh, there’s a bit of a skew towards Cook’s Illustrated - even Jack Bishop is a CI contributor.)

 

The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles - Cook’s Illustrated

If you ever wanted to make your own noodles, or just cook great dishes with store-bought noodles and pasta, this is a great place to start. Detailed instructions, and dishes from lots of ethnicities, not just focused on Italian pasta. My favorites include the basic pasta-making methods and the stir fry recipe.

 

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day - Jeff Hertzburg and Zoe Francois

Truly the easiest way to start making delicious breads. They have simplified the process so that (if you have room in your refrigerator) you can always have bread dough ready to go. In addition to the basic doughs, my favortie is the Spinach and Cheese Calzone recipe.

 

How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian - Mark Bittman

This is the newest addition to my collection and I wish I had it sooner! Need to know what to do with that new thing that came in your CSA? Or how to make a stuffed pepper? Or any number of variations on these basics? This book has everything. My favorites: black bean burgers and cooking with dried beans.

 

 

A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen - Jack Bishop

If you’re a carnivore or omnivore looking to incorporate some more meatless dishes into your life, this is an excellent resource. There are lots of vegetable and bean-centered dishes as well as entire meal plans. The book is organized by season, so if you are trying to eat locally and/or take advantage of things that are in season , you can easily find some suggestions. My favorites: Pan-Fried Noodle Cake with Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Black Bean Enchiladas. The enchiladas are a bit of work to make the sauce and the filling and assemble it all, but it’s sooo good. And it freezes really well, so I make 2 or 3 at a time.

 

Perfect Vegetables -  Cook’s Illustrated

 

This is a basic, no-frills book on how to cook (most) vegetables. With instructions on the most basic ways to prepare a vegetable along with more variations, I love this book for figuring out simple side dishes. My favorites: the Master Recipe for Steamed Broccoli, and the variations on Sauteed Spinach.

 

 

Cover and Bake - Cook’s Illustrated

 

Comforting casseroles. Cheesy, baked, delicious and make-ahead. In addition to more modern adaptations of casseroles, this book also includes recipes for skillet casseroles and slow-cookers. My favorites: Baked Ravioli, Turkey Tettrazzini, and Baked Macaroni and Cheese - this is our family’s standard mac and cheese, it is the best!

 

Baking Illustrated - Cook’s Illustrated

 

This would make a great gift for someone who is just starting out, who may need a collection of basics. Banana bread, varieties of muffins, yeast breads, basic cakes, etc. It’s the perfect go-to when you want something simple. My favorite here: totally random, but there’s a Quick Pizza Sauce recipe that I love.

 

 

The Best Slow and Easy Recipes - Cook’s Illustrated

This is for when you want to take your time, and cook something over an entire day and make your house smell amazing. My favorites: Tuscan White Bean Stew and Hungarian Goulash (in the slow cooker).

 

 

What cookbooks are in your permanent collection? Do you have any suggestions for my Christmas wishlist that maybe aren’t published by Cook’s Illustrated (but if you have those too, I’d love to hear it)? (And check out some other cookbooks featured on Food Lush in the past.)

(Photos from: me, Amazon)

Let's Eat Hogwarts Style: The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook + Giveaway!

By Tara C.

We are a Harry Potter-loving household. My eight-year-old son is currently working his way through the books and movies. I would have liked to have attended Hogwarts myself, but, according to my t-shirt from last Halloween, I am a Muggle. And also a big nerd.

(photo from: me, obviously)

When I spotted The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook: From Cauldron Cakes to Knickerbocker Glory (F+W Media, December 2011) by Dinah Bucholz at our library, I eagerly snatched it up.

 (image from: www.dinahbucholz.com)

My son had a Harry Potter-themed dinner for his seventh birthday, and I would have loved to have had this cookbook then. Some of the dishes I invented were a bit...questionable. But this cookbook is extremely comprehensive. With more than 150 recipes, it includes foods explicitly mentioned in the Harry Potter books as well as some that were just merely suggested.

Most of the recipes are quintessentially English, and, in addition to recipes and cooking tips, the author includes historical tidbits about the recipes. I love this kind of thing. To her credit, the author does not shy away from the, um, more authentic recipes, such as haggis, which calls for 1 sheep's heart, 1 sheep's lung, and 1 sheep's liver. But just one! Because two sheep lungs would be gross. The author notes that this recipe is untested.

Aside from haggis, which is entertaining if not appetizing, most of the cookbook features delicious-sounding dishes that you could easily whip up in your own kitchen. I would love to try the recipes for Chocolate Custard Trifle with Toffee Crunch or the Poached Salmon in Honey and Dill Sauce.

I let my son choose any recipe in the book for us to make together. He selected Herby Roast Chicken with Onion-Garlic Mashed Potatoes, based on a meal Mrs. Weasley made in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (Don't you remember?) Interesting choice, but that's what we made. I also made English Tomato Ketchup from a recipe in this cookbook. The chicken was fantastic--moist and well-seasoned. The potatoes were good too, although my son didn't care for them because he doesn't like onions. Why he chose something with onion in the name, I have no idea. But, we all agreed the chicken is lovely! I'm including it here so you can make it and impress you friends and family. And you don't have to tell them it's a Magical Recipe.

(photo from: me)

Herby Chicken
Recipe from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

1 medium onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 3-pound chicken
2 tablespoons softened butter or margarine
¼ teaspoon ground thyme
¼ teaspoon gound sage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and lay the onion slices and garlic cloves in a baking dish. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry.
2. Mix the butter or margarine with the thyme, sage and parsley and spread it under the skin of the breasts and thighs; you will need to loosen the skin first by lifting up the flap of skin and sliding your fingers under it. Lay the chicken in the pan, breast-side up, on top of the onions and garlic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the water into the pan.
3. Bake for 50 minutes. Rotate the pan, raise the temperature to 450°F, and bake for another 30 minutes or until an instead-read thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 170°F.

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Good news today! If you'd like to win your very own copy of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, we have one copy to giveaway.

The fine print-type stuff:

• For a chance to win, simply comment with the answer to this question: What was your favorite Harry Potter book?
• Giveaway ends: Thursday, September 6 at 11:59 p.m. 
• Who can enter: Anyone in the U.S.!
• Other details: one comment per person, please; we'll select the winner through random.org and announce by September 7

Good luck!

Cook's Illustrated Perfect Roasted Cauliflower

by Caitlin

This roasted cauliflower is...wait where are you going?!

I know! It's cauliflower! I know! It's roasted, and what could possibly be new in roasted vegetables, and sure, your kitchen will smell like farts for a little bit, but I promise this is worth it. My perpetual problem with cauliflower is that it's bland and the texture...it's cauliflower. The fact that I can't think of much more to say about it than that about sums it up. But. Cauliflower is also wonderful. I love it in a curry, I'm a fan of cauliflower purees and soups, and have been meaning to try using it as a rice substitute, like this recipe. 

The head of cauliflower is cut into wedges, rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper, then popped in the oven wrapped very tightly in foil for a bit to steam it: The foil is then removed to brown the sides, flipping halfway through. The result is crispy, crunchy outside, soft and creamy in the middle. I won't say it's exactly like a potato, but it's damn close if you're looking for a substitute. Be careful not to over salt (you can always add more later), and be sure to let it get nice and brown.The leftovers are tasty, but it's best when it's fresh out of the oven.

I love the little crunchy bits that fall off and onto the tray: so much that I think next time around I might try chopping the entire head into little bits. Cauliflower popcorn!

The recipe is from my go-to book: the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook ("2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine."). It's a collection of the best recipes from their magazines, and it's the first place I go for a recipe. I think it's even edging out my beloved Joy of Cooking. Look for it on this year's Food Lush Gift Guide. (Oh I know you think it's early, but it's only a few months away.)

 

Cook's Illustrated Roasted Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower (2 pounds)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

salt & Pepper

1. Adjust rack to lowest position and heat overn to 475 degrees. Trim outer leaves off cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom. Cut head into 8 equal wedges. Place wedges cut side down on foil- or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Gently rub seasonings and oil into cauliflower. Gently flip cauliflower and repeat on second cut side with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, salt, and pepper.

2. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue to roast until bottoms of cauliflower pieces are golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Return baking sheet to oven and continue to roast until cauliflower is golden all over, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

An alternative underneath the recipe recommends stirring two teaspoons of curry powder or chili powder into the oil before seasoning the cauliflower in step 1.

Recipe overload

by Elsha

In our house, in addition to cookbooks, we have a book of recipes. It started out as tried-and-true favorites, but over time it has evolved into the place to stick every recipe we think we want to try. Eventually it got so full it wouldn't even close properly, and we decided it was time to clean it out. Most of the recipes we kept are ones we love that we make often. The ones we haven't tried yet are ones we definitely will try instead of all the "maybe, possibly, someday, for the right occasion" recipes. 

The thing that amused me though, during this whole process, was how many duplicate recipes we had. Multiple recipes for the same thing. YOU GUYS. We had 8 recipes for apple crisp! EIGHT! We use the same recipe every time.

{photo credit: simplyrecipes.com}

I love apple crisp, but we're never going to try SEVEN OTHER KINDS. We kept our one well-used recipe.

Do you have the same recipe hoarding problem that we (apparently) have?