This past week I decided to haul the box (full to the brim) out to one end of the kitchen table and start going through it, sorting out what I want to keep, throwing out what I don't . . . or dumping the whole darn kit-and-kaboodle if the task proved to be impractical.
I haven't lost my impetus yet, on my third day of sorting. Strangely, I'm finding a lot of recipes that make me shake my head and wonder why in the world I ever kept them to try. Into the wastebasket. Others sound so absolutely wonderful (keep your fingers crossed) that I want to make them immediately.
This morning I did something I rarely do. I made an unnecessary, spontaneous trip to town (our co-op is open on Sundays) to buy a head of the fresh broccoli I knew they had on sale. I still have some of my home grown broccoli in the freezer, but I've found a recipe I'm chomping at the bit to make and it calls for fresh broccoli.
Although I was totally okay with making this frivolous (hey, sometimes you just have to be wild and crazy, right?) trip, as long as I was at the co-op and it was relatively un-busy, I took my time and made leisurely trips up and down the aisles. The result was I kept seeing things that I remembered being ingredients for some of the other recipes I had come across and wanted to try. I ended up spending $57.38. Yikers! Good thing I had my emergency $50 bill tucked in that secret compartment of my purse.
Never fear, none of the groceries I brought home will go to waste. What hasn't been already frozen for later use is in the refrigerator and will be used for some delicious (hopefully) new dishes I'll be trying out this week.
Gotta go back to my mess on the table now. I need to have it cleared off by tomorrow as it's laundry day and I fold the clean clothes on the table.
30 comments:
Oooh how exciting!!! I love trying new recipes! That is my goal for the year, one new recipe a week...or more! :) I'm eager to follow along with your journey!! :) What are you making with the broccoli, tell, tell!
Oh, Rain, I need help. I now CAN'T FIND the recipe . . . it's a pasta dish and it's GOT to be here someplace! :o/ I'm to the point in my sorting that I've got too many stacks! But I will pursue . . .
I've done the same thing with projects. Mostly the nerdy, techie things. Parts for projects, parts "I might need someday" and papers of all kinds with designs had filled my closet. Last year I sat down with my son for an 'intervention'. Lots of stuff went out (with my son's "encouragement". As those things usually go, the following week I found a need for a part I'd pitched after holding onto it 35+ years. I think I paid $5 or so to buy it again, but I still to kick myself just a little.
Mama Pea you have just succeeded in justifying my existence and giving me a good laugh. I too have a recipe fetish. I have one of those large three ring notebooks you know the ones you could park a truck in? And I have managed to expand it to its capacity with recipes found on the internet and printed out. And they aren't tidy in fact I am so disorganized that each time I have to march through all of the pages to find what I want. I even tried leaving it on the kitchen table all its ugly splendor hoping it would motivate me into doing the deed. After three days I just put it back in the dark spot in the cupboard until next time. Oh you have also risen to hero status as I haven't come close to a banker box yet. If you feel like putting on your tiara and dancing well you should. Just don't trip over the box.
teehee. Mark does this make you a good example or a horrible warning?
Than there people like me, who kept recipes in a folder on the desktop of her computer. Yup, pulled it to the trash and it was gone. Guess I really didn't need those recipes as I have so many more saved that I haven't made yet. lol
Mark - It must be a guy thing when it comes to spare (Useless? Ooops, didn't mean to say that out loud.) parts. My husband has the same collection you do. In most cases, he refuses to get rid of anything. But when we need a particular "something" he'll most likely say, "I think I may have one of those . . . " and darned if he doesn't come up with it every time. (Did I just justify you never throwing anything out again?)
Goatldi - Nah-nah-na-nah-nah! My recipe collection is bigger than yours is! (Not something to be proud of, unfortunately. :o/)
Myrna - It has been suggested to me (ahem) that I should have just burned the whole banker's box of my saved recipes. (Methinks, at this point -- sorting for Day 4 --- , that may have been a good idea.) Good for you for just deleting all of yours saved on the computer. You're a strong woman!
I would love to come over and help (steal) you with your recipe pile!!
Rain - Found the broccoli recipe!
Don't know yet how many really good recipes there are to steal! I'm finding the longer I work at this project, the more ruthless I'm becoming at tossing out many of them. (So why did I save them in the first place? For years and years? Arrrrgh.) The silly things I do!
Pinterest has made me a much more organized person. I do print the recipes I really love in case of computer apocalypse. For the past two weeks I've been going through my one large keepsake box paring down. Scanning what I can and throwing what no longer seems memorable. I keep going back into it and throwing more. It's liberating.
You are so Cute!
I fear I'd not have the patience, to go through a whole box of old clippings. But good for you, for finding fun new ideas for cooking.
Oh mercy, being able to leisurely shop, can be a *badddddd* thing. ,-))))
Excellent to have one space, to do things. You have to clean off the table, to be able to fold clothing, on Mon. Keeps things neat. :-)
I repeat, you are so 'dern' Cute!!!!
SmartAlex - Oh, that is so true! Both hubby and I have decided it's high time to start ridding our household of too much clutter. And, yes, I am already feeling a bit liberated! Plus, I now have room on the bottom of my closet for something else. (Careful what you use it for, Mama Pea, careful!)
wisps of words - I DID clean off the table -- first thing this morning. Had to!
We had a new recipe for a breakfast casserole (you know the kind, made the night before and baked in the morning) this morning. Nope. Not a keeper. But how do you find GREAT new recipes if you don't try new ones?? We'll finish up this one for breakfast tomorrow morning (it wasn't awful) but why make something again that isn't super-delicious? Not gonna do it.
P.S. I'm going to tell everyone I see today that someone thinks I'm cute! ;o}
So Mama Pea does that mean I can rehome the recipes I don't want at your place?
Seems to me to have one or two opted Papa Pea. Fiber stash,fabric stash, recipe stash. Oh I am supposed to be on the your side.
Just for the record Geoffrey does exactly the same thing. I have learned to roll my eyes at it and eat crow at the same time. Some of the best hail Mary's in my barn came from his "collection ".
Yep! From here on out, I'm keepin' it all! (Shhhhh..... Don't tell De!)
There's nothing like a good purge! I'm very old fashioned in that I still write out recipes on little recipe cards. I'd rather have a little card to refer to while I'm cooking, than a laptop sitting on the counter. -Jenn
Goatldi - Hey, I thought we gals had to stick together!? Now Mark's lovely bride De is going to be mad at us, too!
Goatldi - Don't you even DARE think about doing that! I've still got the bottom third of my box to make it through and I'm losing ooompf for the job!
Oh, Jenn, I'm totally with you on that. If I decide to keep a recipe I've tried, it either gets taped onto an index card or I retype it to fit on the card and it goes into my big, wooden recipe box that is an integral part of my kitchen!
LOL...you never know when you'll want a dill pickle cheesecake lol...actually I sent Dianna (Mrs DM) a recipe for pickle cheesecake and she said she's going to make it lol! If you have any pickle stuff, send it her way! :)
Well then, ladies, lucky for you that I likely have a bigger problem than Mark. I do purge every year or so but I have so many hobbies. I have fabric, yarn, paper, stamps, paints, and on and on it goes. My primary hobby is dollhouses which requires a bit of everything. Plus I like to make my own miniatures from found objects so I even collect "trash," lol.
Party Pooper!
De - Yeah, but we gals all keep our stashes much more organized and neater than the guys, right? Right? RIGHT??
Goatldi - I try my best! ;o]
I am so making that cheesecake!!!! Waiting for cream cheese to go on sale!!!
I do this exact same thing too! I have a cupboard full of cookbooks but my one go to is my black binder full of will make, have made, etc. I go through it yearly and toss things that I have collected. Good luck with your venture! Let us know how you come out of it on the other side! :)
MrsDM - I think it's gonna be more like WHEN I come out of it on the other side! ;o} Once I finish this project, I'm no longer going to collect any more recipes. If I do find something that appeals to me, I'm either going to make it immediately . . . or not save it. (Can you help hold me to this??)
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