Create a Culinary Scrapbook

© 2005 Sandy Willoughby

Have you ever been in awe over what goes on in a kitchen and/or dining room? There are so many things that transform from one fairly plain and simple "something" to a dish that feeds a family, a soup that soothes a weary soul, or a beverage that comforts with the warmth it gives.

Over the years, the Lord has just given me... as I've heard the same of with others... recipe after recipe thrown together that became instant favorites. He has shown me grand meals from a needy pantry, given me grace to offer a chair to a tired friend, relative, and stranger, and provided what I've needed to serve not only beverages and meals but hospitality and hope.

In an effort to preserve some of these recipes, sentimental moments, ideas, and creative gifts from God over the years, I have started many little kitchen notebooks. There have been notes jotted in spiral notebooks, papers punched and placed in three ring binders, folders filled until they became so stuffed I couldn't keep up with them, and more.

I finally think I know the best way to preserve these! I can make a Nutmeg Notes Scrapbook! I had already decided to change my Home Notes Journal into a scrap book and realized that one specifically for the kitchen and dining would be a great addition:)

It has dawned on me that not only would these books be a wonderful way to hand our family blessings down the line and for enjoyment by us as the years go by... but this might serve many a need in the long run. When someone asked: "Whatever happened to that recipe for.... ?" maybe it will be in one of those pages! If we are trying to remember the circumstances around a time God sent someone to our table over coffee that served like an angel... maybe they'll have been journaled right in our little (or huge) book!

Philemon 1:6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake.

Unlike many of our photo pages where it is somewhat important to make sure things look a certain way or are preserved in a special manner...this book of kitchen notes can be fun! What creativity can abound!

Just one of my prayers is that I won't let my usual strong need for perfectionism to come anywhere near the pages of this book because I know it will die unfinished somewhere gathering dust. Finances won't allow for me to go out and buy a special memory book for this so I am going to use a three ring binder and this will mean my book will be the 8 1/2 by 11 or whatever that is size. I have some page protectors so I'll start it off by adding some of those for the pages I really need covered.

The notebook I found here has the clear plastic cover that you can slide pictures or whatever in so the plan I'm building is to use a Scripture and print it out along with what picture/s I want (probably art I'll down load from the computer relating to the theme) and I'm ready to start!

If you want to do any version of this... and it will be one of those ideas where each book will serve as totally unique for each family... here are some add-ins that I am looking forward to filling mine up with:

*Hand written anything. I want to write down Scriptures that come to mind during cooking and/or cleaning, when guests leave, as I'm sipping coffee at a gleaming polished table :) and so on. Things the children say, culinary and kitchen quotes, grandmother's advice and more.

"Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others. Give me a believing heart to cast all burdens upon Thee, O Lord." John Baillie

Hand written notes, letters, recipes, and so on from others. Won't these be a treasure?

Absolutely favorite recipes for our family and those recipes handed down the generations...

Menus we loved, grocery lists we frequently have, and/or lists of product prices to add receipts to. These could be full sized or scaled down to fit a few per page can be included and for mine, I want our breakfast schedule, lunch plans, and dinner menu samples added.

A directory of Stores we frequently shop from for groceries and cooking supplies along with numbers and latest "finds".

Photos of food we fix, times we have in the kitchen baking cookies, laughing over cocoa, and/or the millions of other opportunities for pictures in and around this part of our home. I also want pictures of my cabinets, drawers, kitchen nooks and crannies bec/ I would have loved to have these of every kitchen we ever had if I only had thought to do it!

Labels. I simply adore labels of just about any kind! I love labels on canned and boxed goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, wacky ones on various rarely bought items, and more. These would provide free tags and other embellishments to my book and a wealth of them! Pages can be done using the colors in these labels as inspiration or they could be scanned into the computer and printed black and white, sepia, or any color scheme needed to match any page wanted.

Paper clips can be added to hold little fragments and slips of paper, receipts, and other little pieces along the edge of the papers or in hand made pockets. Another pocket idea would be making full use of the incoming mail and using the envelopes we usually throw away. We could cut the top off, wipe some ink or acrylic paint on the edges and dry brush a distressing color/texture on the front to match what we are doing. These can be filled with all sorts of food/dining/kitchen related items!

A list of each person's favorite foods, not liked foods, and staples we keep for each of us. In our home, some examples are: My husband loves sweet potatoes so much that even though his allergy test revealed a reaction to them ... he still eats them. I love coffee but drink too much of it so I'm bringing my teapots back out... our oldest son loves the fried chicken fingers my husband makes with his honey mustard sauce, our next to oldest son loves carbs of any kind and always fills his plates (when we dine out) with French fries and any other carbs he can fit on the plate and our other teen son thinks peanut butter is a gift from God. Our daughter loves deserts and our little one loves strawberries and little yogurts we get at the grocery store.

Recipes are a given and they can be hand written, printed from a computer directly onto the paper in the book or on another piece of cardstock and adhered to another page making its own border/frame/mat.

Herbs! Notes on herbal care, varieties planted and used, ways used, herbal remedies, and more. I have been trying to keep up with the many natural remedies we employ around here for YEARS and haven't managed it. Maybe with this it won't be so hard to keep up with!

Essential oils and how we use them in washing dishes, mopping the floor, to aid in disinfecting, and more!

The reality to a book like this is that the possibilities are vast and expanding ever still as another of this or that gets added. God's abundant blessings, provisions, guidance, inspiration, and gifts of all kinds can dance from these pages and we can share them with our children's children if it is His will...

May your kitchen, dining area, and heart all be filled to overflowing. It matters not so much as where you store your memories and how you keep them as it does that they live in your heart. Capturing them is just part of the fun :)