If you have checked in here before, you've probably heard me mention my OCD tendencies. I live in a clutter free house (which is not the same thing as a clean house). People who visit marvel at the fact that I am able to pull this off given the fact that I live with three children, a man and a dog. I find it really hard to free my mind up to work with lots of "stuff" around. It clutters my brain so I do my best to keep the "stuff" to a minimum not let things pile up. The fact that I'm about to move for the 5th time in a dozen years probably has something to do with it as well. That said, I alone am responsible for the recipe mess pictured above which takes up one entire drawer in the kitchen. This culinary mash-up of main course, veggie, appetizer and baking recipes has taken on a life of it's own. When I got my first place in SF many years ago I tried using a recipe box but soon outgrew it (and it was never really organized anyways). I then toyed with the idea using a binder which I could store on the shelves of my rapidly expanding cookbook collection (that never materialized). So now, all these years later, I keep my recipes in an entire drawer in the room where real estate is most precious just like my mother did (let's not go there...). I think of this drawer as organized chaos which I use to sharpen my mind (like a crossword puzzle or soduko). I know that Nana & Poppy's granola is on orange construction paper, the grilled romaine salad with caper dressing is on newsprint and Mom's vegetable stir fry is on yellowed paper with faded handwriting. As I sort through the pile looking for one thing or another I am reminded of friends, family and time well spent in the kitchen. As I took the photos for this post I pulled out the recipes for shaking beef , italian white bean soup and gnocchi with oxtails (the white bean crostini mentioned in the article is phenomenal as well). What will you be cooking this weekend?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
organized chaos...
If you have checked in here before, you've probably heard me mention my OCD tendencies. I live in a clutter free house (which is not the same thing as a clean house). People who visit marvel at the fact that I am able to pull this off given the fact that I live with three children, a man and a dog. I find it really hard to free my mind up to work with lots of "stuff" around. It clutters my brain so I do my best to keep the "stuff" to a minimum not let things pile up. The fact that I'm about to move for the 5th time in a dozen years probably has something to do with it as well. That said, I alone am responsible for the recipe mess pictured above which takes up one entire drawer in the kitchen. This culinary mash-up of main course, veggie, appetizer and baking recipes has taken on a life of it's own. When I got my first place in SF many years ago I tried using a recipe box but soon outgrew it (and it was never really organized anyways). I then toyed with the idea using a binder which I could store on the shelves of my rapidly expanding cookbook collection (that never materialized). So now, all these years later, I keep my recipes in an entire drawer in the room where real estate is most precious just like my mother did (let's not go there...). I think of this drawer as organized chaos which I use to sharpen my mind (like a crossword puzzle or soduko). I know that Nana & Poppy's granola is on orange construction paper, the grilled romaine salad with caper dressing is on newsprint and Mom's vegetable stir fry is on yellowed paper with faded handwriting. As I sort through the pile looking for one thing or another I am reminded of friends, family and time well spent in the kitchen. As I took the photos for this post I pulled out the recipes for shaking beef , italian white bean soup and gnocchi with oxtails (the white bean crostini mentioned in the article is phenomenal as well). What will you be cooking this weekend?
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6 comments:
It's like a memory box but in a drawer. Think we all need one of those. :0)
Me, I strive for and admire the low clutter, but have not yet mastered it, alas. All my loose recipes are tucked into a recipe journal whose pages are blank and whose binding is broken from all the papers; I love flipping through them to find the one I'm searching for and being reminded of my sisters, my mom, etc. too.
On the stove this weekend: Winter Veg Chowder from Veg Cooking for Everyone, that yum cinnamon bread from HeatherSmithJones, and maybe a quiche... oh and popcorn to nibble while watching the Olympics! :)
so funny your blog just reminded me of something. so when i was in elementary school my mother & i moved from one rental to another. she left a bunch of my childhood things there. when i was 18 & my mother was already sick i had to move out of the 2nd place by myself basically. by the end of it was over it & like my mom, left the rest of my childhood things (which i really regret now, but at 18, what did i care). my mother had the same drawer of recipes and i left them as well. what i would not give for that drawer now.
Wow, sounds like a gold mine in that drawer! I will be assembling my expert 'snack platters' which consist of goldfish crackers, apple slices, raisins and sometimes Ranch dressing. My kids want to eat that more than any other food I actually labor over in the kitchen. Sad, huh? :)
For hubby and me tonight... enchiladas filled with green chilies, onions, garlic and yams. Yum!
dd-yep. complete with spatters and notes to self...
annri-i know your binder is filled with love and yumminess! your zucchini chocolate chip muffin lives in my drawer and is a favorite (and isn't heather's bread a wonderful addition??)
beth-oh how i wish you had that drawer back to. food can evoke such powerful memories because it involves all of our senses (and our heart).
brenda-the snack platter can change in time but how yummy your own dinner sounds!
My cut-outs get stuck into a seasonal cookbook diary I have about 20yrs but I'm running out of blank pages to use! It's a mess and I'm the only one who knows where to look....but hey somehow we all get fed every day so it works!
On the other hand, just did a clear out in one room today and have about 10 bags leaving the house for recycling, donations and rubbish....ah space to breathe!
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