First and Favorite

Cookbook: Recipes Shared
Availability: At my house only!
Shelf Factor: Will ALWAYS have a spot on my cookbook shelves!

My first cookbook is, and always will be my favorite.  My mom made it for me when I got married.  I was lucky enough to have four bridal showers,and at two of them the guests were asked to bring a favorite recipe for me, the bride-to-be.  My mom then painstakingly put this book together with a lot of work, love, creativity, memories, and embarrassing photos.  It is a book I will always hold dear to my heart, but I will never know if my mom came up with the idea out of her love for me, or out of sheer terror that I may kill my soon-to-be husband within our first year of marriage with my atrocious cooking.  I prefer to leave the answer to this question a mystery.

Even though I have had this book for almost 8 years now, I still haven't made every dish.  This week, I will pick a couple of family staples and try some recipes that I am not familiar with.  But for now, let me share some of the contents of this book with you...

The first page of the book is R's (my husband) famous, secret bean dip.  His mom shared one of her coveted recipe's with his dad's secretary way back when in order to obtain this.  Randy has since taken full credit, and since I believe very few recipes should be "secret" (especially one this good), I have shared it with everyone who asks.  The photo at the bottom of the page was taken on the first family trip I ever brought R on.  My mom took the photo and didn't realize that at that very moment, R and I were discussing the possibility of marriage one day.  I love that she unknowingly captured this.

 

This is the BEST meatloaf recipe.  This is also the WORST photo of the best meatloaf recipe.

My beyond adorable (still!) Godmother holding a very little me.  She decided to share an "old 70's recipe".  Hm... don't know if I'll be trying this one this week... or ever.

Why... WHY was this photo ever saved by anyone? 

One -year-old me with Gram.  The recipe written below in her frail handwriting is for her fruit salad that was served every Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I was never a huge fan, but the rest of the family was!

Twenty-something me with an eighty-something Gram.  You can see little changed over the years.  I only knew her with one type of hairstyle, and one style of glasses... the Jackie O. style.  Very fitting for her, as she was very classy and always put together.  She wouldn't even let me, her granddaughter, in her house if she didn't have lipstick on.

Not all are recipes for food, but are still just as special.

I had to laugh at my mom's note here.  We did have this dish a lot while I was growing up.  Little did my mom know though that I used to douse the chicken in Ranch dressing because the chicken in this casserole is so darned dry!

My mom wrote a lovely note to me here.  This note though does not undo the damage that was done by putting me in this bridal shower bonnet get-up that is on my head.  Mothers... no matter how cute you think it is or how great of a photo you think it will make, don't do this to your daughters.  Love you, mom!