People have occasionally commented that they wish I’d do a cookbook, an idea which has never really appealed to me because: a) my recipes are always based on someone else’s recipes (I’m not a recipe developer), b) it’d be a lot of work, c) who needs more recipes?, and d) all my favorites are already on the blog.
For the last 15 years, this blog has been a dumping grounds for my cooking experiments, discoveries, and trusted favorites. I’ve published the recipes mostly for my own benefit; it’s my personal record, as well as a handy family resource, and I reference the (ridiculously extensive) recipe index almost daily.
But then both my older daughter and my niece told me (rather aggressively) that I ought to make a hard copy of the recipes because they’re sick of looking up recipes whenever they want to make something.
scribbled recipe notes to eliminate computer scrolling
And the truth is, I’m kinda sick of searching my blog, too. The sheer quantity of recipes is overwhelming. The search bar feature is awkward and clunky. The index is disorganized. It would be awfully nice to have a streamlined binder with all my favorite selections. But would this sort of thing — a PDF of favorites that people could print off for themselves — even appeal to anyone besides me and a few family members?
this week’s menu
Obviously, narrowing down the list to just my top 30-50 recipes would be a struggle. Maybe I’d have to do several docs, like one for breads, another for main dishes, and another for desserts? I don’t know. I’m just brainstorming…
But now I’m curious about two things: 1. How many of you actually cook from this blog? 2. If you do, which top three recipes do you reference most often?
*And speaking of looking up recipes on my blog, my brother just installed a new search bar thingy and it’s soooo much better than what I had before. Thanks, bro!
