Flowers and recipes

Maggie loves to pick our flowers. We are trying to teach her to just wave at the flowers but sometimes she just can't resist. I mean hyacinths look too good not to pick. Maggie is just so stinkin' cute to watch as she waves at the various flowers though out the neighborhood telling them all hi.

Here she is just being Maggie.

I enjoy my job. I enjoy talking to adults about things I went to school to learn. I like helping them, I like to listen to their stories and I enjoy my co workers, all except Brandon. But on Monday I had one of those days where it made me want to just stay home all the time. I love how Maggie stands up on a chair pulled up to the counter to watch me cook. I made her her first batch of play dough. I couldn't help but laugh as she tried to sneakily sample the dough. Mags took a three hour nap so I was able to get some sewing done. We went to the Salvation Army and walked out with some awesome finds. Oh it was a lovely day. I love my daughter

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Do you have a prized possession? Family members excluded. Something that you would grab first if there was a fire? Mine would have to be my recipe box that my mom gave me for Christmas when I was 13. In it houses some of the best family recipes; my Aunt Ann's frozen strawberry dessert, Mama's sponge cake, Mrs. Stone's dinner rolls, Grandma Slack's bread pudding, my mom's sacred raspberry rhubarb jam, sister's peanut butter balls, or Sharon's chocolate chip cookies. I try to think about these women as I follow their recipes. I laugh at Sharon's chocolate chip cookie recipe as it calls for seven cups of flour. She has eight kids so you can see why she made cookies is mass quantities. Or how my aunt Ann's frozen dessert has you beat your egg and sugar mixture for ten minutes. This is no problem for me now as I have a Kitchen Aid mixer, but I have made plenty of batches with a much tired arm and memories of my mom sitting in her rocking chair in the kitchen beating the same mixture for ten minutes.

I collect recipe boxes. Not just any recipe box but the small metal ones as the picture above shows. They are pretty cheap. Five to ten dollars a piece. I get so happy when I find one of these boxes in antique stores or thrift shops and it's a major plus if they are already filled with some stranger's recipes.

One of the traditions that I have started for my nieces is giving them their first recipe box from my collection. I start them off ,just like my mom did for me, with a few family recipes and then tell them that they need to share one of their own favorite recipes with me! My niece Kelly is quite the cook and I love to see her recipe box bursting with recipes written in little girl hand writing. I wonder which recipe box Maggie will pick?

My recipe box.

Mother's day is on Sunday and my husband is giving me a great present. He's taking Maggie to his Mom's house for the weekend. I desperately need some alone time in my own home. I have a list that would take me a week to accomplish to do in 2 days. My house needs DEEP cleaning, I want to finish planting my garden, I'd like to go to the farmer's market and wonder through some antique stores. Maybe I'll find a recipe box or two to add to my collection.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas out there.