Favorite Recipes of Mine

Someday - I will put my time-worn, many handwritten recipes in a cookbook. I have many of them in my computer already and when I need one, I go to my computer, click on "Recipes" and look down the alphabetized list until I find the one I want. But not all of my favorites have been typed and saved in my computer. But I will also keep those old, hand written recipes in a special place. Some are scribbled on the back of envelopes, note paper, and whatever was available to write on. Today I was looking for a recipe from a friend from Albany, GA. It was for " Chicken Spectular" and a great casserole. I had surgery on my knee while living in Albany and Mrs. Emily Buce cooked this great casserole and brought it to us for dinner one night.

Another favorite recipe I plan to make this week is called Sausage Bread. My Aunt Mattie Lena gave me this recipe several years ago and it became a favorite right away. She was visiting us in NC and made this delicious recipe for Jim when I was away on a trip. He asked her to teach me how to make it. She was the best cook around. I think Jim probably gained 10 lbs. the week she came to stay with him and James.

I came across another recipe today that was from a friend in Texas (who died at a young age). Today her husband was buried in Paris, Texas. What memories that recipe brought back as I looked at her handwriting.
Yes, I will type my recipes and print them out but I will not discard all the handwritten copies, so that I can take them out of the box and hold them and remember where they came from.

A few years ago I encouraged the ladies at New Ebenezer Baptist Church near Elba, AL to write down recipes and I typed them and we made a cookbook for family members. This is my favorite cookbook and I use it often.
They didn't want to sell these as a fund raising project; they just wanted to make the cookbook to leave behind. Some of those ladies are no longer with us but we have their recipes to remember them by. I contributed my Mama Wilson's lane cake, my aunt's sausage bread, and many others - including some of my own. I am not a true southern cook - I have never mastered the art of making biscuits and making divinity candy. Nor do I fry foods very often or make cakes. I'm a salad maker and deli meat person. I love to use my food processor to chop, shred, slice, etc. Speeds up preparation time for me. The kitchen is not my favorite place to be. I'm an "ourdoors" person.