Weekly Rumination

I've been really lousy about posting.  For a while my photos weren't downloading from my phone to my computer.  And, now, each one has to be opened and re-saved.  So, it's upped the degree of difficulty.  Add in all the conference calls and educational calls necessary during the pandemic and it's a perfect storm for me.  Lots less time available and more time to accomplish the same task.

A couple of evenings ago I was hunting for a recipe that used radishes in a salad.  I knew we'd loved it and was determined to find it.  Fortunately, it was on here.  All too often I can't find the recipe I'm looking for.  There are some that I even know the page of the cookbook or that the cookbook falls open to that page.  Then, there are others I've made once and would make again if I could find the recipe.  My sister-in-law gave me a wonderful book years ago and I used to be diligent about recording each and every recipe tried.  Used to be is the operative word.  Then, I tried taking a photo of every recipe from a cookbook that we tried.  I know they are there among the thousands of photos.  

I've tried different methods of tracking menus and what we have to use up.  For an entire year I carried a notebook and recorded each meal and weekly made a list of what we had to use up.  It worked great and I wish I'd kept doing it.  Then, I tried Excel spreadsheets.  There must be a dozen of them.  And, they still have some lovely ideas, including which cookbook the recipe is in.  I've also tried using the back of our grocery list pages.  On the front we have a very detailed Excel spreadsheet to check what we need.  Then, on the back it's blank and we list Costco, Trader Joe's etc.  But, those tend to get lost.  

Cookbooks are like novels for me.  I read one and either check off the recipes I want to try on eatyourbooks.com.  Or, if EYB hasn't indexed the book, I take a pad of paper and make a list.  My eyes are always bigger than my stomach so the list is ALWAYS way long.  I might as well list the index and cross out the ones I don't want to make.  I'll be reading a cookbook and think of all the things I'd like to make.  Then, I'm on to the next one and can't remember exactly which one had that great recipe for whatever.  I ruminated for over a year trying to remember just which cookbook had the stellar recipe for tuna rillettes.  We made it three or four times.  And, I wanted to make it again.  Finally last night I was sitting on the couch instead of in my normal chair and there was the cookbook on the coffee table...

So, there you have it.  The sad state of my cooking record keeping.  Scattered and frustrating.  Just this morning I saved a copy of a great salad recipe to make this week.  Now, I've got to remember to print it off once photos download to the computer.  Which could be instantaneous or tomorrow.  

All of this leads to Connie's suggestion.  Put it on the blog.  Every weekend sit down and make a list of all of the things we've got to use up and recipe suggestions and where they are.  Then, even if I don't get a blog written about a recipe, there's a good record of where it is and hopefully what we thought about it.  

Ok, I'll try this.  

Here's what we have to use up - in a totally random order:
sweet cherries
morel mushrooms
iceberg lettuce
radishes
mortadella
BBQ beef brisket
large baking potatoes
romaine lettuce
corn on the cob
one tomato
fresh peach slices
cucumbers
zucchini
eggplant
tomato puree
small meatballs
cabbage
rotisserie chicken
strawberries
nectarines
kale
fresh garden lettuce and spinach from my friend, Camille
rhubarb


And, here are the cookbooks I've got out either to read or to make something from them:
French, delicious classic cuisine made easy, Carole Clements - not indexed but the list of recipes to try is made
Basic to Brilliant, Y'All, Virginia Willis
Old School Comfort Food, Alex Guarnaschelli
The Silver Palate


Here are the recipes I"m thinking about trying:
steakhouse iceberg tossed salad with radishes and blue cheese - download
shrimp rillettes - Basic to Brilliant
kale salad - recipe in email from my friend Linda
morels and crabmeat - haven't found the recipe that I want yet...
chicken, strawberry and feta salad - saw it and scribbled notes on a sticky note
eggplant parm - can't remember where I found the great recipe but this one I can make up!
muffaletta - I know I've made the olive salad before and am hoping it's on the blog
bbq salad - this one IS on the blog and is printed and ready to go! It's got bbq, corn, beans, cherry tomatoes...  lots of things I've got to use up
meatball subs
cabbage/potato/bacon torte
farro with cherries and nuts and scallions
beet/fresh cherry/fresh mozzarella salad - downloaded this morning