by Bobbie Sandlin

Created on: August 14, 2009

There's nothing like walking into a well used kitchen. Cabinets and pantries stocked with a multitude of ingredients, coffee brewing, and a planter of herbs on the counter. Add a fresh spring breeze blowing through the kitchen window, while one thumbs through their recipes looking for that favorite one that everyone loves, and you have home.

Recipe books are timeless. They are as much a family heirloom as they are a useful reference for cooking. With the digital age, people wonder if these classic treasures are being phased out, but I beg to differ. They may be used less and less, but there will always be demand for them.

For example, I hate recipe cards. I've printed out recipes from the world wide web, and I usually end up tossing them. I always fall back to my trusty book. It's tangible. You can flip through it page by page, and I can tell you what caused each stain...the splotch of vanilla abstract on page 25 from when I was in a hurry making cupcakes. The stuck on...shriveled and dried up piece of carrot when I was making a Spring Salad recipe on page 326. You'll see my scribbling on the margins, from the phase when I was experimenting and adding to recipes.

I compare recipe books to quilts. We don't "need" quilts anymore. We can go to any store and buy a blanket or even a quilt at reasonable price, and they will suffice to keep us warm. Yet, we are drawn to the handmade. They are passed down throughout the years in families and carry a sense of history and worth. A Great Grandmother made the quilt, and a Great Granddaughter treasures it far more than any diamond. It's the fact that Grandma made it, her hands created and molded it, stitching the fabric. Creating a work of art out of both love and necessity. It is, in essence, a crafted memory. It's touchable and real.

We may not "need" recipe books, but that doesn't mean they are ever going out of style. Many books have been passed down, like precious treasures. You open up the age-tinged pages and see a loved one's handwriting in the margins. Touching the page, you marvel at the fact that it's stood the test of time. Now, that favorite recipe of your Grandmother is your children's favorite...the one you are preparing tonight.

Not everything is about speed and practicality, nor should it be. Cooking, much like a craft such as quilting, is an art form. The journey in creation and reverence of wisdom, counts just as much as the final result. Recipe books will always have a place in the kitchen.

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