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Recipe box and cookbooks

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2nd recipe box made from barn wood

2nd recipe box made from barn wood

My handmade (by hubby) recipe box is filling up.  I’ve been doing lots of purging in my home for the last year and one of the things that’s going is cookbooks!!  I love cookbooks but they take up so much room.  I’m going through all of my cookbooks and putting my favorite recipes and recipes that I think will be good on 4×6 index cards.  I’ve already gone through about 20-25 cookbooks but have about three times that to go through.  I also inherited from my mother-in-law boxes full of Taste of Home and All-Recipe magazines which I’m currently going through.  As I go through the magazines, I tab what I want to save and after I have 5-10 magazines tabbed I write down the recipe and pass the magazine on to my daughter, who passes it on to a friend and it goes and goes and goes.  I’m doing the same thing with the cookbooks.  We all enjoy the peaceful time going through them and getting new ideas for family meals.  I’m keeping a couple of the cookbooks given to me by my mother and special friends but now my kitchen shelves will have space for the “old treasures” I’ve collected for so many years.

This cookbook was my Mom's and bought when I was very young. I still use lots of the recipes.

This cookbook was my Mom’s and bought when I was very young. I still use lots of the recipes.

This cookbook I purchased while working with the Craig County Farm Bureau Women's Committee. It's out of print the last I checked but love giving it as a gift. Wonderful cooks in Virginia.

This cookbook I purchased while working with the Craig County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee. It’s out of print the last I checked but love giving it as a gift. Wonderful cooks in Virginia.

A girlfriend that used to live in Georgia presented this to me many years ago and it's my "go to book" when looking for something new and different. It has NEVER_FAIL recipes.

A girlfriend that used to live in Georgia presented this to me many years ago and it’s my “go to book” when looking for something new and different. It has NEVER_FAIL recipes.

 

These two cookbooks I use for canning and for “old-time” recipes.

Recipes from early 1900's.

Recipes from early 1900’s.

For those canning instructions that aren't used every year.

For those canning instructions that aren’t used every year.

Now I’m trying to decide is I need a larger recipe box from hubby or another one the same size.  I love the barnwood construction and works great in my very country kitchen.

A very comfortable and easy to use room in the house.

A very comfortable and easy to use room in the house.

Handmade table by Uncle Holl.

Handmade table by Uncle Holl.

Wood cook stove used mainly in the winter months.

Wood cook stove used mainly in the winter months.

White and bright

White and bright

I have a 18″ high stack of Taste of Home and All-Recipe magazines beside my chair in the living room awaiting my transfer of recipes to cards.  I have 9 cookbooks with tabbed pages to do the same thing with.  I’ll have plenty to keep me busy at night while watching TV with hubby.

My Recipe Box

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I love to cook and have collected cookbooks from all over the place and from everyone.  Finding the storage for all of them has become a challenge.  Hubby made me an adorable recipe box from some barnwood and I’ve started taking my favorite recipes from all of my cookbooks and giving the books to my daughter, granddaughter and friends.

This is the first box he made me but all of the recipes I have won't fit in it.

This is the first box he made me but all of the recipes I have won’t fit in it.  It’s a 7 x 7 inch box.

The recipes I have won’t even begin to fit in this little treasure so he made me this one.

2nd recipe box made from barn wood

2nd recipe box made from barn wood

It just barely fits on top of the pie safe.

It just barely fits on top of the pie safe.

My newest one is 7 x 16 inches long and it's almost full.

My newest one is 7 x 16 inches long and it’s almost full.

I’ve only went through about half of my cookbooks and I’m only putting my favorite, tried and true recipes in this box.  As you can tell from the following picture it’s going to be a work in progress for some time.  The wooden box at the end of the books on this shelf are recipes that hubby’s aunt had.  I have a couple cookbooks I won’t give away because they belonged to my Mom and I would love to have a cookbook that my grandmother’s used but I seriously think all of their recipes were in their head and hearts.

My cookbooks are many and I've a long way to go transferring all the recipes from the cookbooks on top of the shelf and that's not all of them.

My cookbooks are many and I’ve a long way to go transferring all the recipes from the cookbooks on top of the shelf and that’s not all of them.

I also have a stack of written recipes I’ve collected over the years that have never been in a book.  The more I think about this, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t write my own cookbook and maybe name it “Country Girl Cooks” or something simple like that!!  That might be quite fun but very time-consuming.  My recipe cards are all hand-written and in print not cursive writing.

The recipe cards are on 4x6 index cards and handwritten.

The recipe cards are on 4×6 index cards and handwritten.

I have about three inches left in the box and it's going to be a tight squeeze.

I have about three inches left in the box and it’s going to be a tight squeeze.

I guess I could make enough room on top of the pie safe for another one.  Hubby is getting really creative on the project ideas I come up with.  My recipes come from friends, family, family cookbooks, old cookbooks and concoctions I come up with myself.  I do love to cook!