For the past year or so I have entertained the idea of writing a book. Well, I did it. Kinda. Sorta. Well...okay maybe I didn't so much as write a book but rather put a book together. Yeah. We are going to roll with that. It is a collection from myself and some of my favorite people. And I think I'm going to do another one within the next year.
Several years ago, I had a Facebook conversation with a friend and she told me that she had had a house fire a few years previous and lost a lot, if not all, of her recipes. And I told her that I would put something together for her to try to recoup some of those recipes. Well I procrastinated long enough. It kept eating away at me. I kept thinking how I would feel if I lost ALL my recipes. Even if I lost all the ones from my mom, my grandmas, and my good friend Delma, I would be heart-broken...lost.
So I started going through my recipes and...you know how you look at things and think..."wow, I need some new things, new ideas, new input"...well that was me. I have read, re-read, baked, re-baked, cooked, re-cooked, vamped, and re-vamp so many recipes, so many times...they make me feel like I don't have enough. I do have enough...or do I? Can one really have enough recipes??
Anyway, so I sent an email out to several people and asked them to send me anywhere from one recipe, to one recipe from each catagory, or anything in-between. I figured, the more the merrier, right? And the response I got was amazing. I don't remember how many people I asked to participate but I got about a 95% positive response.
And we all get busy. I am the first to admit that. Hell, I'm the secretary of the local procrastinators annonymous group. Well, I will be......someday. When I get around to it. Anyway, I told everybody when I would need the recipes in by and a few got right on it. Here come some recipes. Then they just stopped. So I sent a second email out...when I was ready to finally get started...back sometime in July...and people had forgotten of course. I can sympathize and understand and hold no ill feelings so please don't twist my words on this.
Here come several different recipes. I was in Heaven! I even got some sent to me by snail mail and that was fun too! Who woulda thunk about snail mail??? So, I didn't get as many recipes as I had hoped but I didn't care. I knew it would be a special surprise for my friend and hoped she loved it as much as I knew I was going to.
Now comes the not-so-fun part. Or so I thought. Typing all of those recipes out. Whoa. That is slow tedious work. I don't feel sorry for anybody who has to do that all day long! Once I got my catagories put away, I tried to do a catagory a day...depending on size...at least. Some of them were small enough...or I had more time that day...to do 2-3. Anyway, the whole way through, I kept thinking, "I'm not going to have enough recipes and this is going to be so weak!"
I just kept plodding through though. Q would tell me how "into reading the recipes" I would get. Lost in a haze of measurements and equal margins. And they didn't have equal margins. And they weren't 100% right each time I printed them out. Made me crazy! Once I got them all typed in the computer and saved...it was time for a week off. But it just kept haunting me to get started on it. Something in the back of my head was kicking me...pushing me...screaming at me to print it finally. And so I did.
And so I did. Page after page after page came out of the printer in different "happy" colors. I didn't want to put them in black because I didn't want to go buy a hundred black cartridges when I should be using ALL my colors.
I got the first one printed out and was utterly AMAZED at how thick it was. Of course they are all one-sided pages. I figured if someone wanted to make notes, they could write on the back of the recipe. Too bad I forgot to mention that in my preface! HA! I figured I wouldn't have much ink left so what the heck, let's print another one. And I did. I was amazed I had enough ink because I had those cartridges in for months.
Then I got to thinking....I have one here for Marilyn. Why not use this other one for Connie's benefit auction? I was already taking 2 candy bouquets for it. This would be a cute idea! So, 2 bouquets means another book. I was really pushing my luck with this ink thing now. Nope! I had plenty of ink. Each time I would print one out though...because I looked at each page each time I printed...I would find something that wasn't like I wanted it to be and so each book has it's own corrections/edits/mistakes in it. Character, that's what I say!
So...I pushed it a little bit further and printed out a 4th book. I mean, I need one, right? There were a couple of pages that I had to change the color on because certain colors were running out but that wasn't a big deal.
After Connie's benefit auction, I was asked to make 2 more copies of the cookbook. So I did. And yes, I do have to charge for these. I have to replenish my paper, my ink and my travel/shipping expense. No biggie. $20 to be picked up. $25 if I have to deliver or ship it.
Before I go any further, I want to add that on each recipe, I put, "Submitted by....." because a lot of mine came from the internet (bettycrocker, philadelphia creamcheese, rachel ray, paulda deen, etc.). I tried to put on those, where I got them so nobody thinks I am trying to take credit for their recipe. I give kudos where kudos is earned. Especially in a recipe.
So like I said before, I want to do another one before Christmas 2014. I have a good idea started in my head and as soon as I get this blog done, I am going to make my outline. I am so excited. If you would like to participate in the next one, let me know via Facebook or email (in_boos_world@hotmail.com). Like I said before, the more the merrier, right?
And before I forget...so you don't think I have forgotten my own projects: Instead of breaking my pocketbook, my husband's pocketbook, and trying to find a day when I could get 5 people to come help me, I decided to make this year's "The Gift" smaller and a little more personable. I am not going to do 200 (this year anyway) and I don't have a certain number in mind either. I have a small, humble list that I want to share with this year.
Until next time...thanks for reading!
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