a little and a lot

Friday, March 26, 2010

Borrowed Notoriety

So, in a lunch conversation with Leslie the other day, we pondered:

What makes a recipe YOURS?

Every recipe I use comes from somewhere. But somehow, there exists Jesse's Fruit Salsa Recipe or Jesse's Chicken Pot Pie. Truth be told, the Fruit Salsa came from my mom via allrecipes.com several years ago, and the CPP belongs to Real Simple.

Then there's the "specialties" I make that belong to others: Michelle Betts' Fried Chicken, Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls, Reta Faris' Ginger Snaps, Mom's Hungry Jack Casserole, you get the picture...

So what do you think--when does a recipe become yours?

My guess is that you first must become known for making that dish well (among your peers or family), and then it becomes "yours" when you pass it on to someone else. (That's how the Fruit Salsa & CPP recipes became "mine.")

How many years do I have to make Michelle's Fried Chicken recipe or how many generations do I have to pass it down to before it's known as "my recipe?" It's not that I desire for my name to be attached to recipes--I rather enjoy the nostalgia and connection recipes have. It's just that I was surprised to find I was linked to several borrowed recipes. If I pass on PW's CinnamonRollsofGoodness to my offspring and they pass it on to their offspring and so on--will my great-great-great grandchildren be making Cinnamon Rolls one day and still calling them Pioneer Woman's?

Just something to think about. What famous (borrowed-from-somewhere) recipe are YOU known for?

It's a lazy Friday, and I'll entertain you with today's amusement:
(Consider this a two-for-one!)
Nick woke me up this morning and I snapped at him. "WHY are you waking me up so EARLY?" Surprised, he left me alone. I heard him leave the house. I thought to myself, Is he crazy? Waking me up so early on a Saturday? I bet he went to get donuts as a peace offering. Sweet man. I then started thinking about Friday and how I was supposed to meet a friend in the afternoon. I felt startled when I realized I'd stood her up. And then it dawned on me--I hadn't dissed the rendezvous with my friend...Nick hadn't woken me up early on a weekend...He hadn't left the house in search of breakfast tokens...It. Was. Friday.

TGIF, friends!

3 comments:

WendyLou said...

Jesse - So fun to meet you this morning! Love your blog, too. Your writing style is very fun to read, so I'll be back soon reading thru the archives :) SO, SO excited about your adoption journey!!

Unknown said...

I guess....mine are growing to be the thumbprints and the inside-out ravioli? Maybe the raspberry oatmeal bars? I DONT KNOW maybe some kinda pie?

seems like pressure.

but it snot

Charity Hildebrand said...

Just found your blog and wanted to say "hi!" We're also adopting from Ethiopia through AAI. I've been reading adoption blogs like crazy while we're waiting for our little one :)

So nice to "meet" you!

Charity
www.lifewiththehildebrands.blogspot.com


Adopting Rhet: Click on the timeline above to read more