DAY 11 - Cookbooks

The 24 Things Clearing Challenge 
encourages you to make room in your home, heart, and mind to create an inspired future

Novels yesterday. Cookbooks today. I have to admit, many of my cookbooks I've never cracked open. But most of them have some sort of special meaning to me. And all of them hold delicious recipes that I would love to try/make someday.

There are a few, though, that are truly special. One with hand-written cards that includes the recipes of my husband's family (his favorite birthday cake among them). One that keeps some of my favorite recipes from my mother's mother and my father's mother (my dad's favorite christmas cookies among them). And two that were written by George and Katie, the innkeepers of The Inn at Brandywine Falls (the lovely place where we got married).

When I think of my future self, I picture lots of cooking. Growing vegetables, learning how to bake well, and whipping up some mouth-watering meals for my family. Turns out, those future images are strong... and I couldn't bear to toss or give away any of my dozen or so cookbooks. However, I did take the time to go through the piles of cooking magazines I have - selecting and cutting out only the recipes that I really wanted to keep and putting them in a binder that I can always add to later, as I come across new ones. Recycling all of those old magazines felt pretty great. They were weighing me down - literally!

The results of today's letting go: inspiration to do more cooking; desire to eat more healthfully; creating more space for future recipes that I can pass down to my kids, too.