I have been having a blast lately making Farmgirl related items. I have made a set of Farmgirl notecards, a recipe box and a chicken notebook. What fun My mind is going a mile a minute
You can see them at http://www.dreamingofspringtime.etsy.com
Thanks

I spent some time with my PC’s scanner & scanned favorite recipes from cookbooks on the shelves that I rarely used (there are some books that have just a few yet I keep the whole book for some reason!). This allowed me to print the recipes I love & use and give away the cookbooks that I don’t use and that take up a lot of space … felt good to accomplish, more of my favorites are now behind plastic protector sheets in my recipe binder & got me more organized too!

For 25 years I’ve been paid for my creativity (I guess that makes me a psuedo professional). I’ve always felt that creativity as a label is unfairly hoarded and gets mooshed down into an ittybitty box, The result is sorta like when Cinderella’s big-footed sister tries to make the tiny glass slipper fit and her big ole foot pops it off. Creativity is a huge category and it will NOT fit into a stingey little box!! People that design satellite communications systems are creative, as are researchers that work on curing diseases. All the people that work on how to make our lives safer are creative troubleshooters. Chefs are creative as is any cook that enjoys the art and likes to experiment. Creative thought is like the air we breath, it is everywhere and in everyone. Dealing with Life demands it. Some of it is work related, some it falls under the heading of "just for fun"…hobby therapy. Anyone who works in the arts (and crafts) will tell you that even though they enjoy their job, it is a job and it feels like work. A friend of mine has been a career medical illustrator (surgeon’s manuals); her hobby is also art, but it is much more playful and fanciful. She jokes that her ‘job’ is to draw bones & innards. Another friend is a newspaper owner and she is a creative machine that has a weekly deadline. Parents that take the time to enrich their childrens lives with family traditions, outings, and just how to do things in everyday life are 110% 24/7 creative!

Well anyway, I second your thoughts…everyone is creative. We all have bellybuttons and we all have a creative soul. If you don’t think so, you’re probably not looking in the right place. If you let yourself see that part of you, you’re on the verge of really widening your life by turning your inner child loose. Being fearless in self exploration is, in my opinion, the key that turns the lock. :o) Shery

I’ve been working on a new wall hanginmg for my shop. That’s my officially creative thing. I also love to readaloud to my kiddos and I change my voice around for the different characters. I made bread. Lots of ways to see being creative. Thanks for the reminder Rebekah!

I am cleaning bathrooms today- does that count?

Creativity in the last couple of days…..hmmmmm

Took pictures of my gardens explosion because it’s so lovely right now.
Took pictures of my dog and hubs
Completed a few blog posts
Almost finished sewing a skirt
Organized my craft room
Put a few items on freecycle and now the ‘stuff’ is out of my house and to someone that needs/wants it.
Decided on a few dinner menus for the upcoming beginning of summer weekend. (so excited)
Also decided on a new drinky-poo for the start of the weekend…;)

Wow, that’s quite a list and I think it is really creative because it involves thinking differently and doing differently. LOVE THAT!
Have a great day!
Julie

Fantasitc topic Rebekah! CREATIVITY! You said it, Life is Creative;life is ART! I believe we are made to be creative, to be problem solvers and express our creativity in just about everything we do! Artists of LIFE! Creativity doesn’t just belong to artists. It lives and breathes within each of us! I was fortunate to work in the creative industry of hairdressing for 18 years,followed by 12 years of homeschooling where I’ve learned to stretch my creative wings even further as a mother and facilitator of learning for our two home grown kids. All along I’ve tried my hand an many artsy endeavors. Sewing, painting furniture,home decor, gardening and photography and now writing my HOME ARTS blog Dandelion House and the MJFbeachblog too! Life is a wonderful creative journey! We just need to stay open so we can " recieve " our own creative messages then just go for it!

Here’s my list of creativity for this week:

1) Write my next blog for the mjfbeachblog
2) Now that the rain has stopped I can assemble my two raised garden beds.
3) Set up temperary " housing " for my newest batch of 8 Auracaunas outside while hubby finishes the run! I used a dog fence, a dog crate and a tarp! Not the prettiest arrangement but it will do in a pinch until the full set up is finished!
4)Added Verbena and Catmint to my perennial garden.
5)Researched how to get rid of a very unwanted woodchuck that has taken up residence under our shed and all but eaten my elephant sized hollyhock down to the nubbins!
( anyone know how to get rid of a woodchuck)?

HELP!

Great post Rebekah! Loved it!
Deb

I made several meals this week using some of the vegetables from the garden I planted earlier this year!

Yes, I am a creative person, and over the last few years I have had to re-evaluate my idea of an artist! It’s not just someone who paints pictures or creates sculptures or makes music. Anyone who creates is an artist! I loved your post because it really reflected how I feel about the topic.

I am a papercrafter, primarily making cards and tags. It makes me happy to sit at my work table and make things. You can find my blog here >>> http://camelliacottagedesigns.blogspot.com/ and I hope you will leave me a comment if you visit!

Love reading your blog, your fellow Georgia girl,

Becky Garrison
Chapter Leader Sunshine Sisters Farmgirls
Cumming, Georgia

This is Renaisance Fair season and I just finished the last Elizabethan costume,I hope:)

I haven’t done this yet, but I have an idea.
MaryJane’s latest magazine had dish-drainer quilts. Way cool. I have two queen size pillow cases, which have lost their twins and I have been thinking of putting batting into the closed, plain end, sewing/ironing it in place and then flipping the fancy open end over, so the border of the pillow case is somewhat off center. Yes, the quilt will be thicker at that point but the dish-drainer will straddle the bulk.
If you haven’t seen MaryJane’s idea check it out. I have been using old bath towels with worn out selvages and fringe on the sides. Worse still I keep washing and drying these old towels, wasting water and natural gas. MJ shows off her quilts on skirt hangers, economical and e-cological at the same time.

Thank you Rebekah for inspiring us (and teal is my favorite color).
We (hubs and I) are being creative with our on-going hummingbird/butterfly gardens in our yard by adding a few more native perennials and continuing our wildscape garden, hope to be done someday so we can sit back and enjoy them. Found a really neat site and purchased some great plants, almostedenplants.com (hope I can add that in my message).

Hold out for the autograph of James Taylor, it can happen. Plan for it, envision it. A few years ago I had the chance to see The Moody Blues in concert in Tahoe and so wanted to meet my favorite of the group, Justin Hayward but did not know how this could happen. I had to wait a while for the box office to open to get my ticket so I window shopped in the mini mall behind the theatre and ventured into a book store and low and behold there was none other than Mr. Hayward himself. He was so nice and such a gentleman, we chatted and I got his autograph. The concert that PM was a blast! Believe it and it will come true.

In this day of computers, all you have to do is pick a recipe, like "French Onion SOUP". Type in your browser and ask for picture guide or video guide, and instantly on your computer you can watch pictures OR video of the recipes being made (as though you were standing at their shoulder).

I am blessed to have a husband that loves to cook and he is very good at it. When it comes to throwing ingredients in a pan he knows just what to choose, no cookbooks needed. My passion is baking and I consider myself a successful baker. I have turned my passion into a business with baking wholesome organic treats for our canine companions. http://www.CanineConfections.com However, when I do venture into the kitchen to cook on top of the stove I use the ‘America’s Test Kitchen’ TV Show Cookbook. These are recipes that they have perfected by repeating them many many times until the outcome is just perfect. So, you know if you follow the directions you can rest assured the outcome will be a success. They cover everything from the basics to the perfect French omelet. As a bonus, there is information on tools of the trade to make cooking simpler. I highly recommend it and wish you the best.

I had very little experience in the kitchen and our cleaning lady gave me Better Homes and Gardens binder style cookbook and another person gave me Betty Crocker, they are terrific for the beginner and have all the info you need to start. From that point I have collected nearly 1,000 cookbooks and now with the computer I am reducing the load!!!! I read cookbooks like novels and the vintage ones are the BEST!!!

Just learning to cook? If you want to start cooking right away, I’d start with the Jamie Oliver suggestions but add "The America’s Test Kitchen" cookbook and "The Joy of Cooking". Both give you references to herbs, spices, grains and various other things you might not find in a basic cookbook. These two will explain the difference between long grain and short grain rice and which is better in what recipe!

Betty Crocker has been my go to cookbook since I married 31 years ago. It’s the best for actual cooking instructions. Now, if you just want great recipes I would go with any of Paula Deen’s cookbooks. Her recipes are fantastic. Good luck to the bride! Blessings!

Mrs. Wilkes’ Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table [Hardcover] by Sema Wilkes—I bought this for a friend from Michigan for a Christmas gift because of her dream of coming to see Savannah, GA. The locals in Savannah say this is the place one needs to go when visiting historic Savannah. But the book…once I received it…I checked it out before sending the gift to our friend and I fell in love with it!!! I so wished I had this book when I first married 30 years before. My hubby would not have had to suffer through my dislike of cooking or trial and error cooking. The book is basic cooking, but you can use "organic" in the place of some suggested ingredients. (You can use olive oil in the place of some of her suggested ingredients and the recipes still taste great, even better to me since I prefer organic.) I just wished I had this cookbook when I was young since my Mom passed away when I was very young. This business woman from Savannah could probably cook almost as good as my Mom. It also costs less than $20.00 which is rare for a cookbook!
Reba

Love your blog, Rebeka!! And your daddy’s roses! When I got married 35 years ago I got the most wonderful present and cook book entitled, "Brides Eye-View Of Cooking" by Elise Maclay. I don’t even know if you can get it any more. But I still remember how much I loved it and used it and studied it as a young and so-in-love bride. I still pull it out today and use some of the tried and true receipts. Just looking at the cover makes me smile and remember…..Whether it’s still published or not is not really important, but what is, is I hope this soon to be bride finds a cook book that will fill her with just as much excitement and hope for cooking and making a new life with the man she loves as this book did me. And I’m so grateful that all these years later, I’m still loving and cooking for my husband, grown children and grand kids!! Blessings to you and her, Cate Tuten

My all time favorite cookbooks are Favorite Recipes From Quilters by Louise Stoltfuz (It’s like being at a church social with everyone’s tried and true recipes!) and the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, for general information about everything. I also enjoy the Christmas Recipies From Quilters too. Of course, having a husband that was raised in the restaurant business and loves to cook doesn’t hurt either!

I had that red and white cookbook when my kids were small! They all still talk about it today, and they’re in their twenties and thirties. In fact, I think I gave the whole book to one of my daughters, at her request.

These days, I get a lot of recipes online. I use a lot of Cooking Light recipes. I have an entire shelf of cookbooks, and I use all of them. No favorites really, but the books that get the most use are The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison, and that great Italian cookbook, Silver Spoon. And I LOVE Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking. It’s not really a cookbook, but it’s a wealth of knowledge on food, and it’s fun to read, too!

I really wonder if one can learn to cook from a book. It can only be learned by doing. Yes, use a recipe and follow it, but be prepared for a little uncertainty, and perhaps some iffy results until you get the hang of it.

The best way to learn to cook? In the kitchen, with someone who knows how, preferably someone you love. Know someone who gets giddy at the opportunity to cook something? Get in there with them! Watch and imitate. Improvise. Have fun.

I love Southernplate by Christy Jordan. I have many cookbooks. I collect them. I have used recipes here and there. I mostly cook a little of this and that. But Christy Jordan’s cookbook is full of southern homestyle recipes from family and friends and stories to go with each. The recipes are yummy as well as making you feel a part of the tradition of southern family. : )

Ree Drummond’s cook bokk THE PIONEER WOMAN. It has great recipes and great pictures in it. Highly recommended.

I probably have over 100 cookbooks which I love looking through for special recipes or a good read. But I have to say that for my fall back book, I always reach for my Betty Crocker cookbook which is coming out of it’s binding, has had liquids spilled over it and is hanging together by a thead.

I recommend Americas Test Kitchen family cookbook. It explains why you need to do certain things while cooking, and what happens if you don’t. I have given it as a gift to all of my friends when the get engaged and they all love it. I also love Ree Drumonds The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Very simple easy to follow steps. Out of my entire collection of cookbooks (and there are a lot) These are the ones I always turn to. Plus Ree has a wonderful website that she is always updating. Her whiskey cream sauce you want to eat plain. Enjoy!

I had one cookbook when I moved out on my own. It was a Betty Crocker Cookbook. I had all the simple everyday recipes that I could use and then I depended on recipes given to me by friends after a sampling of something they had made. And of coarse any info I would need to make it happen right. I would agree with some of the other commenters here that the Pioneer Women’s Cookbook is a good one. Even at 50-something it is great to have the step by step pictures of something you have never made before or something you have made but has always flopped. To this day I cannot make a decent batch of fried chicken. My mother always made great fried chicken for picnics but she never wanted anyone hanging around in the kitchen so I do not know how she made it. I bought a new iron skillet and hubs says he is going to try his hand at it himself. Thanks for all the new cookbook ideas!

I am loving The Pioneer Woamn Cooks. Easy recipes to follow, great food and wonderful pictures to help you out. Also, I have 4 sons and a husband and this food will make any man and woman very happy!!!!!!!

I have always loved cookbooks, read many while learning what we liked to eat. We still experiment in the kitchen. Since our children are raised and on their own, it is usually okay if dinner takes a bit of time to get on the table. We can linger over our meal, visit, talk about our day and discuss tomorrow.
The best advice I can give a new bride, is try. Try the recipe that sounds good, if you like the ingredients it amy turn out wonderful. Time, take time to read the recipe, ask questions if you don’t know the ingredients or term. Experiment with the seasonings. Make notes, about the recipe and food in the margins, Likes and Dislikes, too much of sage, we like more pepper. Relax and have fun!
If she is as lucky as I was her new husband will eat what she has cooked, and not choke too much. He is still eating when I cook some 35 years later. We laugh about my first attempt at baking powder biscuits, fried chicken, and a few other items that have been disasters over the years. AND we will try a new recipe any day of the year.

FOR THE BEGINNING CHEF!

My 12 year old son loves to cook. He wanted his own cookbook so he could make dinner without any help. I searched and found "Better Homes and Garden Anyone Can Cook, step by step recipes just for you". It is great with clear pictures and recipes categorized by difficulty. Not sure the difference between minced and diced, it shows you. This is a great cookbook to learn the terminology and basics before moving onto classics such as "Joy of Cooking" and even the "Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book" which assume you know basic cooking terms and techniques.

Tonight my son made Blackberry glazed pork for dinner.

Congratulations and happy cooking.

My most cherished cookbook it my great grandma’s 1940 red checked Better Homes and Garden cookbook. I use it still. It has some great recipes.

I learned to cook from my mother, she taught me how to cook a whole Thanksgiving meal, I cooked my first Thanksgiving meal all by myself, only asking for advice if I got stumped, at the age of 16. Oh sure I took home ec, but only thing I really remembering making is tomato soup spice cake and catching a frozen loaf of bread on fire in a microwave for I forgot to take off the bead tie! Hey it was 1983 and I never used a microwave till than…haha!

I save recipes all the time I fine online, I am kind of obsessed with saving recipes! I also have my grandma’s metal card box, it has great hand written recipes in her hand writing, and since she passed away I love to just look at her hand writing. And my oldest cookbook is Watkins Cook Book, published in 1938.

Congratulations of getting married. Its a GOOD thing, marriage that is. You need to get the book SOUTHERN PLATE or go to the website. The southern girl that wrote this book could teach anyone to cook. She is pratical, funny, and shows step by step. Look her up. Christy is her name, I subscribe to her newsletter.

Although I’ve become quite the collector of cookbooks over the years, I didn’t learn how to cook from one. And though I have a family full of great cooks, the most important lessons came from my grandmother. Her recipes seem to forever be missing an ingredient, or a measurement, or a detail (such as oven temp). But by spending a little time in the kitchen with her, I learned that the missing elements become obvious once you learn to trust your instincts and to cook with…you got it!..LOVE! Most of my cooking these days is simply an experiment. I see what I’ve got, and throw it together. An exact replica of each meal I make is nearly impossible to recreate, because I don’t remember how much of something I used. I just added more until it smelled and tasted good. And I can’t seem to leave a recipe alone. I’m forever adding something or tweaking something to my liking.

As for my go-to cookbooks…I have an antique store find that I grab when I’m in doubt about the basics. It’s called For the Bride, and sadly it’s out of print. (I’ve tried finding copies for gifts, to no avail) I also fall back on my Gooseberry Patch collection, local organization fund-raiser books, and recipes from The Fence Post publication. The reason for this is that they have simple ingredients, simple directions, and they’ve been tried and proven by women through the generations. They’re generally the recipes that are quick and easy to make at the end of a long day, they seldom require an ingredient that isn’t a staple in the kitchen, and if a woman has shared the recipe because their family loves it then mine is likely to love it too.

Luckily for my husband I had an old Betty Crocker cookbook that was my go- to book for years. Near the top of my favorites list now, (besides Edna Lewis of course), is The Cook and Gardener by Amanda Hesser. A delightful read!

I didn’t start cooking until I was about 35 and into my second marriage. My husband taught me the basics. A friend introduced me to Sundays at Moosewood and that book really got me interested and I have loved cooking since. Another favorite is Chocolate and Zucchini, a lovely little book with lots of great recipes and great taste hits. I love reading and cooking from Julia Child’s books, too. My French Kitchen by Joanne Harris is another favorite. I have a couple of bookshelves of cookbooks now and really enjoy reading and experimenting in the kitchen.

I have been married for almost 25 years and I am still using my Betty Crocker cook book! It is sitting on my counter and is used often just for ingredients! (I usually don’t measure!) My other favorite is a book that was made for me and it included all the favorite receipes from all my favorite people! It is priceless!!
Good luck and just enjoy your kitchen!!

I work in a library. When folks ask about cookbooks for someone who knows "nothing" about cooking I suggest they visit the Children/Young Adult floor. There they will find many basic recipes for everything to making scrambled eggs to spaghetti. There are also books with recipes from different cultures for those who want to try couscous, hummus etc.
I always tell new cooks "If you can read you can cook!"

I would reccommend she go to youtube and check out the cooking video tutorials which anyone can learn to cook by. There are some excellent videos that show step by step what to do and how to prepare a meal or just one dish.