Recipe Box Contest Entry

It is such a rare thing for me to enter a contest that requires such things as "pictures" and being on time with the entry and really, just even trying. But with that whole "more pictures on the blog" push for '08 it was one of those, "may as well start now" kinda things.

So over at Mason-Dixon there is a call out for showing off the recipe box/binder/etc. of olde that you store your cherished favorites in. You know, the one passed down from mom to kid to kid to kid, or somethin'.

Welp, I don't actually have that. My mom does not write down ANYTHING. And neither did her mom, and before then we're actually not sure, but that's a long story best told over warming alcoholic drinks and knitting.

Being the "first" then to have a box? And given my past as both a library nerd and boat person and teacher? These are my recipes (I mean the containers at the front, the cookbooks do actually live behind them):
A Trader Joe's tin that once contained yummi-rific mini cookies just a little over 2 years ago, my not-so-blank book where I keep trying to compile recipes since 1999, and a plastic 3X5 card holder that I've had since I was um, maybe 12.

Come in an have a peek at my logic:
So the recipe comes into my hand via the internet, friends, my mom's head. I scribble it down/print it/cut it out and stick it in the tin.

I try it once or twice straight from the paper and get it super greasy/dirty/wet and if I like it, I write it out on a 3x5 card to file and use on a regular basis. (These too get pretty messy.)

If it's something I really want/need to keep around, I pull out my permanent ink pens and add it to the book.

Anal much?

From the looks of the tin, I've obviously fallen behind on the "move from tin to 3x5 card" and beyond...

And now, for all the world to see, my mom's simple yet effective recipe for Frijoles de La Hoya (Fresh Pinto Beans) that I snagged from her just before leaving for college:
Yes, very narrative, that's just how I roll. The bit in Spanish:
"Si hacen macita, ya estan. Si brincan para el cielo, handan buscando a Dios" translates to:
"If they (the beans) make a masa, they're done. If they jump to the sky, they are looking for God (um, not done)."