Mom's Cafe

When our chuns were very young we ate at lot of fast food. So much that our pre-schoolers knew the names of the restaurants better than the church we attended. Sad, I know. We have lots of funny stories from that time, such as, Elder PW saying "No!" to the question did he want to go to McDonald's; he wanted to go to "Mc O'Bells", the name stuck and we refer to it as our favorite Irish Mexican restaurant. (Except I try really hard not to eat at fast food places, for about the last 15 years)

One day while running errands the chuns asked about eating out and I said, "We're going to Mom's Cafe." Ohhhhh, a new place, they were so excited; until we drove into the driveway. But the name stuck and my kitchen and dining room forever after have been known as "Mom's Cafe." My children tell me I'm the best cook, but that's only because they haven't eaten at really fine restaurants. I accept the compliments gracefully and gratefully.

A while ago I began putting together a cookbook/homemaking book with recipes, tips and practices from Mom's Cafe. It is a long process and could consume all my available time. My goal is to have it finished to give to the chuns when they get married and establish their own homes.

Today I sorted a whole bunch of loose recipes into file folders representing the categories within the book:
Beans, Lentils & Rice
Breads, rolls, muffins
Breakfast
Cakes, Brownies, Sweet Breads
Candy
Casseroles & One Dish Meals
Cookies
Dessers: Cobblers, Jellos, Tapioca
Drinks & Smoothies
Ethnic & Foreign
Holidays
Lunches
Meats: Beef, Fish, Lamb, Pork, Poultry
Pies & Cheesecakes
Potatoes
Salads, Dressings & Dips
Snacks & Appetizers
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Vegetables & Fruits

There are other sections for meal planning and shopping, as well as cleaning and laundry, including recipes for homemade cleaners.

Here's a snapshot mid-sort of the recipes:

Now everything is in labeled file folders and the plan is to use the recipes and decide if it's a keeper; if it is I'll type it up, print it off, put it in a sleeve and add it to the master copy of the book.

At least at this point, recipes will be easier to find than looking through a three inch stack!
How do you organize yours?