Of Triple Lutz's and other Small Projects to Occupy your Holiday
I've been working on a project. Since it was my idea to create a going-away gift for a gal at work who is leaving for further education, I took on the responsibility to create a cookbook for her, with personalized recipes from her co-workers.
Those of you who like to do this sort of thing, might want to check out HP's web site's "Activity Center". (Although I hate to give my secret away, that's it) . It is a great site. You can muck around with your project for endless minutes, hours, days, ....until your husband wanders downstairs at 2 a.m. to see if you have been abducted by aliens.
This website, as I said, has lots of fun projects to upload. You then make your own little marks on it (add your own photos and copy) and presto-bingo, you have a professional looking product that you "made" yourself. I use the word presto-bingo in a very casual way. The project looked like a presto-bingo job when it was all done. But it didn't give a clue about the contra-indications of taking it on.
For instance, creating this project, without investing inordinate amounts of time on it, would preclude changing your mind a million times about the kind of project that you will do. Until you look at the website, you have no idea that there are so many ways to create a recipe-based gift. Recipe book, recipe calendars, recipe cards? I tried them all. I should have decided earlier to stick to the simple. But in reality, it took me half a day to figure that a recipe card was the way to go.
"Presto Bingo" also doesn't refer to the amount of time you've spent staring at the screen waiting for the computer to un-freeze. It certainly doesn't mean that your computer won't develop a mind (or a thousand) of its own and decide to block every last living pop-up so that the uploading of the final project gets sent way out in the middle of cyber-space.
It also assumes you remember what you are doing; that you won't have to re-do cards because you gave credit to someone completely different on the recipe card when you forgot to highlight the last person's name and retype the new person's name.
It doesn't allow for the time you spent trying to figure out better settings for the printer, so that your boss's picture doesn't come out looking like she has a bad case of jaundice.
All that explained, as I said, "Presto Bingo", I ended up with a great looking set of recipe cards. Everyone sent me pictures of themselves and their favorite recipes. I transferred the information onto the computer. I proof read the cards, printed them out, reprinted several (see above paragraphs), cut them up, and put them into the cutest little recipe box, (complete with dividers) you ever did see for under five bucks. I think she will love it.
The fact that I went to all this trouble to make the recipe cards is kind of funny, considering that I am not really a recipe person. You don't find me saying "Hey, Judy, I love this Chicken (Jackstraw)(Creole)(Parmesan)('a la King), would you consider giving me the recipe?"
I'm much more of a standard recipe person. I don't look for different ways of making the same thing. Out of the 100 or so recipes I have in my dog-eared book I got from my mother in law for our wedding (the one where she hand wrote "all my husband's favorites" - which is why I thought all those years that he liked pumpkin pie but he doesn't), there are two that I use regularly. One is pancakes. I can't remember the other one.
Actually, me being a one-time cook is not completely true. I am also one-off person - I have been known to write down recipes and try them once, but never again. I have recipes (in the same book) I have only made once, because it was when I made them I realized how much work it was. (For instance, much as I loved the recipe my sister gave me for Double Salchow Caramel Chocolate Backflip Trifle with Triple Toe-Loop Whipped Cream, it was too much work to peel all that plastic wrap off those caramels. I think I ate more than I peeled. But thanks for typing it out for me just the same)
[And as another side note, if I ever do write a cookbook, I have the title picked out already : "The No-Promise Cookbook". There's no promises about how things will turn out.]
But the gal who is leaving, is always on the lookout for recipes, and can often be heard asking other co-workers for them. So this is the perfect project for her going away gift. And I had piles of fun collating it all. I learned a few things in the process and that's always a good thing.
One more thing. After I gathered all the information and made the cards up, I realized my recipe and picture wasn't on any of the cards. I may not be a recipe collector, but I wanted my card to be in her box for posterity's sake. So I added a recipe for "Crunchy Chocolate Biscotti".
My husband came by while I was making the recipe card, looked over my shoulder and said "Have you ever made that?" "No,and I don't really plan to" I replied, "I just thought it looked good and that she might like to try it". The picture of me was of me though, and that's all that matters! I briefly considered downloading a picture of Cindy Crawford to add to the card, but thought better of it.
Maybe I'll ask her to email me when she makes it, to let me know how the Biscotti turned out. I know that I'm pretty happy with how the cards turned out. Oh, there's my husband. No honey, I haven't been abducted by aliens, and yes, I am coming to bed. Right now.
Those of you who like to do this sort of thing, might want to check out HP's web site's "Activity Center". (Although I hate to give my secret away, that's it) . It is a great site. You can muck around with your project for endless minutes, hours, days, ....until your husband wanders downstairs at 2 a.m. to see if you have been abducted by aliens.
This website, as I said, has lots of fun projects to upload. You then make your own little marks on it (add your own photos and copy) and presto-bingo, you have a professional looking product that you "made" yourself. I use the word presto-bingo in a very casual way. The project looked like a presto-bingo job when it was all done. But it didn't give a clue about the contra-indications of taking it on.
For instance, creating this project, without investing inordinate amounts of time on it, would preclude changing your mind a million times about the kind of project that you will do. Until you look at the website, you have no idea that there are so many ways to create a recipe-based gift. Recipe book, recipe calendars, recipe cards? I tried them all. I should have decided earlier to stick to the simple. But in reality, it took me half a day to figure that a recipe card was the way to go.
"Presto Bingo" also doesn't refer to the amount of time you've spent staring at the screen waiting for the computer to un-freeze. It certainly doesn't mean that your computer won't develop a mind (or a thousand) of its own and decide to block every last living pop-up so that the uploading of the final project gets sent way out in the middle of cyber-space.
It also assumes you remember what you are doing; that you won't have to re-do cards because you gave credit to someone completely different on the recipe card when you forgot to highlight the last person's name and retype the new person's name.
It doesn't allow for the time you spent trying to figure out better settings for the printer, so that your boss's picture doesn't come out looking like she has a bad case of jaundice.
All that explained, as I said, "Presto Bingo", I ended up with a great looking set of recipe cards. Everyone sent me pictures of themselves and their favorite recipes. I transferred the information onto the computer. I proof read the cards, printed them out, reprinted several (see above paragraphs), cut them up, and put them into the cutest little recipe box, (complete with dividers) you ever did see for under five bucks. I think she will love it.
The fact that I went to all this trouble to make the recipe cards is kind of funny, considering that I am not really a recipe person. You don't find me saying "Hey, Judy, I love this Chicken (Jackstraw)(Creole)(Parmesan)('a la King), would you consider giving me the recipe?"
I'm much more of a standard recipe person. I don't look for different ways of making the same thing. Out of the 100 or so recipes I have in my dog-eared book I got from my mother in law for our wedding (the one where she hand wrote "all my husband's favorites" - which is why I thought all those years that he liked pumpkin pie but he doesn't), there are two that I use regularly. One is pancakes. I can't remember the other one.
Actually, me being a one-time cook is not completely true. I am also one-off person - I have been known to write down recipes and try them once, but never again. I have recipes (in the same book) I have only made once, because it was when I made them I realized how much work it was. (For instance, much as I loved the recipe my sister gave me for Double Salchow Caramel Chocolate Backflip Trifle with Triple Toe-Loop Whipped Cream, it was too much work to peel all that plastic wrap off those caramels. I think I ate more than I peeled. But thanks for typing it out for me just the same)
[And as another side note, if I ever do write a cookbook, I have the title picked out already : "The No-Promise Cookbook". There's no promises about how things will turn out.]
But the gal who is leaving, is always on the lookout for recipes, and can often be heard asking other co-workers for them. So this is the perfect project for her going away gift. And I had piles of fun collating it all. I learned a few things in the process and that's always a good thing.
One more thing. After I gathered all the information and made the cards up, I realized my recipe and picture wasn't on any of the cards. I may not be a recipe collector, but I wanted my card to be in her box for posterity's sake. So I added a recipe for "Crunchy Chocolate Biscotti".
My husband came by while I was making the recipe card, looked over my shoulder and said "Have you ever made that?" "No,and I don't really plan to" I replied, "I just thought it looked good and that she might like to try it". The picture of me was of me though, and that's all that matters! I briefly considered downloading a picture of Cindy Crawford to add to the card, but thought better of it.
Maybe I'll ask her to email me when she makes it, to let me know how the Biscotti turned out. I know that I'm pretty happy with how the cards turned out. Oh, there's my husband. No honey, I haven't been abducted by aliens, and yes, I am coming to bed. Right now.
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