Belly Hugs the Cookbook is here: Official and printed and ready to provide Relief meals for your family in your own kitchen. I promise, most of the recipes are easy enough for novice chefs. They are comfort-y, carb-y and cheesy.
While a main reason to write Belly Hugs was to answer the question "Can you share the recipe for _____?" it also allowed me to share my love of food/cooking with others. This was a love instilled in me by my parents. It's often said that the kitchen is the heart of the home and that certainly was the case for me growing up and I'm forever grateful. You can read about my disastrous experience baking a cake for the first time HERE ;)
Not surprisingly, I have a collection and love of cookbooks. Again, this started at home where my Mom had two shelves in the kitchen under our microwave of cookbooks; some that were so worn from use that you had to be careful opening! I could find recipes I was looking for based on where the pages were worn the most. She also had a large collection of handwritten recipes in a little box that I loved looking through, especially the ones written by grandparents/friends/neighbors that I knew.
I too now have a box with recipe cards along with a binder with full page recipes in plastic sleeves. I just take them out and bring along to group meals. Caregivers often snap a picture of it to make when they get home. Something so simple as a 5 ingredient pasta dish can connect two people. That's what I love about cooking/recipes/cookbooks; the connection.
My collection started probably at the end of college when I got the Taste of Home Baking book. It is a binder too and has everything you could ever want to bake. Tons of info. There was actually a Taste of Home outlet store in downtown Greendale where I had my first apartment that I could walk to. I enjoyed browsing the different magazines/gadgets on the weekends. My kitchen was so tiny I could barely bake a pan of cookies in that apartment but when I met Kyle and we got a bigger apartment our love of cooking picked up.
Over the years, I've gotten themed cookbooks like Gilmore Girls recipes and Great British Baking Show. I've started following bakers/chefs/food blogs on social media and have received their cookbooks as gifts too. Half Baked Harvest and Pioneer Woman are two great ones. I also have Ayesha Curry's cookbook which has bold combos/flavors I never would have thought of. I'm a big fan of kids cookbooks too, naturally, and Violet and I have tried out Star Wars, Harry Potter and Disney princess themed cookbooks from the library. Honestly, she is equally as happy "reading" a cookbook as she is a picture or chapter book!
It was very surreal giving her 'Belly Hugs' and hearing her read some recipes out loud. Seeing pictures of people she knows inside. I know it will be packed up in her belongings when we move her to her first apartment. I love carrying on that tradition of family recipes/cookbooks with my kiddos! We've always joked that Robbie will run a restaurant one day because his all time favorite "toy" is probably pretend food/kitchen.
Why the birch trees/river on the front of a book about food? I wanted to honor my parents since my love of cooking started with them, in my childhood home on the Peshtigo River. The picture was taken from our dock. It was my Dad's favorite place!
Overall, it was a labor of love. Formatting, design, editing & photos all took longer than expected for this process. But I learned to ask for help/outsource when possible and I so appreciate the village I have behind me in all Right Relief things. So so appreciative! I would do it again (and hope to someday with another batch of recipes)!
Enjoy!
Purchase HERE
