Recipes for Ben

Polenta Pie

Our very own Auntie Bucksnort was surprised this morning to hear a few statistics from my other blog--one being that we expect to break the 500 post barrier there quite soon.

What? You didn't know there was another blog? I was actually kind of hoping you'd say that, just so I could take the opportunity to tell you all about it.

You may have noticed that I am absent from The Zees Go West every once in a while. That's usually because I am working on Recipes for Ben; A Family Heritage Project. I started the recipe blog for my son in October of 2008 in response to his many cross-country suppertime phone calls asking for one recipe or another. The very first recipe published was for Cheese Biscuits, a yummy appetizer that I had learned to make from my friend Cindy, who worked with me in the Government Publications Division of the University of British Columbia Library in Vancouver, British Columbia, back in the early 1970s.

See what happens? Food, in our family, equals the history of our family. I couldn't just say "Cheese Biscuits" without telling you a bit about myself. In fact, I am amazed at how merely writing down information about dishes that I have cooked and served to my family over the years is very much like writing my autobiography.

If someone asked me to write the story of my life, I would have no idea where to start. On the other hand, I could just begin with a simple recipe for Cheese Biscuits. And so I did.

To make this project even more fun and fulfilling, Ben joined the blog in March of this year, starting with his recipe for Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Onions. He brings a new kind of cooking to share--that of a thirty-something urban bachelor who loves bacon and isn't afraid to make up recipes. His first note makes me laugh: Thanks mom for letting me join this blog as a collaborator. And, of course, thanks for giving me a few hundred recipes to re-tune my taste buds and re-live fond childhood memories. It's been nice to print up the recipe cards (using Avery Postcard Stock #5889 and the corresponding word processor template), put them into my little wooden box, and enjoy the family culinary legacy...

Obviously, we share more than a love for cooking, as you can see by his side comment about the "Avery Postcard Stock #5889." As Linda (7MSN) commented: And only the son of a librarian would figure out how to convert all these to Avery index cards to file away in a wooden box. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree..

Now, for those statistics:

Recipes published at the time of this writing: 438

All recipes entered (at the time of this writing), including those scheduled for future publication: 458

There are more labels than I wish to count, but they range from "Appetizers" to "Yeast Breads" and include some fairly surprising ones like "Insects" (sorry, you'll have to wait until Sept. 14th for that one).

We hope you'll visit soon. Wait, what am I saying? Just click here to go there right now!