Sharing recipes has long been a connecting point for families, friends, and neighbors.  And yet the recipe box has disappeared from kitchen counters.  Why?  Food network shows suggest that we are cooking with great enthusiasm and yet the fast food industry has taken over  our town roads and highway exit zones.   Why don’t we value cooking in our own kitchens?  Taking the time to know about our food, where it comes from, how it is grown.  Herbs, vegetables, fruit, and meat.  The basics for omnivores.

The disconnect from food origins may be the reason for turning food into a commodity or a consumer “good” to be purchased in ready to eat form.  We have little to no connection to the life of plants, to their growing and harvesting habits. Since gardeners tend to cook what they grow, perhaps more of us should garden.  Then we’d have recipes that we could share with our community of friends and family.  Connecting us to our land,  and one another.  Recipe boxes have historically been a notation or catalog of the food we were growing in our region or  food that we could procure through the trade routes.  What we eat says much about who we are as a people.  In broad brush strokes, through time, it may look like this:  Hunter/Gatherer to Nomadic Shepherd to Farmer/Gardener to Walmart Shopper and Meals-in-Car-Family.