I have a copy of, "the NEW Fannie Farmer-Boston Cooking-School COOK BOOK", 1953. My father, in his retirement, took on the care of several Summer homes in Southern Maine. He would check on them during the winter, board up windows against storms, uncover rose gardens when the time was right, deal with emergencies...that kind of thing. During the Summer, when people were in residence, he was sort of a general, all around handyman. His largest client was old money...there was a beach named after the family, a road named after the family, and a huge home, loaded with antiques that had been the original furnishings. An elderly Black woman came up every summer from South Carolina to be their cook for the season. Little bittie thing, set in her ways and stubborn as heck, but since she'd been cooking for the family for decades, she knew what they liked and how to manage them. I had been separated from my father at age 5, and when I found him again in my early 30's, I went out to stay with him and my stepmother for a year to get to know them. He took me down to meet Marguerite. She was a kick, and we got along...several years later, when she knew that she wouldn't be able to make it up again the next season (or ever), she gave my father her Fannie Farmer for me. It still has a bunch of book marks in it, some with shopping lists, some with her name, some with cryptic notes I can't decipher, all in the same, slanted hand. I actually use the book quite a bit, but I don't disturb the bookmarks. I sometimes puzzle over the marked pages, wondering which recipe she had marked... I also have my mother's copy of "The Complete American-Jewish Cookbook",1952. It has a separate section of Passover recipes. There are no pork recipes, naturally. Generally, the cookies and bread recipes are good. As for unique...I have an Ethiopian cookbook...the only one I've been able to find. "Exotic Ethiopian Cooking-Society, Culture, Hospitality, & Traditions. I've only made a couple of dishes out of it. I love Ethiopian food, and when I found out how much Nit'ir Qibe (purified herb & spice butter) is used in most of the dishes I love, I realized why I love them. For example, in dishes made from 1 pound of ground beef, it is not unusual that they contain a cup of butter. A typical lentil dish pairs 2 cups of lentils with 2 cups of butter. No wonder I love it!

I have the American Greetings Scrapbooks & More program. It comes with sooo many fonts, I had to print a sample letter from each one and hang it up so I can see them all and remember all the choices!! You can make cards and all sorts of stuff. Printer ink itself is a safe choice for scrapbooks--lots of debate on it in the past--just make sure when you print, that you use your acid-free paper and then it should be fine. I've had the program for over a year and still haven't used all the stuff!! Have fun...

I am not a vegetarian, but love vegetables, grains and legumes and am as happy eating vegetarian dishes as meat dishes. I love the two cookbooks produced by the owners of Greens restaurant in San Francisco, titled, "The Greens Cookbook" and "Fields of Greens". They are wonderful books full of recipes delicious to long time vegetarians as well as dabblers or outright omnivores. They are written with a true appreciation for variety and balance, using ingredients that almost everyone would be familiar with. A few years ago, I began to teach myself how to cook the foods of India, and found a wonderful book called, "Dakshin..Vegetarian Cuisine From South India" which is a wonderful introduction to a cuisine and method of eating that is vastly different from what most of us are accustomed to, but quite delicious and satisfying. Be warned that if you are unaccustomed to eating spicy hot food, as in food prepared with chili peppers, you should probably cut down the amounts that are listed in the recipes. Also, you will be using many spices that you might be unfamiliar with and might be hard to find if you don't have a local Indian grocery store. However, there are many sources on line. The cuisine also makes ample use of Curry Leaves, which are an herb that really has nothing to do with what we think of as curry. They are a pungent, strongly flavored tree-leaf that nothing can really substitute for. In fact, the first time I bought some, I thought they smelled like a mix of B.O. and old socks. But cooked into food, they lend a wonderful depth of flavor. Most cookbooks will tell you to use cilantro instead, which is a completely different flavor, but compatible to most recipes that call for Curry Leaves. Again, you can find them in Indian grocery stores. They last quite a long time in the refrigerator, and I have had some success freezing them. Dried Curry Leaves aren't worth the bother.

I really like "the way to a man's heart" idea. You could also do something like "a little bit of home" or "a little taste of home", "home on the range". you may be able to do something with your last name like "home cooking with the hendersons".. well, I don't know your last name but you get the idea.