Take a look at this bookshelf in my kitchen.

This is a collection of my favorite cookbooks.

Now look closely….

Closer….

Do you see the specialized cookbooks from fancy stores and with the beautiful photography?

These are delightfully awesome and I reference them a lot.

But look back in the very back, the one that is stained and tattered and torn.

That’s it…  now you see it.

It didn’t come from a fancy store and the photos have long lost their luster and that cover fell off a few years back.

On page 177, you will find a 45-year-old oatmeal stain.

I hope it is oatmeal….

But, like an old friend, this cookbook has helped me countless times.

Just this week, our internet was down more than it was up.

And I had a hankerin’ for fresh lemonade from scratch.

** I’ve been dying for the chance to use the word “hankerin'”. **

Not the Kool-aide kind of lemonade from a powder mix.

Not the frozen concentrate – but real honest to goodness old fashioned lemonade from real lemons!

I have made lemonade from scratch before – a very long time ago and I wasn’t sure about how many lemons or how much water to add or how much sugar I would need.

Siri wasn’t answering.  Google wouldn’t help and Pinterest was not an option because our internet was down.

But there she was, like an old friend who holds all the answers for my kitchen.

Out of all of my cookbooks, none are as old as this one, and none are as used as this one.

And most importantly, this was the only one that had the lemonade from real lemons recipe that I needed.

Years ago, I bought fresh artichokes for the first time… I brought them home – and thought “now what?”  This old cookbook taught me how to prepare, cut, season and cook them.

And that annual Thanksgiving turkey…  open the tab marked “Poultry” and you will find the roasting temperature and how many minutes per pound to create a delicious holiday dinner.

Sometimes simple is what we need most.

So, when life handed me lemons in the form of no internet – I made this delicious lemonade!

We could taste the difference, and I can feel good about being able to pronounce all three ingredients.

I have thought about taping the cover back on this old cookbook, but I like it just the way it is.

*** if you noticed the temporary cattle guard for our deck and balcony railings – the permanent railings are coming.

*****

Thank you so much for reading.

I would love for you to leave a comment below.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing and subscribing.

Subscribe to get our email posts sent to your inbox so you never miss a post.

All photos, thoughts, experiences, and opinions are my own unless otherwise stated.

Copyright © Lost Mule Lodge 2017 All Rights Reserved