My Christmas gift.

First, I need to show you how much fruit we had in our house on Tuesday. It is Friday and the bananas are gone and the bowl is half empty.

My family loves fruit.

In November, I mentioned on Elisablog that I was going to ask my family for recipes written in their handwriting. Thankfully, my family is awesome and totally went above and beyond for my gift.

I received recipes from aunts, uncles, great-aunts, my mom, my grandmas and even my great-grandma who passed away almost 4 years ago.

This recipe is from my Mama (my mom's mom's mom...did you get that?).
My grandma sent me a few in her handwriting and I was so excited. It meant a lot to me.

I recognized a few of the recipes as ones I've enjoyed eating at family gatherings for years.
I have put them in my cook books and have slowly started trying some of them out. I still have a couple people who are sending me their recipes in the mail. I can not wait to see what they'll send.
It's like having them there with me while I cook. Seeing their handwriting brings them right into my kitchen with me. Thank you everyone who sent me recipes. It was one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever.
Never underestimate the power of your own handwriting. Especially when you have your own kiddos, they are going to want to someday have things written by you around. Someday, my kids will get to inherit these recipes. Of course, I'm not letting them out of my grip until I am no longer on this earth, so they'll be waiting a while. Then they'll have to fight over them. Unless Elisabeth calls dibs on them like she is prone to do with things she likes of mine. You might recall that there are a few Christmas ornaments she wants. Oh, and my sapphire ring that she claimed when she was 4 years old. "Can I have that when you die, Mom?"

Oh, honey.

No.

Your Aunt Kyle's already called dibs.