The Hodges Homestead

Bibble has been a joy to have in our home over the past week, but I must admit, he has one TERRIBLE problem: his claws. This is an issue no scratching post can fix. He is still too young to have them removed, and is puncturing more holes in our beautiful brown leather furniture each day. Just as Dave was ready to pull out the pistol (no seriously), we (ok, he) came across these: www.softpaws.com. The SPCA uses them in lieu of declawing, and people in the cat world swear by them. They are adhesive plastic claw covers that prevent scratching and puncturing. AMEN! We (of course) opted for the orange ones before finding out that that wasn't a choice in kitten sizes, so our pastel blue Softpaws will be arriving in the mail in about 5 days! Can you just imagine us trying to apply these covers to our little guy? Wish us luck that these will do the trick (or at least get us through a couple more weeks until he's a little older)! We'll keep you posted (no pun intended)!

THE PROBLEM:

THE SOLUTION:

After months (years actually) of trying to figure out how to compile a cookbook with all our families' recipes, I finally found the right tool. It's called a Tastebook (www.tastebook.com) and it's fabulous! You can be as involved in the detail as you want, or you can set up the template and let them do all the work for you. The end result is a picture-filled hardbound cookbook that looks nicer than many you pick up at the bookstore. You don't have to pay to work on it, only for the final product, which if I do say so myself is absolutely gorgeous! (and at about $30 a pop, VERY economical!)

This project, which I expect to be ongoing for a long time is something that has invoked a lot of passion and emotion. I have literally hundreds of recipes passed down to me from several generations of my family (I'm not kidding I have a LARGE family). I feel a huge responsibility to make sure that they are preserved for my sweet sweet Ady, who is already a young cook herself. Even though she prefers pizza over Caprese, I know that all the time and effort put into is priceless, and hope that one day she will appreciate it as much as I do. For each recipe, there is a story; and I can't wait to share each one with her.