The end

 

...about 25 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an

  e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.

I decided to count those down!

Why?

because one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."

The Handyman/Mayor, who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said "you'll never EVER do that."

Well, maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings us to recipes #355, 356, 357 and 358

THE END!

I did it! I showed him, didn't I?

What exactly did I show him?

Hmmmm--well, lots of good food and fond memories for a couple things.

And remember how I said that thinking of stories was so hard to come by and I struggled with it after recalling so many of them thru the years?

Well--now tons more memories come flooding back into my brain.  I have so many stories left to tell!

I am relieved and sad... but more about that later. 

For now, here are the last four recipes of the whole cookbook.

I held these until the very end for my own reasons.  They are from 

Traci Marques--because her's was the very first recipe I made for the cookbook.

Shelly Noble--because she has made me beautiful 'cookbooks' of all these blog posts from Shutterfly

and

Barbarba Brown, who typed up and printed the original Friday Friend Cookbook.

(she was the editor and chief) 

Let's start with a little appetizer from our Editor Barb.

Barb and her husband Doug.

I was going to say Barb and her better half, but everyone knows that Barb is the better. 

(sorry Doug)

All of Barb's recipes can be found if you click here

Do it now!

And then we'll also have some beverages to go with our appetizers,

 Traci Marques' champagne punch.

(and yes, we had this entire menu as our meal--it was great)

Traci and her husband Larry.  She too is the better half. 

Larry has to know that, right?

LOL

All of Traci's recipes can be found by clicking here--right here!

Do it now!

  

And the main dish--spaghetti from Shelly Noble!

Which in a way is fitting because we have a total of 26 spaghetti sauces in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown.

Twenty-Six!  

I begged the Friday Friends to turn in their spaghetti sauce recipes.  I've always found it funny, how you can take the same basic ingredients, and they all turn out so different.  And they did.   All were good--but how can you go wrong with pasta and sauce?

But Rich (I just said his name!  I've called him the Handyman or the Mayor during the past 11 years of this project.) and I do have a couple that stand out as the best for us. 

We don't feel we are prejudiced, but his mom's and my mom's spaghetti are it for us!

And finally, Lorin and his better half Shelly!

I got that right, didn't I?

And you can find Shelly's entries right here--click now.

And to end this fabulous meal we have some of Traci's 

Saltine Cracker Cookies

(which I call Toffee with a Twist)

Wa-Lah!

I'm done.

No more!

I can't even think of a funny story right now.

I think I deserve a prize!

That was a lot of stuff to make-- and a lot of $$$ just to prove my husband wrong.

It's only taken me 11 years.  My first post was in September of 2013.

I wrote this:

I know that my blog has an interesting name.  A name/title that no one gets, because there are no 'friends' writing posts every week. There is only me. 

Long before I knew what a blog was, I had a group e-mail forum that included my friends from near and far...and originally I would ask them a question on Fridays, cut and paste their answers and  share with all.

So there is the history of my name.  Well, not MY name, (that would be 1950's Debbie Reynolds popularity) but rather my blog's name.  It started as a joke, when I thought that only they would be reading this blog.  Now, over 800 posts later, a few other people do read my blog.
It's nice to have made other friends thru this.  But too late to change my name (my blog's name ) to something catchy like " Debbie's Dishes"  or  "Dining with Debbie" or even "Debbie is a hot dish".   Okay, we can leave the last one out, but you know what I mean....you are stuck with the Friday Friends.

I have about 50 of my closest friends on the e-mail forum.  At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 15 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions,  exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts,  had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.
AND,  we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself? said, "you'll never, EVER do that."

The reason I said I was relieved and sad at the same time is because

1)  Relieved that I hit a goal

2) Sad because it was fun to 'remember' all those fun times and write them down.  No what'll I do?

3) Sad because a few of my FRIDAY friends and family are no longer with us.  But what great and fun memories I have.

I'm going to pick a new goal.

I think I mentioned that I stole my mother-in-law's recipe box when she passed, and we were cleaning out her home? 

She has index cards with menus on them!

Maybe I'll make the Mayor some of his childhood menus!

They were written back in the day of four:

1. main dish/meat

2. veggie

3. a starch -- potatoes, rice or noodles with every meal.

and 

4. a salad.  My MIL would write 'green' salad or 'tossed' salad

I wonder if she had a difference.? 

I am meandering now....

but this is it--I'm going to recreate and modernize my mother-in-law's menus 😁😁

As I've said before---this feels like I'm saying goodbye to my friends.
I am so sappy sentimental!!

It's ridiculous.

Anyway--this has been fun!

Bye!