Notebooks are fun. They are a place for ideas to blossom, thoughts to be remembered and recipes to be collected. My notebooks are rarely organized. I assemble thoughts on pieces of paper, usually post it notes, and when the pile gets big I type them into the computer. I have recently started carrying a small notebook, a moleskine, which has a hard cover, lined pages--actually you can get them blank, with grids or even divided into panels-- and works well as an idea mule so that I will not forget. I still forget, but at least the idea is written or scratched onto a piece of paper.
With regards to notebooks I am reminding and informing individuals that I have put two long and extensive notebooks on this website. I mention this again because when I first started putting notebooks on line we had just a few loyal readers. We now have more loyal readers and I felt it would be fun to bring these notebooks back to the forefront of everyone's minds. These notebooks are long and not for the faint of heart or time. I know there are misspelled words, run on sentences and more. On the positive, they are chock full of unedited ideas and inspirations we have come across through the passage of time. That is why they are notebooks and not published works.
With that in mind, I am also adding a third notebook. This one is actually organized, the contents are arranged by course. This notebook is based on our, really my, ideal menu length. Aki thinks it is a bit long and too much food, but she is half my size. (What Alex is failing to mention here is that this particular notebook was originally designed as the outline for a book that we have been working on for the past few years. The reason that I agreed to twelve courses is that readers can pick and choose from any and all of the courses to create a meal of their own choosing. It's like giving people basic leggos and seeing what fantastic structures they can come up with on their own.) We are still working out the kinks. Anyway the notebook is Twelve Courses, the password is twelve. If you happen to go in and read these notebooks good luck, they are voluminous but compiled with passion. (As it happens, the longer we worked on the project, the larger it became. Trying to narrow down the list of dishes to things that we both felt were essential was especially difficult without an editor to restrain us.)
And if this notebook is of interest, check out the other two as well. All three are posted with the appropriate links in the notebook category of our site. Peruse them with an open mind and at your leisure. As always we are open to questions and comments on anything you find of interest.
