I love food. I love every silky, creamy, crunchy, gooey, nurturing morsel. But perhaps I love food the most when my hands are not the ones that prepared it. We joke in my family that even a turkey sandwich tastes better when mom makes it for us.

There have been many months in my life where meals were prepared for me. Some of these meals stand out as simply wonderful memories- sitting down to savor dinner without dirty pots and pans demanding my attention from the kitchen. Some of these meals were devoured while bouncing a newborn, crying baby. But the meals that were the most appreciated, the ones that arrived with the most love, came when there was no baby to bounce at all. Our first baby died, and these meals and the hands that delivered them were truly divine.

A few weeks ago I was making a grocery list, tired of the same old recipes I always use, and I remembered a meal we received way back during the dark days that was simply scrumptious. The problem was that I didn't know the kind soul that delivered the meal, and therefore I could not retrieve the recipe. The thought then came that I wish I had all the recipes and meals that came during this season. From that thought came an idea- an idea that perhaps you could use the next time you are coordinating meals for someone you love.

Purchase a blank recipe book. Take or send this book to the meal recipient before the first meal is delivered. Ask those signing up on the meal schedule to simply copy or print their recipes and to include them when they take the meal. The recipient can then insert the recipes into the book.

Now this person has a complete compilation of all the meals that were made during their season of need, however joyous or painful that season may be. But they also have a record- a record of the love, tenderness and faithfulness of the people that invested the time and energy to love and serve them. Think about the continual love and comfort that can provide, long after the meal is over.

You can find recipe books at many locations. Photo albums that hold 4x6 photos will work as well. You can buy a plain, 8 1/2 x 11 binder and make it a recipe binder by adding pages like these.

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