When I started The Dutch Table in 2009, my vision was to have it as a recipe repository, with stories about our food traditions and history, something to reach for when memory would fail me. Now, after fifteen years, I think I have accomplished that. Thousands access the website for recipes, they read the stories and sometimes leave comments or send emails. Our readers are not only Dutch people, but also people who had Dutch parents or grandparents, aunts or uncles, or partners.
It wasn't long after starting the website before I began to receive emails from readers, asking for help with finding recipes that they could only vaguely remember, or that their parents reminisced over. Sometimes they didn't remember the name, or the way it looked, but we'd start with the little they did remember. Over the years, I have amassed a significant amount of books about our food traditions, but also about Dutch housekeeping, gardening, preservation, folklore and oude ambachten, ancient skills and crafts. All these, plus searching in online newspapers, advertisements, journals and handwritten notes, would often provide a solution. The joy it would bring was well worth all the effort, because it's never just about the food, is it? It's about the memories it brings, the joy of remembering loved ones, and recreating or preserving traditions.
As a small business owner, my content is not only my livelihood but also a part of my personal creative expression. Having it freely printable makes it challenging to manage and protect my work. More importantly, I believe in the charm and tradition of handwritten recipes. There's something special about a recipe that's been copied down by hand, perhaps with personal notes and adaptations, and then passed on. It's a way of making each recipe your own and creating a legacy that can be handed down through generations.
It's not that you can't print the recipes. It's a simple right-click on the page, select the print option, enter the amount of pages and hit the button. Nevertheless, I encourage you to take the time to write down by hand the recipes you love. This not only helps support my website and the work I put into creating these recipes, but it also allows you to add a personal touch that printed pages just can't capture. Write them down, perhaps in a notebook (see below) or on recipe cards, and add your personal notes and memories about it: how and when it was served, what dishes or utensils you would use, who loved the dish and who didn't, and any other memory you have associated with it. Doodle in the sidelines, wipe away a splash of sauce, and keep it handy in the kitchen. Because ultimately, a recipe online is easy to find, but it's the cherished treasure of your handwriting and personalization of it that adds all the value.
I hope you understand my perspective and continue to enjoy the recipes!
Thank you for keeping our culinary heritage and traditions alive, and for your support always.
Nicole
