One way to capture some of your experiences to create an experience recipe (expressipe?) that describe how to recreate that experience. Future generations (or future you) can read them to get an idea of the kind of life you lived, and perhaps recreate them to have some fun and memorialize a person or experience.
You can put some of these experience recipes together in a family experience cookbook if you like. It’s kind of like a family history, but perhaps a little more accessible because you don’t have to be a good writer. Some of the recipes will be for traditions, others will be for something that only happened once (but may want to happen again).
So here are a few of our families experience recipes to get you thinking:
Saturday Morning Challa
Background:
Alberta goes to a Jewish preschool, and they make Challa bread every Friday for Sabbath.
Ingredients:
One loaf of Challa bread
One stick of butter (preferably soft)
Salt (optional)
Any kind of Cheese
A cutting board
A bread knife and a butter knife
One parent (preferably, dad)
A 4 yr old daughter
A TV with access to children’s shows
A blanket
A weekend morning
Instructions:
Wake up in the morning after sleeping in just a little, but don’t wake up mom.
Go downstairs with your 4yr old daughter, give her the remote control and let her choose a show.
Spread the blanket on the floor in front of the TV
Grab the Challa bread, the butter, the cheese and the salt (optional) and place them on the cutting board and place everything on the blanket.
Cut a slice of Challa from the loaf, butter it, and give it to your daughter along with a piece of cheese.
Rip of a knob of Challa from the other end, butter it, and salt it (optional).
Watch the show your daughter picks while eating the Challa from both ends (cut slices for her, ripped off knobs for you).
When the loaf is done, turn off the show and clean up.
Avon Weekend
Background:
We have a timeshare in Avon, Colorado.
Ingredients:
A weekend
A car
A podcast
An iPad
A deep topic of conversation
Two parents
At least one child
A cabin, hotel, or timeshare in the mountains
A nearby Mexican restaurant
A nearby spa
A path by a river
S’mores (optional)
Lunch (optional)
Instructions:
On Friday afternoon, download a few kids shows onto the iPad, get everyone into the car and start driving toward the mountains. Enjoy the silence for a while until the time seems right. Give the iPad to your child and start a conversation about your deep topic of conversation.
When you get bored, start listening to your podcast together.
When you arrive at your mountain destination, unpack and relax for the evening. Optionally, cook s’mores. Mom calls to make an appointment at the Spa.
On Saturday morning, Mom goes to the Spa for a massage and Dad takes the kid(s) for a hike along the river. When you get back, eat or order your lunch. Then it’s mom’s turn to take the kids to the local park or museum while Dad plays (or, sometimes, works) on his computer.
Go to the Mexican restaurant for dinner and order the Queso Fundido with Chorizo for the appetizer. Select an appropriate main dish for each member of the family.
After dinner, watch a movie as a family.
On Sunday morning, sleep in, then pack up and drive home. Optionally, continue your deep topic of conversation and/or your podcast.
