Start Your Own Sacred Crumbs Cleanse
Raise your hand if you’re cooking more amidst COVID-19?
Raise your hand if you could use a new recipe or two or ten?
Raise your hand if you’re sick of scrolling blogs and insta feeds for such recipes?
If you nodded yes to all of the above: do I’ve got a fun, meaningful and delicious quarantined project for YOU.
It’s called the Sacred Crumbs Cleanse.
Why Sacred? Because the recipes will come from people who hold some kind of space in your heart.
Why crumbly? Because you’re going to be making lots of crumbs in this process. On a deeper level, I personally connect to the metaphor of picking up crumbs and leaving a trail of crumbs behind wherever I go. I also believe the crumbs to be stories. Stories behind the recipes, and the stories you share between the people sharing those recipes with you.
Why a cleanse? Simply put: this is a strict diet of food made with love, reflection and connection.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
1.) Make a list of people you love and look up to (anywhere from 10-50 people)
2.) E-mail those people asking them for a recipe + a story behind that recipe. Give them a deadline.
NOTE: e-mail template for this can be found at the bottom of this post.
3.) After you gather the recipes, list them out. Organize them into your calendar.
You’ll most likely get a range of recipes: some will be great for dinner, others will make phenomenal desserts, while others might be lovely little side dishes and snacks. My personal favorite = those breakfast bites :)
Know that can pace your cleanse in a variety of ways: you can make one recipe a week, you can making a recipe everyday for a month, or maybe go hard for two weeks. It’s totally up to you and what works with your time right now.
4.) Organize the recipes into a document: a google doc, a word doc; whatever you prefer. Title each recipe with the person’s name (who shared it with you---i.e. “Hannah’s Banana Bread). Create subheadings underneath including: RECIPE (INGREDIENTS + INSTRUCTIONS), STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE, OUR STORY, A MEMORABLE MEAL WE’VE SHARED TOGETHER + WE’DE PROBABLY EAT THIS ____ LISTENING TO _______.
NOTE: you can certainly do this in a blog format like I did here.
5.) Compile into a cookbook. Call is _______’s Sacred Crumbs Cleanse <— only if you want to.
If you’re documenting in some way on social media, I’d love to see…and salivate. Tag @betterish + #SacredCrumbsCleanse
BACKSTORY
Six years ago, I made this whole thing up and called it #SacredCrumbsCleanse. I reached out specifically to various women in my life, asked them for recipes, and for the entire month of January 2014, I made one of those recipes every. single. day.
Additionally, I asked these women to share the stories behind the recipes they sent.
I documented the recipe, their stories, + my story about the relationship I had with each of these women on thig blog. At the end of the month, I compiled it all into a personal cookbook (see: top) I still frequent today.
I took on this project for a few reasons:
1.) I wanted to get better at cooking. I had always enjoyed cooking (confession though: I’m certainly more of a baker), but was pretty awful at doing it consistently and varying in what I would make.
2.) I'd always get overwhelmed looking up recipes online, and really didn't know which to trust.
3.) It gave me a chance to reconnect and celebrate the women I admire and love. Everyone from old friends, nearby friends, my Grandmothers, teachers, professors, colleagues, Aunties, and of course, my Mom.
For far too long, I’ve been thinking of stirring up the pots and pans and doing this project again. I want to invite you all to give it a whirl, too. It seems these quarantined days have spurred many of us to take refuge in our kitchens. Let’s connect with our recipes in more meaningful ways than ever before.
TEMPLATE EMAIL | CUT, PASTE AND PERSONALIZE AS YOU SEE FIT
Dear___,
You are receiving this email because we became friends during my childhood, or high school, or _____ (enter various life experience here), or have built a relationship in some kind of work environment along the way. And/or you have taught me something during one of those periods of my life. Or we collaborate together now in some capacity. Or you are my Mom, Grandmother or Aunt. You are all amazing people that have inspired me in some way, and I'd like to celebrate that by embarking on a project starting (enter date).
Starting (enter date here), I will be taking part in a project called The Sacred Crumbs Cleanse via Betterish. I’m going to be collecting recipes from my favorite people, creating those recipes, and then compiling them into a cookbook-of-sorts.
Amidst COVID-19, I find myself craving a little more out of my recipes. I want to make recipes that have a story connected to them. That have a history…or just some memory associated with their juices.
What it comes down to is I want YOUR recipes. Not every recipe in your cookbook. But one or two recipes that I can add to my recipe collection.
In the next week, I’m hoping you might send me:
1.) A recipe. Any recipe. It does not need to be a main dish (though it can be). It can be a side dish, dessert, or snack. I'm talking anything from pancakes to potatoes to polenta (and everything in between).
2.) An explanation as to why you chose this recipe to send me. It can be a personal story associated with this recipe. It can be just a sentence with a memory of making this recipe. It can even be a photo of you or someone in your family or friend circle devouring that recipe.
I will be cooking and compiling these stories (into a cookbook, or blog, or quarantine recipe journal)
If you are interested in sending me a recipe, please do so by (put date here).
Thanks & much love,
(your name here)