However, as I glanced through, I realized this was a dining or dinner diary. Here a hostess had begun chronicling the occasions when she had guests for dinner.

"What a fun idea!" I thought, as I glanced through. Then I began to think about developing one of my own, perhaps called, "Who's coming to dinner?".

This would be different from the cooking journal I described in a previous column. It could be sort of an expanded guest book with a listing and even description and recipes of the foods served.

What's in a Dinner Diary?

Another menu was more elegant - spinach/basil salad, baguettes, wild rice, sweet potato and carrot puree, pickled asparagus, cheesecake and cherries, amaranth coffee.

What would you place in your dinner diary? Wouldn't it be fun to read this in future years, remembering the occasions, trying some of the recipes again?

Family cookbooks, food journals, and dinner diaries can play a role in a family's food heritage. Even the usual diaries may make references to food cooked and served during the course of a family's daily life. As I browse my grandmother's and mother's diaries, I find it interesting that they so often referred to the family foods.

Scrapbooking Dinner Diaries

However, you can add sketches or scrapbooking designs to the pages and create an attractive presentation. These may be items of your own design or the stickers and borders available for scrapbooking.

The dinner diary may become a memorable family collectible. This also can be a project to use with the children in your family as they develop family food journals and collages.

Dinner Diary Recipes

She also served HERB BREAD. This can be of several varieties. Some cooks make it in the breadmaker, others "from scratch." You also can make breads in a slow cooker, especially if you have one with the special metal insert.

You also can take bakery bread, slice it, then spread with herbed butter and heat.

For HERBED BUTTER, chop 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs such as basil, tarragon, or dill. Stir in 1 cup softened butter or margarine. (Some people like to use unsalted butter.) Spread on fresh bread; also can be used on bread you're going to heat in the oven or under the broiler before serving.