C. R. Gibson’s “Creme de la Creme” Recipe Box

As I’ve written before with product reviews, I receive the product for free but am not compensated for my writing; I also make sure that I actually like and endorse the products before I even know if I’ll be doing a review. Here’s my thoughts!

I have been writing for this past year about how much I see food as a way to bring people together, and so naturally when I saw the design on the ‘creme de la creme’ box I was a little starstruck: “gather round” would have made such a good blog name! Since I am pretty committed at this point, I’ll just tell you that this phrase encompasses so much of what makes recipe boxes special: they are a bringing-together, a compilation of important memories and traditions. If someone you know is starting a new family or just connecting more with their family, this seems like the right box.

The box is a bit more luxurious than usual recipe boxes, covered in leatherette and with gold-colored end-caps on each of the corners. The inside features a black-and-white design that matches the fun and funky recipe cards – they even feature a pineapple! I envision this box for a stylish person, someone who wants to bring folks together but also puts all the lovely photos from their kitchen up on Instagram.

You can check out the box here or browse the variety of other boxes and kitchen organization tools that C.R. Gibson makes on their website. My grandmother-in-law was thrilled to discover their company before my bridal shower last year because she wanted to get me a recipe box and fewer and fewer places are selling them. I like the idea that investing in a C.R. Gibson box, or any recipe box, is a long-term investment: few people just have a bunch of them (I guess I do… but having a recipe blog seems to justify it!) and if you get a nice quality one, it could become an heirloom to give to a daughter or son someday!

C.R. Gibson Recipe Box Review

As I usually say,  I receive no payment for my thoughts about recipe boxes I review, and I don’t get approval from the companies before I publish. However, I do receive the recipe box free of charge – just want you to know the situation. Still, I don’t review products I don’t like!

Recipe boxes tend to be serious, in my experience, but what I like about this one from C.R. Gibson is that it recognizes another serious aspect of cooking: it’s all about chemistry. The bright green metal box has a typeface and style that makes it look a bit like the periodic table of the elements, and comes with a cute carrying strap on the top.

Because I’m sort of advocating that more people (and more kinds of people!) keep recipe boxes, not just newlywed ladies like myself, I like that this one has all the functionality of a regular recipe box – even tall dividers and recipe cards to use specifically with this box! – but doesn’t necessarily scream “girly girl.” It’d be a good gift for the dude or lady in your life who wears science goggles for work and also for mysterious pressure cooker experiments.

The box is one in a series called “Periodic Table of Yum,” so you can also check out other items that are connected to the series. I think it works great as a stand alone piece because it isn’t the typical wooden box or paperboard paisley box. I love the little details like the border of “elements” on the cards themselves!

The box is available here if you want to see it; C.R. Gibson helpfully lists recipe boxes under “kitchen organization,” but I think that a box like this could make a really personalized and helpful gift for anyone whose getting started living on their own!

A New Feature: Written-Out Recipes

So, it’s the school year again and it’s just too much for daily posts to happen around here. For one thing, I don’t cook something every day… which is no shame, but also just the situation. So I’m starting a fun project that I’ll share with you all a couple times a week.

I’m going back through old posts where I linked to someone else’s recipes, like the recipes that fellow bloggers have suggested, or recipes I’ve found online that remind me of experiences in the past. I’m going to write them out on my own blank recipe cards and post them here; I know I like having the actual recipe in front of me when I cook, so you all might like that too! I’ll be sure to attribute and link back to where I found the recipes still, but this way I will have an actual, physical recipe box from this big old blog experiment.

I’d love to know if you post pictures of your physical recipe cards as well; it seems like it’s more common to have a pinterest board than a recipe card box any more, but because J gave me one at my bridal shower, I am excited to fill it up with evidence of this year of culinary experimentation. I’d be excited to see all the variety in recipe card designs over the years, so if you have a favorite recipe on a physical card, feel free to send me a snapshot (or a link to the snapshot on your own blog). Thanks!