Delicious Notes: How Colu Henry and Jolene Handy Record Recipes
"This is the notebook that kept me calm."
As I write this, I have a pot of beans simmering on the stove and a batch of brownies baking in the oven. The beans are for me. The brownies are for my students—we’re in the midst of midterms and we could all use a treat. I’m not a talented chef, but I return to my kitchen again and again, spurred on by my favorite food writers’ posts—writing so delicious, you can almost taste it. My dishes never turn out as beautifully as theirs, but I love the process. That’s the key to most things, isn’t it? Enjoy the process and the results are secondary.
I’ve often wonders how great cooks think about taking notes while working on recipes. So, I invited four of my favorite chefs to contribute to this post and they all—to my surprise and excitement—said yes! I’ve split the post into two parts, alphabetically. First up:
and. You’ll get the second batch (haha)— and —on Thursday!So turn on your ovens because if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to bake something after reading this post!
Jillian’s Note: When I was little, my parents took me to Sarabeth’s —an iconic bakery/restaurant in New York City. I still remember their hot porridge—“three little bears style”—which the budding literary nerd in me loved! We never left the restaurant without buying cookies to go. Little did I know that 30 years later I’d cross paths with one of Sarabeth’s pastry chefs: the inimitable Jolene Handy! She writes about two of my favorite subjects, history and food, at
. And now, I’m especially excited to share Jolene’s notebook from her time working at Sarabeth’s in the 1990s. Jolene’s well-loved notebook contains recipes that were top secret until Sarabeth published her own cookbook. Here’s Jolene…This is the notebook that kept me calm.
It was 1991 and I had the good fortune of being hired right out of cooking school by Sarabeth Levine, the brilliant baker, jam maker and owner of the iconic Sarabeth’s Bakery in New York City. Her first directive: get a notebook and write down these recipes.
I scribbled down the ingredients and added my own shorthand for the methods. In each recipe there are my instructions to myself —“Do NOT overmix”; “Add just a little at a time”; — along with which speed the giant Hobart mixers should be run on during each step. The mixer for the Chocolate Soufflé Cakes was big enough to sit in — not that we did.
I’d also added individual quantities on the right side of the page for some of the recipes so I could practice at home.
When I make Sara’s recipes today, I use the beautifully written ones with detailed instructions and commentary from her stunning 2010 book, Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands To Yours.
Having these simple notes with me during my Sarabeth’s Bakery days was especially important in the early hours of Sunday mornings. I was one of two bakers charged with baking for the huge brunch crowd that would line up outside a few hours later.
I’d get to the bakery on Amsterdam Avenue and West 80th around 4:30am, where Saturday night revelers were still on the street and just heading home.
I never rested well the night before, worried about oversleeping. Bleary-eyed and caffeinated, I’d stand at the baking bench, open my notebook and read through the recipe to ensure I wouldn’t miss adding any ingredients. Only after this ritual could I start making the thirty dozen pumpkin muffins and banana muffins needed.
No matter how many times I’d made them before, having my notes in front of me gave me the confidence that I wouldn’t mess up.
Sarabeth was a generous teacher and she truly has magic in her hands. I remember when I first started she’d get right next to me at the bench and show me how you worked dough to make it beautiful and smooth.
“Your hands can’t be heavy”, she’d say.
I haven’t saved a lot of notebooks over the years, but I kept this one — and I’m so glad I did.
Read more of Jolene’s writing at
!Jillian’s Note: Colu Henry is an award-winning author of two spectacular cookbooks—Back Pocket Pasta and Colu Cooks: Easy, Fancy, Food. She also contributes writing to the NYTimes and Food & Wine and writes the scrumptious newsletter Colu Cooks. Her recipes are so simple and delicious that many of them are on my permanent rotation. If you haven’t tried her Maple and Miso Sheet-Pan Salmon With Green Beans, you’re missing out! I make it monthly. Here’s Colu…
I have many notebooks on the go for various projects scattered throughout different rooms, but my primary notebook for recipe development and ideation is a Mead sketchpad.
It lives in my office where I do most of my writing. This one I bought at White’s, a local pharmacy/general store in Montauk (off season!). For this particular keeper of notes, I knew I wanted thick paper so I could treat it as both a place to record recipes, but also to have a place to journal—it’s developed into something I have an intimate connection to.
When I’m cooking, I often scrawl recipes on the back of envelopes or other random pieces of paper I find in the kitchen drawer, in my version of shorthand.
But I enjoy the process of translating that scribble to this notebook, which I can review, tweak and modify and then eventually type out digitally. I’m a die hard, black, ink Le Pen gal when I’m writing. I have a box of them to keep me going. I love their fine tips.
I also enjoy using the notebook to write down themes and ideas for possible longer form essays. It’s my catch-all for the creative process. I also sometimes will doodle, which is not something I do anywhere else. The notebook is a safe space for me to play.
I love using this space to write menus. They generally are for the holidays like Christmas Eve or Thanksgiving, but if I'm having a big group of people over, I’ll generally write one for those too. I won’t print them, it’s my way of noting the progression of a meal and memorializing big celebrations.
I try not to get too precious about it, but sometimes, I will practice a drawing (I am not very good) if I want to include it in the final presentation - if only for myself. The clam practice drawings ended up on the Feast of the Seven Fishes menu.
And this past holiday season, my notebook was “living with me” a lot more in other parts of the house as I am focusing on my third book and needed it within close reach. Chad and I drank too much wine one night and started using some of the pages as a space for blind contour drawings of a fruit bowl. I love having them in here because they too hold memories.
Read more of Colu’s writing at
!Stay tuned for part 2 with
and later this week! In the meantime, let us know about your adventures in the kitchen and all the other cooks on Substack that you love!Till Thursday,
Truly so honored to be included. Deepest thanks, Jillian!
Absolutely thrilled and honored to be here, Jillian! So many thanks!