Our neighbor gave us lemons. So, though I don’t bake much anymore (for healthier living), I pulled a cookbook off the shelf for a lemon bar recipe. Tattered and held together with a rubber band, it and two others were mainstays in my kitchen for many years in Africa. They are unique cookbooks because their recipes call for simple, basic ingredients. I depended on them when we had no access to processed or pre-packaged foods I now take for granted. Nowadays I go to them for favorite or international recipes.

When I open these books I see smudges and stains, and like perusing an album of memories, I recall special events, calamities and critters in the kitchen, friends, and much more of my life in Africa.

These cookbooks bring to mind the time when I had to live with less, making do with what we had. Today I have more and must choose to live with less. My neighbor gave me lemons, so now I’m going to get busy making those lemon bars to share.