In my garage are some boxes of my mom’s that I’m going through slowly. Mom passed away, unexpectedly, in early February, and we cleaned out her apartment within a day of her death. That was not an easy task! To pack up a person’s life is no small thing.
The other day I found a recipe box that my mom had saved. It was filled with yellowed old recipes from her mother. Over the weekend, I went through each recipe. Fascinating for so many reasons!
The sentimental one–seeing my grandmother’s careful and feminine handwriting. Thinking of her copying down this recipe on an ordinary day in her life…without any thought that one day her granddaughter would be pondering it. How often she entertained–lots of company dishes. How generous she was to give credit to friends or family for each shared recipe.
And then discovering what kinds of food she cooked and served on a regular basis. So different from today’s fare!
Here’s an example (and I do NOT recommend trying this recipe!):
So what’s in your recipe box? Do you have an old family recipe that you still use? How old is it? Please share in comments!
We had to duty to dispose of my grandparent’s and parent’s things. Although it might have been easier than some since my Granny outlived my Grandpa and then later moved into my Mom’s we had gone through the process slower that way. Also my Mom outlived my Dad and then years later moved into us after cancer surgery and onset of Alzheimer. We learned then how hard it is to decide whose to keep (hers or ours) when combining households when each of you have emotional interest in things. We learned to compromise by getting rid of some of our so that Mom didn’t feel that she was losing everything on top of her home that she shared with my Dad for so many years. We kept a lot of stuff that Mom seemed to find “very” important even though it was put in closets and never taken out again until after her passing to dispose of them. But it made Mom happy and that was all that mattered to us. After Mom’s passing, we once again had to figure out what was important to us and what was just “stuff”.
One thing I definitely kept were the handwritten recipes from my Granny and my Mom. Even though they had already been saved to a tried and true cookbook I made several years ago, the fact that they were hand written, some slightly stained meant more to me than monetary treasures of any means. It’s a link to the past – to our loved ones.
Like I said, I made a tried and true recipe cookbook years ago. When our only child, our daughter Jenet, went to her heavenly home at the sweet age of 17, I found myself needing something to do. I took on the project of getting recipes I loved growing up down on paper where I could make them. Since a lot of my childhood food loves were not in recipe form, I would shadow Mom as she made them. I’d have your put the spices and such in her hand as she measured the pinch and smidgen and then place them in measuring devices to find out who much it was. Once I had a “recipe” I would try it and then have Mom tweak it for me. Once it was just right, then I added it to my cookbook. I works hard and long on it even taking photos of the dishes. After finishing it, I printed it all out putting each page down in clear protective sheets and then into a 3 ring binder. I made 3 copies – one for me, one for Mom and one for hubbies Mom (no in-laws in this family) for Christmas and put in a dedication page to our daughtet in the front and useful information like substitutions and spice details in the back. After Mom died, I passed her copy on to my best friend who says she uses it on a regular basis. Even though I now have most recipes memorized, I still refer to it each time as I make that dish. Since I’m getting older now too, I know how you can forget or mix up teaspoon for tablespoon and it’s best to check and get it right than to “know” and mess up a dish. 🙂
I can relate to some of the same things. My things are still packed but had to move in with my daughter and family when my husband passed five years ago and still don’t have all my things unpacked. Just the essentials for now.
Looking forward to that day if the Lord allows. If not, it won’t matter. I’ll be with Him. PTL
I have a potato salad recipe that my husband’s grandmother used to make. He is 70 so I am not sure how old the recipe would be. I also have a ‘black’ cake recipe that his father used to make. It has 3/4 C cocoa and 1C strong coffee in it. My family loves it.
I’m so sorry for your loss…I’m curious about the recipe you posted–what did your Mom serve w/ the peanut butter soup? over crackers? over biscuits?
My Mom was ½ Swedish & ½ Norwegian, and she made the best Molasses cookies! (& all sorts of other cookies! 🙂 ) It wasn’t until I moved into my own apartment that I would call her, or stop by, and ask for her recipes. She made German Pfefferneuse cookies each Christmas, along w/ sugar cookies, and her Swedish pancakes were so light & fluffy! When I would ask her to make them, she sigh & say that it took a lot of pancakes to fill up my Dad & siblings! I have a recipe scrapbook that I plan on, someday, handwriting out recipes for my oldest daughter! 🙂
Lots of crock pot recipes.
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your mother. I pray for continued comfort and peace. I do have a favorite family recipe, its from my grandmother. Banana bread. Mmm. She made it often for us and passed the recipe on to me when i married in 2012. She is now 89 years old and her health is quickly declining and she can no longer make is her delicious bread. She lives quite a ways away from me (she in buffalo, ny and I in south florida). However, it brings me such comfort and joy to make her same banana bread and now send it to her. Though, I know it will never taste as amazing as hers, so many memories fill my mind as i smell its delicious aroma.
Thank you, Stephanie! I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Sweet story about your grandmother’s banana bread! I can practically smell it baking in the oven. Warmly, Suzanne