Crumbling paper is everywhere. Pages disintegrated the moment I began leafing through Mom's book, and tattered bits have somehow found their way through my entire home. Thankfully, the loose recipes are in somewhat better condition than the Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book.
I estimate Mom collected close to a thousand loose recipes in her book. Some are neatly written on recipe cards, but many are scribbled on bits of scrap paper and check book deposit receipts, copied using archaic transfer papers I've never seen before, clipped from extinct publications, and soaked from vinegar bottles. There's even one written on the back of a quote from our wedding photographer ($298.00 for the entire package).
It's a wild bundle of paper. Recipes that read more like grocery lists than a set of instructions often end with the command "Bake!" or "Marinade!" Yes, Mom, I will Bake! and Fry! and Marinade! and possibly even Stew! But first, I must sort!
I decided to group recipes into categories that made sense to me and began creating piles on my kitchen table. My categories include Cookies, Candy, Cakes and Frosting, Miscellaneous Desserts, Pie, Breakfast Items, Entrees, Hot Dish, Side Dishes, Salads, Pickles and Jams Appetizers, Breads, Product Cards with multiple recipes, What In The World (more on this category later!) I realize there was a certain mania to mom's recipe collection. So far I've counted 7 Pound Cake recipes,12 Croquette recipes, 15 Punch recipes and numerous variations of Salisbury steak and puffed pancakes. I'm charmed at her quest for the perfect amalgamation of butter and eggs or Hawaiian Punch and ginger ale. I can hear her say, "You just never know, Patti" as she copied another variation of Yeast Rolls from a television cooking show. I still don't know what I'll "just never know", but I find myself saying the same thing to Amelia when the conversation is over and I no longer feel the need to justify my actions.
I've had to carefully place the cook book and a large stack recipes back on my shelf. They're too fragile to handle, and I'd like to save some surprises for myself.
Tomorrow, I'll cook. Today, I'll dream of cardamom, and butternut squash, and croquettes fried until they are "Handsomely Brown."
Love to you all,
Patti
I have Nannie Brown's cookbooks (from Davisboro) and my grandmother's recipes and they are exactly like you are describing. There are rubberbands holding them together because of all the handwritten slivers of paper stuffed between the pages. Many are variations of the same dish too. Some are things I would NEVER try, but they are interesting to imagine. They definitely take you back to the old homes and memories of the past though. Been thinking about having a few of my favorites laminated before they become impossible to read.
ReplyDelete