My mom is nearing her 80th birthday, and still makes some of my "favorites" for me

C

carianna-in-wa

Well-known member
and I got to thinking today that I really need to get some of these recipes written down and saved. Of course, I've asked for a few over the years and I'm sure they're scribbled on a piece of paper somewhere around here. But I need to get more organized than that.

Today (stuck in the recliner as I am) I started making a list of recipes I absolutely need to get from her to make sure they're preserved. My grandma's amazing peanut butter fudge, my mom's caramel corn, her dill pickles. These delicious oatmeal cookies she used to make that used ground raisins that she ground up in the meat grinder, her ham and lima soup...

What are some of those childhood recipes from your family that you want to make sure get passed down, or aren't lost?

 
My Mom's family recipe for German Marble Cake is much loved by our...

...family. I make it often, and it's not lost, thankfully.

Her recipe for pot roast with bread dumplings is also from Germany. It is VERY basic, but a family favorite often requested as birthday special-request meals. (After seeing Richard's recipe for this dish, I now see how "basic" my Mom's is!)

A teacher at our school is going through a struggle with his Grandmother's ginger cake recipe. He has given me the handwritten instructions that he found after she passed, but neither him nor any of the other cooks in his family have succeeded in producing the ginger cakes in the same way he remembers Grandma's. He wants me to try and figure out where they are going wrong.

You should see him describe what Grandma made. I say "see" rather than "hear" because his whole body is in play when he's telling someone about them. He is clearly transported back to his childhood and you can see from his face and body language, as well as the words he chooses and his tone, that it is a memory he deeply cherishes.

No one in his family took the time to get with Grandma and write these things down. They felt she had already done that, but now they are finding out the written recipe is not always complete or accurate. I suggest, as you go through the process with your Mom, you make sure the ones she's already written down are actually the recipe she uses.

Michael

 
Good advice Michael. I have recipes that I prepare differently than what's written and haven't taken

the time to change them.

 
I went to my aunt's home a few years ago and cooked and baked

favorites all day while she sat in her rocking chair and supervised. I picked up the groceries and a notebook. As I was making the bread she would feel the dough and say "add another egg". As I made the pierogi and paczki she would do the same. I wrote everything down ( she laughed when I pulled out my instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the oil) and am now able to duplicate most of her recipes. We also had a wonderful day together doing something that was fun for both of us.

 
Years ago, my mom gave me a handwritten book of family recipes. It's my most treasured

item. My dad said every morning she'd wake up and write out 2 or 3 recipes before going to work. I love that she included recipes I never really liked (sauteed hamburger and creamed corn over toast) and that the 3 ring binder looks exactly like my mom's taste (salmon colored with a basket of flowers on the cover). Most important? In this age of computers, I treasure seeing my mom's handwriting. It's so much more intimate.

 
I have one of those from my mom. Beige with a basket of flowers on the front. I too, have been

seeing her handwriting lately on recipe cards. Pretty touching.

And then there are still my grandma's recipes in the 'scribbler'.... butter the size of an egg, a handful of something. Very few real instructions.

 
I have a pile of pages from old cookbooks and handwritten recipes from my Mom...

...all bound up with a cracked rubber band.

Seeing Mom's handwriting on an old Stollen recipe brought me to tears.

Michael

 
and so timely...this week I came across a recipe that I had mentioned many moons ago, exclusive

to a lady across the street (an excellent cook, well-known on the street for her food) when I was a kid. I was the only one to whom she granted this recipe and only when I was leaving the city. I felt privileged. She also gave me her special trick with cole slaw (also superb) but that recipe has not shown up.

She later developed Alzheimers and her recipes disappeared. I just found that I duplicated this one so it did materialize. It's basically just a lemon curd in a meringue shell with a whipped cream topping, but so good and I'm so happy I found it.

Mrs. Hawkins' Angel Pie:
(1950s when I was just a little tyke)

4 egg whites
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1 c. white sugar

Beat whites until fluffy, add cream of tartar, beat until stiff. Gradually beat in 1 c. white sugar. Spread in well greased and floured 10" pie plate (deep). Bake 1 hour at 275°. Let meringue cool. While baking make the filling:

Filling:
4 egg yolks
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 c. white sugar
3 T. lemon juice

Beat egg yolks until thick, add sugar, lemon juice and rind and mix will. Cook in double boiler until thick. Cool.

Whip 1/2 pt. whipping cream. Spread 1/3 of cream over cool meringue, cover with lemon filling and top with remaining whipped cream. Chill 24 hours.
Garnish with pineapple chunks. Serves 6-8.

Thank you Mrs. H.

 
Yep. I framed my great-grandmother's risotto recipe. smileys/smile.gif

Mostly because I love it, and loved hearing stories of her, but also because my husband's family thinks risotto is made WITH KETCHUP.* Hanging a Northern Italian risotto recipe in the kitchen was my way of silent protest. smileys/wink.gif))

*Husband has since seen the error of his ways...

 
I love this Carianna! Thanks for posting this.

I have worked with Spoonfeathers before and was very impressed with their work. I know what I am getting my sister's for xmas this year.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top