Friday, January 13, 2012

Hand-me-down Recipes

I have an overwhelming urge to read recipes.  I collect old cookbooks, subscribe to two cooking magazines and peruse the cooking section in the library every time I visit.  Just the other day I picked up a heavy book filled with delicious sounding breads, cookies, cakes, and pies.  I'd tagged a few in my mind as ones I'd like to try out.
That is, until I received this gift from my Grandma.....
 Thirty-seven handwritten recipes, from her kitchen.....recipes from my childhood, recipes that I will always associate with my Grandma.  I could not wait to get home and read every single one, and decide what I would make first....
 My daughter voted for Acini Salad, but I'm going to go with my favorite, Grandma's Lemon Bars.  I have everything I need and a day off work that I was going to spend cleaning the house......
Following my Grandma's instructions, reading her carefully printed words, thinking of how much time and love she put into this gift, along with the smell of fresh baked lemon bars, seems like a much better use of my time!

11 comments:

  1. I love those kinds of recipe books - love being the main ingredient! My sister put together a family cookbook with recipes from all of us. It is my absolute favorite. Little stories accompany a lot of the recipes. It is great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is so so very nice! What a lovely gift!
    I've tried assembling a similar cook book for my family...but it's still a work in progress.
    Have fun trying out new recipes! (and enjoying the results)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ah yes, but who do you have to thank for that? Hmm.... Grandma's lemon bars are divine!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I still have the one my mom gave me when I got married.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Amendment to my post: Grandma wrote out her recipes because my sister asked for them....and if she got them, our youngest sister and I wanted some too! Thanks Amy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey! Your comment on my blog just made me laugh out loud - that's such an endearing story! I couldn't reply to your comment because your blogger profile is set to hide your email address and you show up as a "no-reply blogger" - did you know?

    have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is so funny, because Annie is going to her new daughter-in-law's house to dictate her own recipes, while DIL word processes. Very cosmic, that you should post this at this time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I inherited my grandmother's recipes on 3x5 cards. They're scrawled in her reformed left-hander writing as a right-hander (she says the nuns beat her left-handedness out of her) barely legible handwriting. They are spattered with egg, oil, bits of stuff and often difficult to decipher, but oh so precious to me. And lemon bars! Yummmmm!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My sister asked for Grandma's originals! My Grandma decided that all 11 grandkids needed copies, and I'm so glad she thought that!

      Delete