With the ease of finding recipes online the cookbooks and recipe cards of yesteryear will become history. And so will the stories that go along with them.
I wish I had saved my mother’s cookbook with its iconic green cover. But when my husband, Peter, and I moved into my family home it was one of the things that got thrown out to make room for my own cookbooks. Space was limited and only mine would fit in the rack. With age comes wisdom, as they say. Now I can understand that you make room for things like that…somewhere else in the kitchen!
In searching onlin
e it appears that my mother’s cookbook was called An American Woman’s Cookbook. I remember numerous markers throughout the book so she could find her favorite recipes easily. Over the years I have often wondered what those were and wished I could have tried making them myself.
My own favorit
e cookbook is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook – with the red and white checkered cover. It is also filled with markers so I don’t have to consult the index to find the things I frequently make. Over the years some pages have come loose and are tucked in where they belong. Spills are evident showing the remains of whatever I was making.
Recipe cards have a history all their own. Many of them say “From the kitchen of” with a line where the person writes their name. Peter made me a wooden recipe box to hold the cards. When the box was full I began using binders with plastic inserts designed to hold recipe cards.
I hadn’t looked at the box or the binders for quite some time. Today I decided to browse through them and see what I would find. The recipes were all given to me from the ‘70s through the ‘80s.
The best part was finding my mother’s handwritten cards. Apparently in the early days of our marriage I needed recipes for party hors d’oeurves. I found a tasty sounding one that used bite-sized hot dog pieces and another one called “chili con queso.” I hope they were a hit!
There were also some recipes from my mother that were marked “Pete’s favorites.” Those included meat balls, meatloaf and goulash.
My mother ended some meals with “Angel Cake a la crème.” It consists of layered cake pieces with whipped cream between the layers and topped with coconut. That recipe could be resurrected in the near future for sure!
My late relative, Loyola McDonough, gave me a recipe for Watergate Salad and the card says “from Royal’s.” I wonder if she asked restaurant owner, Ernie Royal, for the recipe. Loyola’s friend, Cecily Powers, contributed a recipe for spinach dip. An interesting side note says, “Use only Carr’s water chestnuts from Grand Union.”
Some of my mother’s friends had contributed recipes that were in the box. Locals may remember their names: Loretta Mulhern (seafood casserole), Mary Murphy (chicken divan) and Margaret Leamy (corned beef casserole). A person can get hungry just browsing through that box!
A specific time in my life unfolded as names from the ‘80s showed up representing my days of working at New England Telephone. Florence Abel wrote a recipe for delicious velvet almond chocolate cake. Bea Holliger contributed directions for making snow drop cookies and ginger snaps. She used to bring those into the office and they were a hit!
My neighbors over the years have given me cards that I found in my recipe binders. Apparently I had an abundance of zucchini during a gardening season back in the ‘80s. Nancy Canfield helped me out with a recipe for beef zucchini pie and also zucchini bread. Sue Roberts wrote out a recipe for a no crust quiche made with Bisquick. It’s easy and delicious. I have made it multiple times when there is an abundance of zucchini. The quiche can be frozen in individual slices.
Moving on to my days at Rutland City Hall from 1984 until 2004…Cathy Cioffi (now Taggart) gave me a great recipe for no-cook frosting. She brought cakes into the office topped with that and they were delicious. Meg Grace gave me a recipe for microwave pickles that became an annual treat.
I think you get the picture! Handwritten recipes take you through the various stages of your life as you remember the people who took the time to write out a recipe for you. You may get recipes digitally but to me they will never take the place of handwritten cards and the “forever memories” that go with them.
