COLLECTING OLD RECIPES

Do old cookbooks, cooking notes, recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers tell about a person’s likes and dislikes, even their life?

My Auntie’s notebook of family and neighbors’ recipes, Gram Allen’s Watkins’ Cookbook with recipes from friends written inside the cover and flyleaf, my mother’s old Rumford Cookbook stuffed with clippings all are part of our family food history. They almost tell a story of our likes and dislikes and food fancies. Also included is my recipe box stuffed with 3×5 cards and clippings of old and new recipes.

I have a variety of recipes from my years of cooking, as well as those from my mother, aunts, grandmother, and even great grandmother. Some are contained in notebooks; others in file folders; more in a family recipe book Beth and I compiled. They tell a story of our family cooking history. If we have time, we can add stories, recollections and photos that tell a family story.

Codes in Recipes

The novel, Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees in which ladies used recipes as codes in messages during the Cold War era after World War II. It’s an interesting concept for a novel and tells the story in a unique way, as well as providing food information of that era and the areas in Europe where the story occurs.

Then I realized that if you look closely you’ll find “codes” about your family members’ lives within the foods they prepared and recipes they used. Auntie’s and Mother’s recipes bring back memories of them and their foodways. Think about your family food history and relate these memories to your children. Write them down for future generations!

A Recipe from Mother’s Collection:

OLD-FASHIONED CORNSTARCH PUDDING – This was a basic dessert that Mother often served with fruit spooned over it or stirred into the pudding. When it was made very thick, she used it for a cake filling or for pie.

Cook over a double boiler, stirring frequently, until thickened – 1 1/2 quarts milk, 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch which have been dissolved in 1/4 cup of the milk, dash of salt. When thick, add 1 teaspoon vanilla and let cool.

One of my aunts often stirred in cut up pieces of oranges just before serving for an Orange Pudding. For cake or pie filling use 5 tablespoons cornstarch.

If you want CHOCOLATE PUDDING, add 3 teaspoons cocoa to the cornstarch before dissolving in milk.

(c)Mary Emma Allen