When we cleaned out my grandmother’s house, there was really only one thing that I desperately wanted.
Her recipes.
The majority of the recipes were truly hers – she literally made them herself.
I did get to take the recipes, but what I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet is that my husband and I closed on our new house on April 24th, and my grandmother died on April 25th. The recipes had been sitting in my parents’ house, along with most of my other junk because we all know there wasn’t more room for it here.
Moving into our house was a frenzy, as we also had a few days of funeral activities to attend. The recipes were inside a bag, which was inside a box, and until last week, I wasn’t even sure if they were at my house or my parents’.
I found them and decided to look through them last night.
This is just a bit of what I had to look through.
One of the first recipes I found is a cookie we would make every Christmas.
Seeing her handwriting on the recipe got me a little shaken up, but in a nice, warm and fuzzy way.
I couldn’t believe how OLD some of this stuff was.
And most of it was hard to make out. Some of it even written in pencil, probably up to 50 years ago, maybe more. You can imagine how much it has faded.
Most of the recipes had ‘age spots’ or stains on them, and I kept wondering what it could be. What was she making that day that she spilled on the recipe??
Hmmm, here is one for her mother’s date pudding.
I like dates, and I like pudding, but I don’t know if I’d like date pudding. Have any of you ever had this?
Again, more of her mother’s recipes that I can barely make out.
I’m sure you can see how old and discolored these papers are. Notice in the upper left corner a sheet of more recent paper…and by more recent, I mean probably from the 70’s.
Ooooh here’s an oldie.
Check out that paper disinegration.
Again, more old paper against new-ER paper.
This here was a good find. Her orange cookies were AMAZING, and she made an even better glaze to go on top. Again, a usual Christmas recipe, and one of my mom’s favorites.
I can’t wait to fill my new kitchen with Christmas goodies. Hopefully I can restrain myself.
This will be our first Christmas in our new house, and I am SO excited. I can’t wait to decorate, light Christmas-scented candles, and obnoxiously bake cookies that could feed a small country.
And then obnoxiously eat them all in one sitting. Yes, I can’t wait.
How cute is this paper?!
I love this one because it is either my mom or aunt’s handwriting, most likely from when they were my age. They were obviously planning a party, perhaps one of their wedding or baby showers, as the list reads chicken salad, lemonade, fruit salad, deviled eggs, stuffed celery, and…
cleaned lettuce…?
Would someone actually serve dirty lettuce?
At one moment I started to panic because she had recipes organized and clipped together by paper clips.
I obviously took them apart, but I didn’t like taking them apart since she was the last to handle them.
I think this is really a true treasure.
Hand-written recipes in a very old recipe book. Most of these are written in pencil, too. The paper is so old it is practically crumbling.
OK – a recipe on a NAPKIN.
This takes the cake. Who saves this? Why not write it on paper!?
This napkin has seen better days.
It appears to be about 212 years old in napkin years.
There is one BIG reason that I looked through these recipes. I wanted and NEEDED to find a certain recipe.
For my sanity, for my mom’s, my cousin Lacy’s, and probably every other person who had ever came in contact with Mother Lovett.
We didn’t ever think we would find it. We didn’t even think it was written down.
And after about 5 phone calls to my mom earlier in the evening, telling her ‘I found this, I found that,’ I finally found what we all had been looking for.
This is HUGE.
Her pie crust was TO DIE FOR. I wish I could tell you in person because really, it was incredible.
And I found the recipe.
Then fainted.
Then regained conciousness.
Then ate a cookie to make sure I was alive.
Not only was I alive, but I had found the recipe that has alluded us all for many, many years. Even if you were with her while she was making a pie crust, it was impossible to figure out her recipe. And if you asked for it, she said she just knew how to make it and couldn’t find the recipe. And to be honest, we rarely asked, because we were convinced she was immortal.
Another VERY old sheet of paper.
Wow, probably one of the oldest in there.
I came across this – a recipe was written on the back.
It was a subscription letter to my grandmother’s FATHER.
I don’t know if you can make it out, but they offered him a year subscription for $1.00.
Good deal!
A letter addressed to my mother right after she was born.
Can you see the date? You do the math.
There were a couple recipes from newpapers tucked in with the others.
Check out that date!
We found many, many old, saved items in her house. Some we deemed ridiculous, others reasonable. She lived during The Depression, so naturally she saved EVERYTHING.
Including a bottle of soy sauce that expired in 1978 and hairspray from the 40’s.
Not quite sure what she was planning on doing with that…
I love this last picture. This stirred the most emotion in me. I felt lucky and special to hold this, and at the same time my heart absolutely went out to the woman writing this. I want to frame these.
A letter written to a prospective employer – I guess today we could call it a ‘cover letter.’
There were two letters. One sent to ‘gentlemen’ at the local newspaper, and the other sent to a female at the post office. There was no resume to send, as my grandmother had been a homemaker since she got married – which I believe was her dream – to cook, clean and raise a family.
However, she was recently widowed, and it was time to find work.
My, my, how times have changed.
Her qualifications included typing, bookkeeping, answering phones, and following instructions.
Not much out of the ordinary, right?
But it was a few lines down that got me. She writes:
‘I am intelligent, have a pleasing personality and present an attractive appearance.’
I told you she was beautiful, right? She failed to include this part in her letter to the female at the post office.
Some things never change.
Us women have always had a bit of power over men. 🙂
I was just tag surfing along, when I came across your post.
Just wanted to say, WOW, what an amazing and wonderful treasure you have there! That’s so wonderful! How very, very priceless…
Thanks for stopping by!
I too received my grandmother’s old recipes – true treasures, for sure.
What a treasure! It’s a little bit like having her there with you whenever you make one of her recipes!
My grandma on my dads side has similar recipes that are amazing! I hope I get a few one day.
What a wonderful post! My mom recently put together a family recipe book which includes a lot of things she and my grandmothers, friends and other family made when I was growing up. What a treasure you have!
That’s a great idea. I may work on something similar.
I am loving following this story! I bet she would be pleased to know you are creating such a lovely tribute on your blog :O)
– Beth @ http://www.DiningAndDishing.com
Ah, grandmothers. My grandma had boxes of old recipes and newspaper clippings and books and books of handwritten recipes. I’m so glad my mom saved them.
You truly indeed have a treasure! I posted about my Aunt Mary’s recipes on my blog. I have her small recipe box with all kinds of goodies on paper similar to your grandmother’s.
My mom still has my grandmother’s recipes and I look forward to looking through them in the near future. Might have to do that this weekend. She made the best homemade layered Pineapple Cake. I miss you, Grandma.
I will be checking back in to see all the good things you make from those treasured recipes. 🙂
Thanks for the add on FoodBuzz. I’m new. But I’m glad this caused me to wander in. Love the personal spin you’ve got here on the recipes. I feel the same way. I’ve got some handwritten ones too from my family over the years. Love that personal touch it gives the food itself.
These are so precious Jessica…you might want to check out this site: http://createmycookbook.com/home
You can scan the original hand-written recipes and then type the acurate details and make a family recipe book…a copy for each family member…they can go on line and order their own copy once you are done. I’m making one now for my boys…that’s how I started my blog posts and “tasty kitchen” so that I could gather everything for my boys in their own printed memory recipe book. I’m including family photos of all the occasions when we served ribs for family bar-b-ques…and cookoo cookies for christmas, etc. Hope this helps, Roberta
Thanks alot! 🙂
My family did the EXACT SAME THING. Once we passed “we can’t believe she’s gone”, we hit “OH MY GOD WE HAVE TO SAVE HER RECIPES!”
That’s awesome. I love having recipes from family and friends, especially when they are in their handwriting. I have a fill-in 3-ring binder recipe book so I can write in it or add cards or whatever, and when I get a recipe from a family member or friend, I usually ask them to hand write it out for me so that, years from now, I’ll still have that little piece of them with me. Sentimental, I suppose, but I love my cookbook for that very reason 🙂
Your grandmother sounded so wonderful and sassy 🙂
Sassy is a perfect word. 🙂
Oh this is so sweet! Both of my Grandmother’s write/wrote out their recipes in the same manner.
My mom now has her mom’s recipes and they will be handed down to me. Such a great tradition. My mom always seems extra proud of a dish she makes when it was one of her mom’s recipes.
Hope you enjoy trying out that pie crust!
Thank you for sharing this. It is a wonderful entry. I found some of my grandmother’s old recipes a few years after she died and the memories they brought up were so nice. And even if they are not a relative’s recipes, the history in old recipes is amazing. Some of my grandmother’s were from WW2 and had some crazy substitution items in them.
I have a favor to ask of you, too. Will you share your grandmother’s Never Fail Pie Crust Recipe? My grandmother had a recipe card for her pie crust that was the same title. We have never found it and I am wondering if it might be the same recipe.
I am really enjoying your blog!
Hi Nixie. Thanks for stoppin’ by! I have not decided if I am going to post the exact recipe for the pie crust on my blog just yet. First off, I want to try and make it myself, which will probably happen within the next few days. I would be more than happy to share it with you through email though, so shoot me an email and I will gladly respond. 🙂
so amazing! grandmothers are crazy sometimes! my grandmothers has ALL her recipes too! and I am sure some of them are written out on napkins 🙂 will you be making any of her creations??
Awww LOVE this!! which recipe are you going to make 1st!!??? I hope your having a great weekend!!
I am not sure which it make first! I have made many of these with her, but I can’t decide which one to attempt alone.
What a wonderful legacy your grandmother left behind. Cherish and enjoy!
What a great piece of history.
I always say, the sign of a really good recipe, is how dirty the page is in the recipe book.
It is so special that you can cherish the memories of your Grandma through something that you both love!
I just found your blog, and I am so glad I did.
I love this post, I can totally relate. When my grandma passed away last year, my mom received the handwritten recipe for her famous sugar cookies. We are going to frame it 🙂
so awesome…mammie lived through the depression with 8 kids, so needless to say when she moved out of “our” house we found lots of fun stuff. makes me wonder what our kids and grandkids and even great grandkids will cherish when we’re gone.
I just discovered your blog and I have to tell you that I recently discovered two jam-packed boxes full of my Granny’s hand-written recipes. What a true TREASURE. I, too was shaken up by seeing her familiar writing. I can’t wait to use some of her special recipes, and I hope you have a great time using yours!!
Oh wow. This post brought tears to my eyes. What a treasure you have there. I have a few recipes that I treasure, but nothing like this. When we moved into our new home I wanted something special in my kitchen. I asked several family members to handwrite one of their recipes on a piece of paper for me. I then took those recipes and framed them. I now have a wall of recipes. One from my mom, McD’s mom and grandmother. It is one of my favorite walls in our home.
Love your blog, can’t wait to read more. Thanks for the friend on Tasty Kitchen.
one of the greatest family treasured you could ever hope to have. yay!!
What an amazing post! that is so cool that you have those to keep. Not only will they come in handy, but how special! i am loving your blog!
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Oh wow, I loved reading this entry! It reminded me of my own Grandmother… She has a gingerbread recipe with a lemon glaze over it that she made. And I’m sure, one day, me and my cousins will fight over who gets to keep the hand-written recipes, but for now, the hand written ones she wrote specifically for me will suffice (:
space to make the blog easier to…
read. this can be achieved by using sub-headings and lists to break up the text.5) originality – although you could use sources such as news items as inspiration for your blog, the blog should be in your own words, avoiding plagiarism…
Please please PLEASE scan and save those recipes, you might be able to run the lightest ones thru a filter to bring out ‘nearly-lost’ recipes… consider yourself a cookie conservator!