I share a lot of recipes online and find so many things that I want to try. Really, I am inundated with recipes on a daily basis and most never make it to my kitchen. Heck, there's an entire app just for pinning things you see, like and want to try. However, a Facebook post about gifting handwritten recipe cards was what prompted me to get out my collection of handwritten recipes and sit down to write this blog. The tradition of writing and keeping recipes must be preserved! We don't know what digital media will look like in the future, but I know I want to keep and pass on my treasured recipes for the future generations.
That Facebook post prompted me dig out an old cookbook binder that belonged to my Grandma Evelyn and the little index card box full of recipes that were given to me at my bridal shower. Another friend had commented in the same post that she lost her bridal shower recipes in a house fire and it made me so grateful for these pieces of history that I have. I really do treasure these cards, each in their own handwriting, beautifully gifted by someone who cared enough about me to pass along something special.
I had a moment to reflect on our online way of doing things and my thoughts wandered to my Grandma Evelyn's recipe book/binder. It's really just a hodgepodge binder that I put together back in college when a family member asked if I wanted all of Grandma's recipes and clippings. Of course, I said yes! I've had this binder in a cupboard for close to 20 years now and it was probably sitting down at my grandparents for at least that long before it made its way to me (Grandma passed away in the mid 1980's). Will someone find my Pinterest page decades from now to see what I liked and tried? Probably not (Ok, I'll be honest, I don't have a Pinterest page, but you get my point. It's what people do)!
Back to Grandma's collection though...what a treasure trove it was! Grandma's handwritten recipes, clippings from magazines and newspapers, articles about the best bread flour or cleaning hack. As I was flipping through the pages that I haphazardly tried to organize years back, I realized that this was Pinterest 40 years ago. What will happen to all our pins 40 years from now? Isn't there great value in having these items in physical form?
Every so often on the pages, I see my Grandma's handwriting and notes that say "try" or "good". Simple messages to the future. Did Grandma write those for her or did she have a premonition that someone would come after her to flip and peruse her notes? I had to laugh when I saw an article clipped that discussed the "scam" that was soft soap and that you could do better to just make your own "soft soap" at home with scraps of used bars (yuk!). I found quite a bit of joy in looking through what was considered THE dish to bring to a picnic or dinner party back in the day. Some recipes I know and love, some I wouldn't touch!
Regardless of if I ever use all the recipes or not, there wouldn't be that same connection with digital media. I don't envision anyone lovingly scrolling through a pinned page of salmon patty recipes! I would encourage anyone reading this blog to sit down and consider what their favorite recipe would be and who might love to receive it. It only takes a moment to pen an index or recipe card and pop it in an envelope. I don't know about you, but I still love getting personal mail. You could make someone's day!
Will I still share recipes online and look for recipes on my favorite pages and feeds? Absolutely! I love to cook! But I will also be mindful of passing down traditions and tucking in a recipe card with greeting and celebration cards now and again. I chuckled to myself as I realized that I had my own cookbook/binder in a drawer in the kitchen that I've been stuffing printed and handwritten notes in for the last 10 years or so. I didn't realize it, but I have been doing what my Grandma was doing years ago! It must be in my blood! I may have printed articles instead of clipped ones from the newspaper or magazine, but the collection is about the same-quite hodgepodge.
I'll be sure to pen in notes and suggestions each time I use one of recipes too, just for good measure and cooks of the future! My cookbook and my Grandma's may be lost in time, tossed in a box or shoved in an attic someday. But MAYBE, just maybe, someone will uncover the books and see great value in the collection and keep the tradition going.
I will end this blog with a picture of one of the most thoughtful and beautiful gifts I've received. This is a laser engraved cutting board that has my favorite recipe for sour cream cookies. It's my Grandma Evelyn's handwriting, but I suspect it's my Grandma Cohoon's recipe. Just below her recipe is my handwriting that I added back as a young girl for tripling the batch. I don't know if my family realized it when they had that made, but it probably contains three generations of cooking heritage, preserved forever. I absolutely love it! I keep it in my Grandma's china cabinet with china from my other Grandma. It's perfect and it makes my heart happy.
Please share your recipe stories and tell me all about your family traditions of passing along recipes. I will start a thread on my Facebook page as a place for you to post your family recipe cards. I know it's digital, but maybe it will inspire you all to get writing and sending some of those cherished family dishes to a friend!
Thanks for reading the Home Ericanomics Blog! Please share and follow me on social media!
-Erica
Comments
Post a Comment