My paternal grandmother died when I was 15 years old. Back in those days, I wasn't particularly interested in food or cooking, so I didn't pay much attention to what happened to things like her recipe box or collection of cookbooks. About three years ago, when my interest in food, cooking and writing was starting to become a full-on passion, I started to wonder what had happened to her food artifacts. I started to really want to have something that would connect me to her when it came to time spent in the kitchen. I checked in with my dad, who found out that his sister-in-law Kelly had been the one to salvage her recipe box. She was attached to it and so wasn't interested in giving it up all together, but was willing to lend it to us for a couple of weeks, long enough for copies to be made. What we ended up doing was mixing up the cards, so that I had half the originals and half copies and Kelly had a similar assortment.
I actually haven't made a whole lot from the recipe box, as many of the dishes are either time-intensive, seriously dated or not particularly appealing. But I still like to flip through it on occasion, to get a feel for my grandmother's tastes and do a little culinary time-traveling. The scan of the card you see above is one from her box that looks sort of intriguing. I've never made it, but I think I might give it a try next time I need a new dessert. If anyone tries it out, leave a comment, I'd love to know how it turns out.
image by Marisa McClellan
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