26 July 2007

Do you have old family recipes?

I am looking for a old family recipe or two - one that has notes on it that might relate to family history. Do you have a handwritten recipe from your grandmother that has a notation such as "this was originally Aunt Mary Smith's recipe." Or perhaps "I always served this when the Fishers came for dinner." Maybe your great grandma made similar notes in a cookbook. I have a couple of recipes that came from my mother-in-law and I noted that on the recipe card. My spaghetti sauce recipe says "Mom's recipe."

I am writing an article that will be based on such a recipe. The aim will be to gather clues from the recipe and notations to learn more about the person and family history. For example, who is this Aunt Mary or the Fishers? Maybe the notation says "this dish was served at Cousin Elizabeth's wedding reception." Does the recipe have this notation: "My mother brought this recipe with her from Greene County when she moved westward." Which Greene County!

If you have a recipe or two like these, would you be willing to share a copy for use in the article? I would list you and your state of residence as the contributor of the recipe. The recipe would be reproduced in the article. You could scan it and send as an email attachment to PaulaStuartWarren@gmail.com or mail a photocopy to me at P.O. Box 1054, Elk River, MN 55330-1054.

1 comment:

Lee said...

Although I'm sure I do have a recipe or two that meets your criteria, I can't think of one right off the top of my head. What does come to mind is a book I have, The Economical Cook Book. It was published in 1905, and the first page has the name Helen L. Lemon and the date Feb. 4, 1919. I purchased the book at a flea market here in SC, and I would love to know how far the book has traveled from its original home.

I collect cook books, and have several with notes and recipes written on the blank pages. One of them has little notes written about the recipes in the book, such as "tried this one, didn't like" or "[name]'s favorite dish."

Those kind are my favorite finds.

Good luck with your article! I would love to read it when it's published.