Preserving culinary history

In almost every issue, Southern Living magazine has an essay about some author's Momma's sweet potatoes or biscuits. They talk of stained recipe cards, watching said Momma knead dough while a youngin' helps snap pole beans on the counter. Well... Damnit! All those things really do happen here in the South! 

She may be knee-high to a grasshopper, but my daughter is already my sous chef. In this photo, I'm elated she can snap a bean in half. Wait till she cracks an egg with no shell in the batter.. We may have a parade. Even watching cream whip is exciting!

She watches me cook dinner 5 to 6 nights a week. She helps me go through magazines and rip out interesting recipes. I file them neatly in clear sleeves, which then get stuck in a binder. No alphabatizing, just a general grouping for appetizers, soups, entrees and desserts. I've upgraded from a purloined school binder to a pretty pink one.

 

I got this idea from Mom, and no I don't call her Momma. She is more organized than I, and has binders designated just for dessert and things. She also journals what she serves at each holiday and if any mayhem ensued. Like the year the garbage disposal backed up (almost every year) or the  first time I brought my now husband home for the holidays.  Mom still has her roll-top recipe box of hand-written or typed cards. 

I am still on the hunt for the perfect recipe cards for me on Etsy or in a local store. Not an easy task! 

I also learned from Mom to annotate my recipes, any substitutions or thoughts afterward. 

I have started to write "Company worthy" next to recipes I deem good enough for visitors. When I make something for the first time, I always ask my husband, "Good enough for company?" If it's a yes, there's a special note. And you better write down who you served it to and when...lest you fret if you've made the same spinach gnocchi with goat cheese and roasted tomatoes twice for the Kaufmans. Was it Spanikopita and souvlaki for the Greens? I would NOT be ok with them thinking I was a one-trick pony. 

 

And it's generally a rule to never try out a new recipe on a guest. But then, you could be like me.. And a tried and true au gratin potato dish turned purple gray in the oven under a blanket of basil cream and cheese. Disaster!! I have served that dish with success at least 10 times.  ( My hubby raced to Publix and picked up icky heat-lamp warmed mashed potatoes instead. It was better than hearing me stomp around and curse the kitchen gods, I guess.)

A thoughtful gift years ago came from my mother-in-law. A compilation of every Carter family recipe from the '50s to the '70s.  I'm not sure which Carter or Stoudenmire cook made what, but I can call it a family recipe. And I guess I should make these rolls based on the title...

Recipes for banana bread are next to Blushing Bells, sandwiches of ground canned ham and mayo. There's chess pie and ways to prepare pheasant. Happy Day Cherry Pie and Zanzibar spice cake sound fun.

Did you note the "Man's eating chocolate?" Like a man's sipping whiskey but for the kid at heart? Oh, the 50s.

I can't pull a memory from every recipe...and there are some recipes I have yet to try.  But there are dishes that are stamped in my tastebuds. My friend Kim's Mexican lasagna, I'm so lucky to have it handwritten! 

The recipe from an 8th grader who insisted I have her recipe for "crawsawnt" dough cookies dipped in sugar. The double chocolate cookies my 6th period class (6B) lovingly called "poo cookies" because of their dark brown and lumpy appearance... One student begged me for them nearly daily, so I named them after him... But the class got jealous. Those cookies lasted 3 seconds every time I made them, always a double batch. 

Thanksgiving is here, and I made a retro cold  broccoli salad with sunflower seeds, raisins and a sweet and tangy dressing. I also made pecan espresso toffee and a apple cream cheese buddy cake. Delicious! And this hideous turkey concoction for breakfast! Heehee.

Another Thanksgiving in the books:)