Thursday, March 28, 2013

My Grandma's Pinterest

Last May, my Grandma passed away. Over the next few weeks, us grand kids got the chance to go through her house and take whatever keepsakes we wanted. I am a VERY sentimental person so this was a special and difficult endeavor for me. I wanted to have everything of hers, but I knew I couldn't possibly have everything so I had to make sure the things I did keep were special to me. My grandmother was a very trendy woman, especially back in the day, she sold Avon, she made sure her house decorations all coordinated color and theme with the season or holiday, she kept up with what was in fashion and home decor trends, she was just in general a very put together person. She was not however, a home cookin' kind of woman, she wasn't the kind to wear an apron and slave over a stove all day. There are maybe a few dishes I remember she would make or special sweets she would have for certain holidays though. 

While going through her kitchen cupboards, I found a black three ring notebook, the leather was worn and it smelled of times gone by. I opened the book and inside I discovered a recipe scrapbook of sorts. My Grandma made this recipe book herself, each dividing tab, every magazine or newspaper recipe cut out, she glued in. This was in essence  her recipe Pinterest board. It is not a store bought cook book, and it is also not a recipe book with handwritten recipes that she created over time, this was her crafty compilation of the latest recipes, serving techniques and "best cake recipe ever" book. 
The first page, in her beautiful handwriting, she wrote a message. "Some very good recipes & serving suggestions". I'm not sure what the "at" means, or maybe its an "a+"

I think what I love the most is that everything in it she cut out herself, and she must have done so for a reason. Which means every page has her personal touch. I can see now where I got my scrap booking skills and my desire to collect and save things. Some of the recipes call for ingredients I'm not sure you could find anymore, some of them call for Crisco and pasteurized process cheese. But a lot of them are simple recipes with real ingredients, honest cooking that you don't see much anymore. I am going to go through this book every once in a while and try some of these recipes- just to feel a little closer to my grandma.

The first thing I pulled out is a recipe poster of sorts, it is from American Weekly, March 2, 1952. I'm not sure what a woman was supposed to do with this large poster of "Delightful Hot Cheese Dishes", perhaps pin it on her kitchen wall as inspiration for a while?

I zoned in on one recipe in particular that I think I would make of all of them "savory dairy loaf"...sounds disgusting but its really like a veggie meat loaf. 

Other pages I really enjoyed were her cake "Pinterest board"

Where I found this "Perfect Spice Cake" recipe, the secret ingredient is a pinch of black pepper...hmmm could be good?


This blueberry muffin recipe- simple ingredients, whole foods, sounds delicious! Plus it says it's "tested in The American Home Kitchen" so that must mean it rocks!

And this adorable page where she noted a serving suggestion for creamy sauces over veggies and a recipe I would totally try for "Corn Fritters"


What I don't know is if my grandma ever made any of these, if she liked them, if any were her favorites, there are no other notes in this book, so there isn't much for me to go off of, but I love having it because I know she didn't just buy it and put it in her cupboard, she made it, she sat and cut out these pictures and recipes, she wanted to make this for one reason or another and I will certainly cherish it.


In other daily news, we went to the home improvement store last night to pick out supplies for a back splash !! I am waaaay more excited about a few sheets of glass tile than I should be but I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product :) After shopping we were hungry and stopped at...McDonald's. Don't worry I got their southwest grilled chicken salad for 10 Points Plus 

Oh and I also took the brown dogs for a walk because it was a tropical 43 degrees yesterday in MN

Did you have a good Wednesday?

Do you have any recipe books or keepsakes that you treasure?







9 comments:

  1. That's awesome! I have one of my grandmother's recipe boxes. I love it because it's all handwritten. I think the handwritten things are my favorite.
    Have a great day!
    Laurie
    Lulu and Daisy

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    1. There really is something special about seeing their handwriting, I wonder if future generations will cherish our font preferences haha

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  2. What a sweet memory of your grandma. My grandma has a similar recipe box! They are handwritten recipe cards or magazine articles and newspaper clippings. It's so cool to see!

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  3. This is really cool!! :) Grandma's have the best recipes, don't they??

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  4. 20 points, 600 calories, for a salad ? Seems you could have enjoyed the 600 calories in so many better and more healthy ways. Just saying...

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    1. Hi there thanks for stopping by. While I agree that 20 points and 600 calories for a salad WOULD be a little much, the salad I ate was only 10 points and 390 calories. You can check it out here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/mcdonalds-southwest-chicken-salad-with-grilled-chilken-w-dressing-49639378 or here http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/product_nutrition.salads.88.Premium-Southwest-Salad-with-Grilled-Chicken.html

      But since it is my life I can choose to eat my calories however I would like to :) Thanks for sharing your personal preferences though!

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  5. What a gift to have that notebook! I have some cookbooks that belonged to my grandmother with her notes inside. From my other grandmother, I have instructions on how to grow and then store an amaryllis. I think I'm going to get that (or a copy of it) into a frame and hang it on my patio.

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    1. How awesome for you to be able to see her notes, grandmother's handwriting is like an art form I think. Framing those instructions would be so so cool- it would add such a special touch to your patio

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