Preserve Your Family History with Recipes
It’s funny how things that once seemed ordinary and taken for granted become so dear to the heart as we move along in our life’s journey.
I can picture our mother with her apron on hard at work in the kitchen of our home that my parents built brick by brick.
The kitchen walls were lined with cedar wainscot. Closing my eyes I am transported back watching my father take pleasure in our mother’s cooking. Oh what meals she could whip up! Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, freshly baked rolls slathered in butter and fresh plum jam made from the bounty of our grandmother’s tree.
It remains so vivid in my memory.
In winter the kitchen was the place to be with the warmth from the oven and wonderful smells that made your stomach churn in anticipation! I cherish those memories and right this minute I swear I can smell the chocolate, sugar and butter of the Saturday night fudge as it bubbled in that old, heavy saucepan.
Food memories are powerful and an important part of our family history. What a gift it would be to our children, and for generations to come, if through our recipes our family history would come to life!
Shortly after our mother died my sister Sharon and her family put together a collection of our family recipes in a beautifully handcrafted scrapbook of my sister’s own design. Included were pictures of our mother’s handwritten recipes cards.
This precious memory book reminds me of how our mother’s home-cooked meals brought us together around our kitchen table. Thinking of that I smile and cry all at once.
So scour your family’s cupboards and locate those old cookbooks and recipe cards. Spend time with the older women in your family and consider recording them talking of the foods they would prepare for their family.
What a great treasure that would be to pass on to your own children.
Please share your own precious memories!
“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”
— Tenneva Jordan
I’m so glad to share Denise’s post with you. There are few things more precious to me than my mother’s and grandmother’s hand-written recipe cards. The preservation of their recipes is important to me, and my memories of watching them stay busy in their kitchen’s will always make me smile.
Denise and her sister Sharon are the masterminds of BeBetsy.com, a FREE on-line lifestyle magazine.
BeBetsy features great articles on health, beauty, fashion, money, gardening, home décor, food and drink, DIY, tech savy tips, along with information on today’s hottest products.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the printable coupons and great giveaways and contests they share with readers too.
My suggestion, subscribe to their site so you don’t miss a single thing. And why stop there? They can also be found on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.
Now, a bit more about Denise, the author of this post. She is the editor and co-founder of BeBetsy. She is a writer, self-proclaimed musician, food junkie and sometimes funny person, who enjoys spending as much time as possible with her husband and family.
She loves classic cinema and indie movies and most forms of musical expression. She loves to hike, camp, fish canoe and howl at the moon.
When she’s not howling at the moon, she spends time working-out, swimming, singing, writing, sewing, reading and telling others her opinion on any subject. She ignores age and pretends she is 27. (Don’t we all?)
Originally from Salt Lake City, she now lives in Southern Nevada enjoying the daily sunshine and serenity of the dessert. Lucky girl…
THE JOY OF CAKING 