Married to the Empire

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Sweet Surprise

I had two grandmothers, but I only remember one. The first died when I was only 6, and while I remember being told she'd died, and her funeral is a vivid memory, I don't remember her. I guess we didn't see her often enough in my young life to have harbored any strong memories. That makes me a little sad.

I was very close to my other grandmother, and while her death a couple of years ago wasn't a surprise, it was still distressing. I cherish the pieces of jewelry she gave me, and I think of her whenever I wear them. I have several pictures of her around my house.

Several years ago she passed this on to me:



It's her 1949 edition of The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I have a lot of cookbooks, and truthfully, I rarely look at this one. I mean, it's old. A lot of aspects of cooking have changed over the years, and this isn't my go-to book by any means. I prefer more modern cookbooks.

But I got a chocolate craving last week. I'm starting to suspect that chocolate isn't a migraine trigger for me, so I decided to indulge the craving and make some brownies. I'm a fairly accomplished cook and baker, but I realized I'd never made actual brownies before. I looked in several cookbooks to find a recipe, and I wound up pulling my grandmother's old cookbook, too.

Imagine my delight when I opened it to the brownie recipe and found this:



I found notes in her handwriting! Definite treasure to me.

I decided to use her recipe. And it was good.

3 comments:

Mama Kitty said...

So glad you enjoyed your grandma's cookbook!

I have two family cookbooks - one was my grandmother's with her name and the date in it. She was 21 when she received the book.

The other was my mom's "go to" cookbook through my childhood. Mom doesn't really cook - I think I used that book as much as she did - and she gave it to me last summer. On one of the pages, in my deceased father's handwriting, are notes about a recipe and also something he always used to say. I will treasure this cookbook for the rest of my life.

Have you looked further in your cookbook to see if your grandmother wrote anything else?

Amy Warden said...

That is definitely sweet!! My MIL gave us her yummy brownie recipe - it's definitely dangerous! (And what a blessing to eat chocolate without fear of a migraine - I hope you've found the real culprit.)

Unknown said...

What a great treasure! There is something about finding a tweaked recipe in a cookbook letting you know the person took time and effort in their cooking. It always shows love...