Photo of the Day: Grandmother's Recipe Files
My grandmother's recipe files. Yellowed with age, stained, marked and retooled with a pen after use, a bountiful plethora of homey, American recipes from the California Central Valley and the little hidden nest of Ojai. Each little note card contains one recipe, hand written or type via an old Remington Rand, or displays some various magazine or newspaper clipping perfectly adhered to the card.
Clams. Casseroles. Puddings. Pies. These are just some of the categories in the culinary history of Garrett's family, manifested in the form of his grandmother's recipe files that appear both organized and charmingly mish-mashed at the same time.
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6 Comments:
How wonderful!! My grandmothers died with their recipes in their heads. I wish they had written down more. My file cabinet looks much like that. That and about 8 small index sized card files. Add my huge cookbook collection with 15 years of CI and you got a library.
JerzeeTomato at 9:01PM on 11/29/07
Absolutely beautiful. As someone who did not have a legacy/description/guide passed down, I am very careful to organize loose recipes in a binder, and make notes in cookbooks about what worked for me/my family/my guests and what did not. If I had had a few more years with my grandmother, I know she would have imparted so much wisdom to me, and I would have been smart enough to ask. Some people may look at that filing cabinet as a bit messy, but I think it looks like a carefully notated treasure, designed and planned for, considered and thought of, future generations.
erinlovestoeat at 2:32AM on 11/30/07
I agree, this is such a lovely & precious gift. Many of my really old ones (40+ years) are in small file boxes & notebooks. I had a theory, that if I re-copied a stained or tattered recipe card that the dish would somehow not taste as good...therefore many of the written recipes are food stained & faded. My cookbooks are in my designated in my Will :)
JEP at 5:35AM on 11/30/07
I love that "clams" has its own category!!!
If I had a recipe file, I think "head-on shrimp" would have to have its own category - I love whole shrimp and have so many recipes for it.
Steamy Kitchen at 8:10AM on 11/30/07
Beautiful. That's a genuine treasure.
MissT at 9:31AM on 11/30/07
Can I just say how much I love the fact that "clams," "crab meat," and "lamb" all have their own category? That's one grandmother who knew and loved her food. Fantastic heirloom to have! :D
sheeats at 11:47AM on 11/30/07