I have to admit that between working a day job full-time, writing full-time, and running Mom’s taxi service, I purchase dinner as often as I make it at home. OK, maybe more often than I make it at home. However, with the holidays approaching, I have big plans for getting back into the kitchen. I’ll be hosting Thanksgiving and have already purchased the turkey, red garnet yams for my mom’s candied yams recipe, and frozen yeast dough for some fresh-baked rolls.
As you think about the holidays, I image you can picture certain dishes that you grew up eating–dishes that you adopted into your own holiday repertoire because it was a tradition you wanted to continue. Perhaps you have recipes handed down from a grandmother or great-grandmother. What’s even more precious is having a recipe written in that loved one’s handwriting.
I have a recipe for zucchini bread that my grandma gave to me after my father died. I was only 16 when he passed away, and after I was married and had started setting up house on my own, my grandma sent me the recipe. Not only do I LOVE zucchini bread, but this recipe is written in my dad’s handwriting. He had given a copy to my mom’s mother, and my grandma had preserved it by wrapping the paper in plastic wrap. Today, I keep it tucked away in my recipe box. It only comes out on special occasions, but when I do pull it out, memories of my dad always come with it.
We owned a few acres growing up, and he and my mom tried to teach me how to garden. I’m afraid I never got past my dislike of pulling weeds to truly appreciate the skill. But I have vivid memories of the year we planted far too many squash plants. We had zucchini coming out of our ears. And many of them were the size of a small child and had to be carried cradled in our arms. We gave away bags of them to friends at church and to neighbors and still had more than we knew what to do with. We ate sautéed zucchini, fried zucchini, baked stuffed zucchini, and my favorite – zucchini bread. It’s amazing that I didn’t lose my taste for it, but I still love zucchini to this day.
Another heirloom recipe that I treasure is my grandma’s persimmon cookies. I’ve never heard of these anywhere else, but she would make them for me every time we came to visit, just because she knew I liked them. They were small drop cookies with persimmon moistening the batter much like pumpkin does in pumpkin bread. Add some sugar, cinnamon, and raisins and they became a delicious treat. I just saw persimmons in the grocery store this past Sunday, and I immediately thought of my grandma and those cookies.
- What heirloom recipes do you have that mean the most to you?
- Do you have any recipes handed down in a relative’s handwriting?
Candied Yams
- Bake several large, red garnet yams (preferred over sweet potatoes, though both can be used)
- Once the yams have cooled, remove the skin and slice them lengthwise about 1/2 inch thick.
- Spread out in a single layer in a jelly roll pan or other large, rectangular baking dish. (I usually use at least 2-3 pans.)
- Sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar over the yams. Dribble melted butter over the sugar until it all appears wet.
- Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes or until edges brown and sugar carmelizes.
- Serve warm with Thanksgiving turkey and fixin’s.
These chewy, sweet yams were my favorite every Thanksgiving as I grew up, and now when I see my own kids getting excited about them, I can’t help but smile. Enjoy!
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I have many recipes in my mother-in-law’s and mom’s handwriting, some of which are my grandmothers’ recipes on both sides of the family. To this day we still use my great-grandmother’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. But my very favorite copy of that recipe is in our oldest son’s handwriting (he was probably about 7 or 8 at the time he copied it off for me). His version calls for 2 and a half cups of “flower”—although he doesn’t specify if it’s roses, daisies, or tulips. 😉
We purchase dinner around here about as often as we make it at home, too, Karen. 🙂 Before I got married, my mom bought an empty recipe book for me, wrote out many of my favorites, and tucked them inside. I still use that recipe book almost every day. I have some of my grandmothers and my husband’s grandmother’s recipes, but they’re not in their hand-writing. I wish they were!
Not long ago, one of my husband’s cousins asked everyone to send in their treasured Wade family recipes. She organized and compiled them all via a web site, then had a cookbook printed for everyone in the family. Several of the recipes inside stretch back generations. It’s an heirloom!
What a treasure, Becky! I’d love to have a book like that. I remember when I started setting up my own kitchen, my mom gave me my own copy of the Betty Crocket Cookbook – the one with the red gingham looking cover. It was almost like having a family recipe book, since those were the recipes I grew up eating. It was like having a trusted friend in the kitchen with me. I still love that book.
That’s fabulous, Deb! I love having the heritage of women passing down recipes, but there is something so special about finding one in a male’s script. Like your son and my dad. It’s a little unexpected and that much more unique and special.
Isn’t it amazing how food never fails to bring on memories around the holidays? I don’t have any from generations past but one of my favourite ‘cookbooks’ is one my daughter wrote and illustrated for me one Christmas. She gathered all our favourite recipes and carefully printed them out and the misspellings are hysterical. Gurreased for greased. Shugah for sugar. Chalklet for chocolate. Makes me smile just thinking about it. I think I’ll make an apel sinman crumble this afternoon and I’ll be sure not to forget to gurrease the pan.
That’s fabulous, Kav! Luv it! 🙂
Oh, and the apel sinman crumble sounds delicious!
My grandmother and great-grandmother were amazing cooks. My father inherited some of their abilities. Some Sundays, he would fix roast beef with all the trimmings and sometimes he would make the best vegetable soup, I have ever eaten. The soup was rare, as for some reason my sister is allergic to it. (Not sure, but true, she can’t eat it.)
When my grandmother passed away, we found her handwritten recipe book. It has some of our favorite treats that she would make in it. Although, I am not the cook in my family, that title belongs to my sister, Grandma’s recipes are a treasure for the entire family and I am thankful we were able to keep them.
What a precious discovery, Dora. I bet those handwritten recipes are an heirloom that will be treasured for generations.
Yes Karen, I do have lots of recipes written by my late mother. She has been gone for 19 years now. It’s very nice to get out her recipes and see her handwriting. Brings back the memories. I have recipes she sent me for home made hot mustard. Oh boy is it hot!! Every Christmas mom would make Carrot Pudding. It was a recipe handed down to her from her mother. It was very rich. Sad to say that I’ve never made it . But I have the recipe hand written and who’s to say I won’t try it some day.
Happy Thanksgiving
Blessings
Shirley
That’s so precious to have those hand-written copies, Shirley. Whether or not you ever make the recipes again. There’s just something about seeing that handwriting that brings everything back, isn’t there?
My sister and I found an old(early 1900’s) recipe from one of my grandmother’s friends, it was for a sweet yam side dish. It called for sweet milk, not knowing what that meant we put in sweetened condensed milk. Later we learned sweet milk was supposed to be buttermilk. I don’t remember the exact recipe but it called for mashed yams or sweet potatoes, an egg, cinnamon, and of course the sweet milk, then a topping made with crushed pecans, butter and brown sugar. It was the yummiest mistake we ever made.
The persimmon cookies sound delicious by the way.
Happy Thanksgiving Karen!
Andrea
Mmmm…That does sound yummy, Andrea. Some of the best recipes ever started with a mistake. So happy you made that one. 🙂
Your post reminded me that I have a recipe or two written by my late MIL and by my mom. I saw a post on Pinterest that someone had done. They framed handwritten recipes, the older, yellower, the better and hung them in their kitchen. I’m thinking of doing that for my two kids with those old recipes. Buy frames to match their kitchen decor.
What a fabulous idea, Gail! I need to remember that and do it one of these days. Yellowed and speckled with little flecks of dried batter. Perfect!
I have my grandmother’s lemon pie recipe that I make every family holiday. One thing off her plate, since she insists on doing most the cooking! I also have the family apple strudel recipe. Her mother and grandmother brought it over from Bohemia/Czech Republic, but it was never written down. Grandmother tried for years to replicate it and was finally able to about 15 years ago. I do have a copy of that one written in her handwriting.
Wonderful, Catherine! I love that you have recipes from the “old country”. Such rich history there!
I enjoyed your post today, Karen. You are AMAZING – – working full-time AND writing full-time AND being a Mom—whew!! And hosting Thanksgiving dinner on top of all that, LOL. 😉
My Mama was a wonderful cook, and since she’s been gone our Thanksgiving gatherings haven’t been quite the same…but my sisters and I (and our families) do continue gathering and doing the best we can. This year one sister has a Thanksgiving birthday, so we’ll have a really big celebration. 🙂
I am blessed to have my Mama’s Betty Crocker cookbook – – filled with LOTS of hand-written notes and recipes that she kept in the book. It’s like a sweet trip down memory lane whenever I look through it. 🙂
Hugs, Patti Jo
Such a lovely memory book, Patti Jo. There is just something so comforting about moms and grandmas and recipes. I never seem to feel sad when I look at those recipes. I’m just filled with warmth and love and the feeling of home. Lovely!