" Hazel's Recipes"; More than a Cook Book

There are only two things that I would go back into a burning house to get.  One is the brown Bible from my father that I have preached from for 20 years and the other a 2" thick assortments of recipes that my aunt bound for the family when Granny  passed away.  Some recipes were hand written on cards while others were scraps from boxes or labels.  Many were her recipes from memory and other were sent by friends and family.  All were stuffed into her recipe box.  She could find anything in it but I doubt anyone else could.

Granny's Quilts 

Granny Mitchell, my maternal grandmother, was a complex country woman that loved deeply and communicated much of that love through her cooking.  Her mind was strong to the end even though her wisp of a body was wearing out.  My aunt Margaret moved her in to a mobile home next door to her and cared for her for those final 10 or so years.  Her cooking slowed down but her recipes carried on.

My aunt was diagnosed with cancer shortly after Granny died.  Her parting gift was to take every scrap and every card out of that box and have it scanned then finger bound at the office supply.  She organized it loosely by category and included photographs of family , memories and quilt tops.  There are dozens of pages of family lists and news clippings about many things.  She also added a list of the people who contributed recipes and how they were related. Much of the value is that most of it is in Granny's own hand.

One of these Cookie Munchers" is me

 Scrap booking is quite the rage and there are so many techniques and materials available.  I find this a wonderful and healthy thing.  My life is better for this collection of recipes as other lives are better for the snapshots of time captured in a scrapbook.  This book is more than recipes it is a piece of my past that touches me deeply.

This isn't just a project that can be done, it should be done.

The leaf was in the box.  Margaret put it in.

I am so grateful to have this book.  The technology for this project has gotten much easier.  You don't have to

hire this done but the Office Depot and other places
have gotten the cost down.  Your family history is important to your present and your kid's future.  So many people in my life have passed away and those scraps of paper that capture the essence were tossed.  There are plenty of those scraps.  What is often lacking is the will to recognize and preserve what our loving family leaves behind.  Got a scanner?  Grab a hold of those old photos, poems, journals and recipes.  Archive them for your sake and for those to come.

I sit here wishing for one of her cinnamon rolls.