I finally went through two boxes of recipe index cards I brought from my Mother's house after her death.
I came very close to tossing both of the boxes without looking at them but a small, still voice told me to look at them.
The first box contained a bunch of recipes she had collected (but never cooked) over the years. We all have those, right?
The second box, however, turned into a treasure trove of family recipes carefully preserved by her and ready to pass on.
I've looked and looked and looked on the web for this one, particular cake recipe she used to make when the preacher came to Sunday dinner or for her bridge club. She made it infrequently because it was "special." I never found the recipe on the web.
Lo and behold - there it WAS!
There was the recipe for the popcorn balls and lollipops she used to make for Halloween to give to trick or treaters. This was long before the days of the Candy Man and folks being scared of "homemade" Halloween treats.
There was my great Aunt's recipe for "mud pies" - this is a chocolate/peanut butter/oat meal cookie that was a childhood favorite of my brother and me. She would make them specially for us.
There was her Mother's recipe for cobbler dough and my Dad's mother's recipe for peach pie.
And on and on and on...
My niece has long been interested in creating a family heritage cookbook but we both felt like we didn't have enough recipes to do this. Now we do.
Take time today to look through your recipes or simply write down (or type on the computer) your family's recipes.
In this day of fast food and boxed foods, these recipes are worth more than gold. They may not mean much to you or to your son or daughter but they may mean the world to a niece, nephew or future grandchild.
I'm so grateful I listened to that small voice and took the time to look through these recipe cards. They brought back many happy memories of folks who are long gone.
