Keepsakes From the Kitchen
by Kathy Stelego
A keepsake is an object of any size, color, or shape that is kept as
a memento. It’s something that instantly summons the warm fuzzy feeling
of a happy memory: your baby’s first shoes, Grandfather’s gold watch,
a shell you found on the beach while on your honeymoon. Or a cookbook.
A cookbook? That’s right. When you think about it, so many of our
fondest memories are related to food. The warmth of Gram’s kitchen,
filled with wonderful aromas, Mom’s macaroni-and-cheese, everyday meals
around the table, and family traditions on special occasions. Most
people consider a recipe as a list of ingredients and instructions
for preparing a particular food or dish. But, recipes can be much more.
Your treasured recipes are the stuff memories are made of, bringing
back the tastes and smells of happy family traditions, special occasions
, memorable vacations, or the simple comfort of everyday meals.
Pulling a loaf of freshly-baked bread from the oven recalls childhood
lunches in a sunny kitchen. The recipe for a crispy grilled fish
captures the unforgettable memories of annual trips to the seashore.
Frosting batches of Christmas cookies with your children reminds you
of your first baking lessons (and spoon-licking) with Grandma.
Document these treasured recipes and the special memories you have
about them, and you create the most unique cookbook in your kitchen:
a keepsake of your culinary heritage that provides an important
connection between past and future generations.
Recipes are the heart of your cookbook; your memories and stories about
the recipes are its soul. Whether your family tasts run to hot dogs
or caviar, recording your recipes preserves an important piece of
your heritage that can be passed from one generation to the next.
Culinary Traditions
Because so many of our family traditions imvolve food, recipes serve
as important historical and cultural documentation. All too often,
we pass these recipes and memories from one generation to the next
by word of mouth, a process that is well-meaning, but often loses
more and more detail with each successive generation. When these
family classics are not recorded, our unique foods and related
traditions grow dimmer and dimmer with each generation until they
are lost altogether, simply because we failed to record them.
Preserve your culinary traditions, and you create a lasting
record that can be passed from one generation to the next.
Think how wonderful it would be if you had your great-grandmother’s
(or grandfather’s) recipe book, with all her notes and thoughts about
family meals and special events. Why wouldn’t your own
great-grandchildren be thrilled with your collection of
family recipes?
Your Culinary Heritage
Recipes make up just one part of your culinary heritage. Adding your
memories, notes, stories, and anecdotes transforms your collection
of recipes into a cherished keepsake. Your recipes produce foods
that nourish, comfort, and delight. Your stories about the recipes
will do the same. Write a few lines, a couple of paragraphs, or
a full page. Capture the special memories that surface whenever
your remake a favorite recipe. Write about how you always laugh
when you recall the time Aunt Sophia burned the casserole and
told you it was black potato chips. Explain the origin of the
family’s traditional holiday fruitcake. Include the recipes
and traditions you remember from your childhood:
the entire family around the dinner table,
Dad’s Sunday morning pancakes, or toasting marshmallows under
the stars. Alongside Uncle Hugo’s recipe for the family’s
traditional Thanksgiving stuffing, record your recollections
of past holiday get-togethers, when the extra leaf was put
into the dining room table, the special linen and china made
rare appearances, and the soft light of the "good" candles filled the
room.
Don’t worry that you’re not John Grisham; just write. Get your
kids into the act. Creating a keepsake cookbook is a great family
project. Ask everyone to contribute their favorite recipes and
thoughts. Don’t forget the kids! Encourage them to talk about
or write their own versions of their favorite recipes. Ask them
to list or tell you about their favorite foods, and how they
hilarious! Adorn the pages of your keepsake cookbook with their
drawings and doodles. While your little ones are still
little, keep a pad of paper handy and make a collection of
all the unusual and hilarious things they say about food,
eating, and family mealtime. Write their observations down,
along with the particular recipe. As they grow, encourage your
children to add materials to "their" cookbook. This is also a
great way to encourage reading, writing, and organization skills.
Then when your kids go away to school or move out on their own,
they can take with them their own insights and recipes for their
favorite childhood foods. Hopefully, you will start a new family
tradition, one your children will enjoy, maintain, and repeat
with your grandchildren.
Recipe for a Keepsake Cookbook:
Start with a generous helping of your favorite recipes
Spice with memories, anecdotes, and stories
Fold in photos, drawings, or doodles
Pepper with dashes of humor and nostalgia to taste
Combine all and blend well. Serve up to yourself, family, and friends.
About the author
Kathy Steligo is author of Meals and Memories: How To Create Keepsake
Cookbooks. We are offering her book at Seeds of Knowledge. Please click here to
read about her wonderful book.
