The recipe book family cookbooks
Long before the snow begins to fall, I open my mother's hand written recipe book, trying to decide which of those delectable paleo smoothie recipes will be baked for this Christmas. My mother (1909-1995) was an excellent cook. Her recipes are written down in exact order and the oven was preheated to the proper baking temperature. The necessary utensils needed would be spread out on the counter and her measurement of ingredients was exact. She had her favourite recipes, many accompanied by her personal thoughts. Her bran muffin recipe reads excellent," the currant slice is super," potato buns are favourite; Queen Anne cookies are Good as is her Mocha Chocolate Cake, Butterscotch Chews and Sultana Cake. Her friend Freda's recipe for butter tarts is best ever as is her own oatmeal date bars. The recipe for French Custard Pie warranted a check mark by its title.
Before long, I am lost in memories; not of delectable recipes and their ingredients, but of the original owners who shared their recipes with my mother. It is a long way from the Maritimes to Saskatchewan, especially in winter. Yet, memories leave no room for distance as I travel its path in the journey of fond remembrances.
Auntie Anne's recipe for pumpkin pie reads Line pie plate with pastry-brush with melted shortening or margarine. This prevents the filling from soaking into the pastry. Her recipe for bread sauce states you have to cook it in a double boiler because it sticks to the pot. This is Geraldine's favourite with turkey or chicken. I can still see Auntie Anne's dining-room table set so beautifully at Thanksgiving with her Petit Point China dishes. My younger brother Wayne and I had been warned to be careful as Geraldine was left handed and there was to be no bumping of arms. As our mothers set the bread sauce and platter of carved turkey on the table before the guests a very full wine glass was bumped. The horror of seeing that red wine seep into the white linen tablecloth is unforgettable.
Auntie Margaret's recipe for Choke Cherry Wine concludes Cork loosely for one week, then tighten. No matter what she tried her hand at doing, Auntie Margaret was always successful. She didn't need air locks with corks as the wine fermented, but used balloons to keep the gas in and the air and bacteria out. At night, she'd hear a balloon flutter off a wine bottle when it filled with gas and be up and have it replaced in jig time. As kids, we never got to taste the wine, but, the adults claimed Margaret's wine was the best.
Flapper Pie was Dad's favourite, but not my brother's. I don't know where mum got this recipe from but she faithfully baked it as a treat. Having set a slice in front of Dad, she turned to cut slices for Wayne and I. Then, she noticed Dad's pie plate was empty. What did you do with the pie? she asked. I ate it, replied Dad, hoping for another piece. But, Auntie Joan's lemon pie is worth dying for added my naughty brother!
Brown sugar cookies was Dad's cousin Marjorie's recipe. I'd have to chill and bake them to capture their taste, but what I do recall was the large farmhouse kitchen she baked them in. That great farmhouse with its large rooms, very lengthy dining table, large family portraits and high old fashioned beds was my prairie idea for Wuthering Heights. The key to such imagination was and still is in that cookie recipe.
Great Aunt Belle's 1928 recipe for Dark Christmas Cake has been noted I don't care too much for this cake. Mrs. Jenner's Christmas Cake recipe has a line drawn diagonally through it, so I assume mum didn't care for that cake either. When I look at that recipe it is the Jenner's black labrador dog that knocked me down as a child that I bravely remember!
The recipe for cousin Nellie's Carrot Pudding states it was brought to mum via cousin Marjorie on December 16, 1968. The diabetic Plum Pudding that my mother faithfully made for Grandfather Brown used an artificial liquid sweetener that I have replaced with Splenda.
Christmas approaches and I get out grandma's pudding steamer and bowl. Sadly, it is not her delicious plum pudding that will be steamed in it. Grandma Brown baked with a handful of this, a pinch of that and a sprinkle of something else. I never saw her with a handwritten recipe but, her pudding never failed. Its spicy aroma is one of the wonderful Christmas memories I have.
Before long, I am lost in memories; not of delectable recipes and their ingredients, but of the original owners who shared their recipes with my mother. It is a long way from the Maritimes to Saskatchewan, especially in winter. Yet, memories leave no room for distance as I travel its path in the journey of fond remembrances.
Auntie Anne's recipe for pumpkin pie reads Line pie plate with pastry-brush with melted shortening or margarine. This prevents the filling from soaking into the pastry. Her recipe for bread sauce states you have to cook it in a double boiler because it sticks to the pot. This is Geraldine's favourite with turkey or chicken. I can still see Auntie Anne's dining-room table set so beautifully at Thanksgiving with her Petit Point China dishes. My younger brother Wayne and I had been warned to be careful as Geraldine was left handed and there was to be no bumping of arms. As our mothers set the bread sauce and platter of carved turkey on the table before the guests a very full wine glass was bumped. The horror of seeing that red wine seep into the white linen tablecloth is unforgettable.
Auntie Margaret's recipe for Choke Cherry Wine concludes Cork loosely for one week, then tighten. No matter what she tried her hand at doing, Auntie Margaret was always successful. She didn't need air locks with corks as the wine fermented, but used balloons to keep the gas in and the air and bacteria out. At night, she'd hear a balloon flutter off a wine bottle when it filled with gas and be up and have it replaced in jig time. As kids, we never got to taste the wine, but, the adults claimed Margaret's wine was the best.
Flapper Pie was Dad's favourite, but not my brother's. I don't know where mum got this recipe from but she faithfully baked it as a treat. Having set a slice in front of Dad, she turned to cut slices for Wayne and I. Then, she noticed Dad's pie plate was empty. What did you do with the pie? she asked. I ate it, replied Dad, hoping for another piece. But, Auntie Joan's lemon pie is worth dying for added my naughty brother!
Brown sugar cookies was Dad's cousin Marjorie's recipe. I'd have to chill and bake them to capture their taste, but what I do recall was the large farmhouse kitchen she baked them in. That great farmhouse with its large rooms, very lengthy dining table, large family portraits and high old fashioned beds was my prairie idea for Wuthering Heights. The key to such imagination was and still is in that cookie recipe.
Great Aunt Belle's 1928 recipe for Dark Christmas Cake has been noted I don't care too much for this cake. Mrs. Jenner's Christmas Cake recipe has a line drawn diagonally through it, so I assume mum didn't care for that cake either. When I look at that recipe it is the Jenner's black labrador dog that knocked me down as a child that I bravely remember!
The recipe for cousin Nellie's Carrot Pudding states it was brought to mum via cousin Marjorie on December 16, 1968. The diabetic Plum Pudding that my mother faithfully made for Grandfather Brown used an artificial liquid sweetener that I have replaced with Splenda.
Christmas approaches and I get out grandma's pudding steamer and bowl. Sadly, it is not her delicious plum pudding that will be steamed in it. Grandma Brown baked with a handful of this, a pinch of that and a sprinkle of something else. I never saw her with a handwritten recipe but, her pudding never failed. Its spicy aroma is one of the wonderful Christmas memories I have.