I come from a long line of cooks. My paternal grandmother was a confident home cook known for pies and comfort food; my maternal grandmother still preserves summer produce and has taught me about canning, pie crust and homemade noodles. My parents are both good cooks, and my brother is a chef who got his training at the French Culinary Institute. My people know their way around the kitchen. Turns out, so did my great-grandmother. On a recent visit with my mom, she and I spent time going through Mom-Mom’s recipe box. It appears to have been handmade for her by my great-grandfather, all warm wood, gently worn and filled with yellowed newspaper clippings, handwritten note cards and inserts from Gold Medal flour bags with all the latest recipes. Most of these items date to the mid-1930s. I asked if I could have one recipe that really stood out to me: simple butter cookies dusted with vanilla bean-flecked powdered sugar. I’ll make this when the holidays roll around and share the recipe here.
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my parents are both gardeners and we have many more-than-competent food artists in the family. I feel like our grandmas went to the same handwriting class–I, too, have a 3×5 spiral bound cookbook that was passed from my mom’s mom to me. One of my favorites (and haven’t made them recently) is Hungarian Cookies. Thank you for the visceral memory, Bryn. I love what you are up to.
I loved hearing about your family’s history of cooking. It’s a nice tradition to pass along. I could have sworn I was starring at one of my grandmother’s recipes — their handwriting it almost identical. Thanks for sharing, Bryn!