Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Food memories

For the last couple of years, I've been slowly but surely working on converting my old physical recipe box over to an electronic version. I do a little at a time every once in a while. It's difficult for me to come home at the end of the day and do data entry since I sit at a computer all day. At least that's the best excuse I have for this taking me so long.
Being laid up with a sore foot has really helped moved this project along. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I only have a dozen or so to go and I am done (at least for the time being).

As I'm sitting here in front of the corn burner, listening to rain hitting the windows, with my foot up and laptop (ironically on top of my lap), I was struck by how many memories are tied up around food.
I've run across recipes I haven't made in years but upon seeing them remember a time when I did make them or had thoughts of the person who did. It's really been a walk down memory lane for me. Thoughts of family, friends currently in my life and those who have moved away or people who have passed on.

There is
a lemonade dessert and turtle cake that I made for the first time shortly after we brought Joe & Jon home from the hospital...

or the stuffed pizza our old neighbor, Debbie made and invited us over for supper before we even had children...

or the rhubarb bars my Mom used to make every spring when rhubarb came in season....

or Aunt Ruby's homemade French Dressing....

or Aunt Jennie's sugar cookies...

and the realization that I have a lot of recipes from my sister-in-law, Sandy.

I could go on and on and on.

Isn't it amazing how food can conjure up so many memories?
Are there foods that take you back in time?

I would love to know what that food is and what time it takes you back to.
If you're a blogger, why not blog about it?

6 comments:

  1. Chocolate pudding cake-my mom use to make it and I have a recipe for it in her handwritting (she passed away 2 years ago). More recently my sister & I have it at a local restaurant. Delicious warm with whipped cream! I have a bunch of recipes my Mother-in-law gave me that I thought were old family recipes till I acquired a copy of a 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook-they were all in there!!! They are still good!

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  2. Thanksgiving with its turkey and stuffing, cranberries and pumpkin pie...takes me back to another time, another place with the big old table extended and family home with friends seated around it. Now, we are far away from family and old friends...the customs are different. Pleasant memories.

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  3. My recipes are here and there. Some are in a little recipe box but most are in a large basket. When I sift through my recipes, I often weep a little. I understand you wanting to convert your recipes to the electronic version and I do have many on my computer, but there are recipe cards or just recipes on paper in my Mom's handwriting, my Grandma's handwriting. These are treasures to me. I miss my Mom so much, and these are really connections to her in a way. I have an old potato doughnut recipe that was my Grandma's. She used to make large batches of these and send her children out to sell them door to door. I have my Mom's secret and well loved candy recipe that she made every Christmas. My Mom was also the jello Queen. I have her 2 favorite holiday jello recipes. It is a walk down memory lane in so many ways.

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  4. Follow-up: I could never throw out the original recipe cards for two reasons...sentimentality and fear of the computer crashing. But this new software will make finding something so much easier. I can type in teh word Chicken and it will show me all of my recipes that have chicken in them. It's way cool.

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  5. I just stumbled upon your blog for the first time and thought I'd drop in and say "hi". I haven't found too many other bloggers who also enjoy both quilting and riding along on the motorcycle.

    What software are you using for your recipes? That sounds like quite an rewarding undertaking to convert all of them to computer files. There is so much available online anymore that with a little "googling" you can find just about any recipe you've ever wanted. I too could never get rid of the hand written recipe cards. Just glancing through them brings so many memories of who wrote them and how they came to be in my boxes.

    I've enjoyed reading back through some of your posts. They're well written with some great topics. Thanks!

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  6. Soup beans, corn bread and fried potatoes. My mother,who has gone on to heaven made the best soup beans. I had eight brothers and two sisters, so soup beans and corn bread was an inexpensive and hardy meal. This is still one of my favorite meals. We have soup beans and corn bread once a week here at the mission.

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