There are a few times a year when the entire family gathers around the dining room table and shares a meal. Everyone has a favorite main course, side dish or desert from their childhood. Mine was Grandma Pahlke's beef gravy, it was the best. My mother would try and try to make beef gravy like grandma's but there was always something missing. One day grandma told her to 'just add a little catsup' and WHAM! gravy as good as grandma's.
I also loved Grandma's German Potato Salad, Navy Bean and Ham Soup and the list could go on and on. Unfortunately I never had a chance to get the recipes. My mom learned how to make the Navy Bean soup but where would I find her German Potato Salad recipe?
The photo above is of three of my aunts. From left to right they are my Aunt Mabel (grandma's daughter), Aunt Ruth (grandma's daughter in law) and Aunt Sharon (my mother's sister - no relation to grandma).
A couple of years ago I was visiting Aunt Sharon and we were talking about Grandma Pahlke. Aunt Sharon had lived with Grandma when she first moved to Barrington and guess what - she had Grandma's German Potato Salad recipe! Why - because she asked for it!
Family Heritage Cookbooks
How do you start putting together a Family Heritage Cookbook? Just start asking for the recipes served at your family meals. But, more important asked about their history. Here are a few tips and suggestions to help you on your adventure.
* Start by finding a recipe template
* Personalize each recipe, consider adding a biography of the creator
* Review the recipes' instructions and ingredients to bring them current
* Request a picture of the submission
* Decide how to organize the recipes (by family, geography, or type)
If you cannot locate a favorite recipe of an ancestor check out ebay for church cookbooks; your ancestors or their neighbors my have contributed recipes.
What should you do after you have collected all the recipes? That is another article about self publishing!
Take Care
Pattie
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