Our son was graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and we were clamoring for the perfect gift that would suit this occasion.
That’s when the idea hit me. Why not create a collaboration of family favorite recipes that would span the generations from great grandmothers to present day so that our culinary grad would always have these gems as the foundations of his budding career.
For whatever your reasons might be to put together a collection of your family's best of the best favorites, I thought I’d share just how we did it for those who might be looking for a direction to take.
We started by sending a note out to all of our grandparents, aunties and cousins asking them to think about their most popularly requested recipes. Now came the hard part. Actually getting them to write down the ingredients list and directions for the item that they were declaring to be the family's gem. I’d love to add at this point, that many of these recipes were originally written out long hand on what was previously used…recipe cards. Or, worse yet, simply recollected to memory with an approximation of the ingredients. That, in itself, made the cook book even more precious to actually see the actual recipe written out. Nevertheless, that was the first part of the task and the second part was getting the families to comply.
Be sure to give yourself some time especially if you’re a last minute gift giver.
Next up, while you’re waiting for your family to comply with their offering, is to create an introduction to the cookbook that includes the motivation behind the student to pursue this career. It’s fun to do and can be very heartwarming for your graduate or for the person you’re gifting this item to, to see what their part was in the final product.
Think of this as though you’re all participating in filling out a graduation/birthday card. Then perhaps understanding how significant sharing in a lifetime of holiday cooking and celebrations becomes a very special gift indeed. Add as much of the generational history as you can remember and don’t forget to add input from the family.
I was particularly delighted when a relative would send a recipe that revealed a secret ingredient that made an item particularly delicious and left us all wondering what was “different”. Mystery solved.
Anecdotal stories make this cookbook creation that much more special. Have fun with it and most of all, be sure to make a copy for everyone who contributed.
Family History IS the culmination of all those meals that we shared throughout our lives. So much is being lost now that older generations haven’t gotten to pass along how a favorite cookie was prepared. It’s so important not to lose these opportunities.
Our son’s gifted cookbook is now 20 years old. It is one of our most prized possessions and his as well. It’s a joy to still have so many in our family still refer to grandma's special dishes from within its pages.
These are the things that we never want to lose as we get older. Nourishing each other with the food that makes up our lives is the beginning of a gift cookbook that will carry on our legacies forever.
Pat Larsen is a syndicated columnist in Greene, Albany and Northern Ulster Counties. Please feel free to contact Pat with your ideas and comments. She can be reached at # 518-275-8686 or at pelarsen5@aol.com
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