With recent events in my life, family history is becoming more important to me than it has been,which is saying a lot since it has always been important to me. My grandma is now in a nursing home as a resident and not just for rehab following the events at the end of July (see joys/concerns thread). Her condo is up of sale along with her belongings as she cannot fit any of her furniture into the room she is in,even though she is allowed.
We have been under a lot of pressure and a strict time line to get all of this done by Nov. 1 which is the day she became a resident. A lot of family items were found, including yearbooks, Mason bibles, and Eastern Star/Rainbow items. My grandma's parents marriage certificate was found along with my grandpa's diploma.
What has hit me the hardest, was a cookbook that my grandpa's mom had owned. I never knew her and my mom didn't either. She was gone before my mom was born. My great grandma was given the book in 1936, it is from 1932 and was sponsored by General Foods. Most of the products are still around today in some capacity. What got me were the recipes and other items I found in the books pages.
My great gran wrote recipes like I do! Short hand! I was so blown away by how I do things like a woman I never knew, yet somehow do it all the same. I am going to try some of the recipes, especially one for a cake that was stuck in the book from a box of Swans Down Cake Flour. I don't know if she ever made it, but I feel like I may connect with her somehow if I do.
I will trace my family tree one day soon, but I think that tracing it via food may prove more telling. We have certain dishes on certain days (pork and kraut on New Years, corned beef and cabbage on St.P's day etc.) We are not bound by high holy days that dictate how we are to eat,yet if certain dishes were not served, there would be a sense of something missing.
So,learn those recipes you have always wanted to learn while you can. Share them with us, and perhaps your family can become part of another, while some of mine becomes yours.
We have been under a lot of pressure and a strict time line to get all of this done by Nov. 1 which is the day she became a resident. A lot of family items were found, including yearbooks, Mason bibles, and Eastern Star/Rainbow items. My grandma's parents marriage certificate was found along with my grandpa's diploma.
What has hit me the hardest, was a cookbook that my grandpa's mom had owned. I never knew her and my mom didn't either. She was gone before my mom was born. My great grandma was given the book in 1936, it is from 1932 and was sponsored by General Foods. Most of the products are still around today in some capacity. What got me were the recipes and other items I found in the books pages.
My great gran wrote recipes like I do! Short hand! I was so blown away by how I do things like a woman I never knew, yet somehow do it all the same. I am going to try some of the recipes, especially one for a cake that was stuck in the book from a box of Swans Down Cake Flour. I don't know if she ever made it, but I feel like I may connect with her somehow if I do.
I will trace my family tree one day soon, but I think that tracing it via food may prove more telling. We have certain dishes on certain days (pork and kraut on New Years, corned beef and cabbage on St.P's day etc.) We are not bound by high holy days that dictate how we are to eat,yet if certain dishes were not served, there would be a sense of something missing.
So,learn those recipes you have always wanted to learn while you can. Share them with us, and perhaps your family can become part of another, while some of mine becomes yours.