Family Recipe Friday - The Old Cookbook

When my step-grandfather passed away, all the items in his and my predeceased grandmother's house had to be taken care of. There was a sense of urgency surrounding the event because not all of us lived there to take care of things at our leisure. A huge pile was made at the front of the house of things that would be donated. I'm not sure who decided what was worth keeping and what was worth getting rid of; I'm sure it was a collaboration of efforts. It was one of those times where I wish I had the money to rent a storage locker and just put everything in there so that I could go through it more slowly.

1935 Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

I managed to go through the donation pile a little before it was all taken away and I thank goodness that I did. While I admit that most of it was probably not worth keeping, I did find two Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks (I think all of us have our own copy of this cookbook). One was published in 1935 and the other in the 1950's. I kept the one from 1935 and my cousin's 12 year old daughter kept the other one because she loves to cook.

The 1935 version is too old to have been purchased new by my grandmother (she was born in 1933), so I like to think that it was her mother's and she kept it as her own when she started her own family. On the other hand, it could have been purchased by her years later at a yard sale for she was an avid "yard-saler." The sentimental side of me likes to think it's the former. Regardless, there are handwritten recipes included in this 1935 version that I believe are hers (I compared the handwriting to some samples I have of hers).

The first page of the cookbook. Notice the handwritten recipes on the side.

Unfortunately, I do not know if she made these recipes up or if she copied them from somewhere  else, but I will be posting them here.

I will start with a short recipe that was found on the Table of Contents card at the front of the book (see above picture). I will transcribe the handwriting to the best of my ability.

Rolls ~ 3 pans

2 qt Milk, scalded and cooled

1/2 lb yeast

1 cup sugar

2 hands full salt

1 cup shortening

Unfortunately, there are no cooking instructions to go along with this, just ingredients. I'm sure she knew how long to cook it and probably didn't feel the need to write it down for herself. She probably would have thought me silly for posting her recipes on the internet anyway.


© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011