Monday, December 9, 2013

The Recipe Box

Few things are as personal and sentimental as a grandmothers recipe box. They may be becoming a thing of the past in fact. What do you think? It seems like everything is becoming digitized and Pinterested.

Boxes full of timeworn old recipe cards are the diary of the kitchen life of a woman. And I can't imagine how this lovely old white wooden box full of handwritten recipe cards and clippings from 1930's Good Housekeeping magazines ended up on the back of a dusty shelf at the Antique Mall. But there it was. When I spotted it I hoped so badly to find old recipes inside...and I did! Lots! And mostly pie, cake, icing and pudding recipes. That's the fun stuff! There was even a little black and white photo of two pretty young ladies hidden in the back, behind the "puddings" section. And so, in my own mind, I was able to put a face to this old box and feel the history of it.

I was delighted to find it, but when I turned to show my mom we discussed how it was sad too. Sad that this "diary" didn't end up in the hands of a descendant who would cherish it.

Of course this made me fall in love with it that much more. I had to adopt it and honor it with a blog post. 

So here's to you, mystery Grandma...








Here's to you and your best childhood friend, or maybe you were sisters...











I bet you made your man very happy with your home cookin'...
Or maybe you indulged a bit too much in your own sweet creations, and needed a reminder of the girlish figure you had way back when...



Whatever your story is...

You now have a home with my family. With MY recipes...♥


Linsey















12 comments:

Unknown said...

What a beauty. . . it is sad that it didn't end up in a loved ones cupboard. I agree, times are changing and things like recipe boxes may go by the way side. I'm lucky enough to be blessed with both of my Grammas recipe boxes, both are red and full of handwritten recipes. . .

I'm a young (50) Gramma of 7 and I am determined to keep the past alive, I've already started describing some of my treasures. It makes me laugh tho, because I can hear them saying *my Gramma had one of these old . . . * as true as that may be, it makes me seem older than I am.

Please stop by my blog . . . I'll be adding Christmas pics this week. Real*simple*style at
7grands.blogspot.com
Merry Christmas ~ d

Debra@CommonGround said...

it is sad, I have no idea where my grandmothers' recipe boxes went, but I'd love to have had them. Like you said, I think that may be a thing of the past. weren't they just adorable?

Anonymous said...

Oh, I'm so glad this came home with you. At least the recipe box ended up in hands that value it. What a lovely homage you've made here with this sweet vignette.

Melanie said...

Glad that this treasure now has a home with you! Enjoyed this post very, very much!!

Lisa~A Cottage To Me said...

What a darling post! I often see recipe boxes while antiquing or thrifting, but never with recipes inside. I agree, how sad someone in the family doesn't have them to cherish. I'm not sure what happened to my Mom's recipes, I have 3 older sister's hopefully one of them have them. My MIL's recipe box is still in her cupboard, she passed away 2 yrs ago. We have 3 daughter's, hopefully I can make sure one of them gets her recipe box to cherish. But, which one, they all are becoming great cooks! I love how you have it displayed on your counter!

Sherry at The Rusty Pearl said...

I have recipes in a drawer. I need to put them in a box just incase my kids may love them someday . Thanks for this lovely reminder of a personal treasure box !!

Tina@WhatWeKeep said...

I love this post, Linsey. We just acquired my husband's grandmother's wooden recipe box. We found a picture of him in first grade inside. She passed away 25 years ago, so this is a real treat. I'm so glad you brought this one home. It's up to us to preserve these things for as long as we can. I'm not willing to let go of tangible links to our past yet. :)

lynne said...

I love that you found this and intend to honor that grandmother's hard work. Those recipes will taste even better because of the history behind them!

Wonderful find!

Anonymous said...

So sweet that the picture was tucked in the back!! You really found a treasure...I'll be checking the back of shelves better when I'm out "thrifting"! Or "junkin" as my Granny called it!

Adina said...

Linsey what a great treasure. I love how it looks with you wonderful scale and cutting boards.
Adina @ Simply Country Life

{northern cottage} said...

ohhhh mystery grandma - how completely lovely! wonderful to pay attention to these stunning old beauties (the stuff not the ladies!) ha!

♥ NORTHERN COTTAGE {http://www.NorthernCottage.net}

Glenda said...

Just stumbled upon your blog for the first time today. You can be certain that I will bookmark "you" because this post absolutely made my day.

Beautiful pics and sentiment.

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