Baking and Ancestors

Photo by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash

This week my uncle dropped off a treasure trove of old documents, letters and notebooks that had been in my grandparents’ home.  Like many of us, they are busy sorting and sharing information with family.  Written within the notebooks were several recipes from my great-grandmother.  Let's look at how we can use these old recipes to add to our family history.

​Many of you may have copies of old recipes from your mother or grandmother that you use often.  Other recipes you may not have seen before.  Or still others are a product of their time and probably not as tasty to our 21st century palettes. Seeing the handwriting of my great-grandmother and the basic cookie recipes make me want to preserve them and share them and make them.  So how to get started.

1. Carefully scan the entire notebook. Even if the recipes are only on four pages, it is a great idea to keep the context of the notebook intact because it might have the year, or the owner of the notebook referenced.  That way you can refer to the scan instead of the original, keeping the original safe. 
2. Once you have copies of the recipes, determine what you are going to do with the recipes…share them with family, publish them, transcribe them, make them…or all of the above.
3. One of the joys of reading old papers is the handwriting.  To me, it feels like you can hear the person speaking.  I plan to create a book using an online publisher of photobooks.  I plan to use a copy of the original recipe plus a transcribed copy.  It might be useful to include some suggestions if the ingredients are no longer available or the baking temperature and time is not included…which it often is not.  Ladies sharing recipes with each other assumed you knew how to bake!
4. Not just for the ladies!  Not every recipe was handed down by the women of the family.  I have found recipes for making beer and for making sausage.  Often the recipe was shared down the generations—butchering and sausage making was often a multigenerational endeavor.
5. Try out the recipes.  Perhaps Grandma’s Molasses cookies will become a holiday favorite this year.  It might be the perfect thing with everyone doing more baking in 2020.

 
In addition to my suggestions, here are a few sites that may pique your interest.
https://coolgirlgenealogy.com/category/baking-with-my-ancestors/
https://www.cyndislist.com/recipes/
https://ancestralfindings.com/uncommon-genealogy-research-items-old-recipes/
https://www.familytreemagazine.com/premium/create-a-family-cookbook/
https://flip-pal.com/week-43/
https://rootedinfoods.com/
 
Here are a couple of recipes from one of the notebooks.  I make no guarantees on how they’ll taste as I have not had time to do any test baking!  Hopefully, they are good!

Author's great-grandmother's cookie recipes

So, how does all this tie into our family history research and stories?  Food is central to family gatherings…holidays, birthdays, snacks after school. Perhaps there is a note in your Grandma’s obituary about her love of feeding people or making the best caramel rolls. Or you remember your Mom saying that they always had sugar cookies at her Grandma’s at Christmas.  Or you remember how Grandma always made a New Year’s cake which was more like a coffee cake. These stories, like the smell of fresh baked bread, bring back memories and help us create a fuller picture of our ancestors’ lives.  I can smell those molasses cookies already.  Enjoy!
 
Baking may be regarded as a science, but it's the chemistry between the ingredients and the cook that gives desserts life. Baking is done out of love, to share with family and friends, to see them smile. 
--Anna Olson

Read more: https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/baking-quotes/#ixzz6bM6fWFjY
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