Years ago, my older cousin gave me our grandmother’s (Oma) recipe box. It’s nothing fancy, just a plain wooden box. It’s contents are primarily recipes either from family or friends and maybe one or two that were from my Oma. From what I can gather, there must have been a movement back in the 1960’s amongst the women within my Oma’s circle of family & friends. The movement appears to share a favorite recipe or technique for serving up delicious eats. And I say this because several of the cards are dated to that decade.
This past week I set out to scan into digital format all of the recipes that were in Oma’s wooden box. As I was scanning, I would read over the ingredients and methods required. Wow! They were very interesting to read through! Some of the recipes call for ingredients that are no longer produced such as Spry vegetable shortening.
One recipe was titled “Shrimp Mold”. Literally, it’s shrimp in lemon jello – molded into a ring. Oma had it filed under Salads. I sure hope she never made this! It does not sound appetizing.
My Oma’s kitchen was small compared to modern day standards. There was zero counter space except the cabinet that held the kitchen sink and generally that is where the dish strainer sat. But Oma had a beautiful old oak table that she used to knead dough, shred potatoes, chop meat or mix up a batch of cookies.
Frankly, I miss my Oma. There was never a doubt that she loved her family, especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She passed away in 1984, when I was age 13 so I did not appreciate her cooking like I would now. When we are younger, we tend to enjoy the moment and don’t think about a time that a loved one may no longer be with us. However, we can cherish the stories and the memories and pass those onto the next generation. They live on but in a very different way.
Although I will have an occasional post about food, this isn’t another food Blog. It’s my way of reliving cherished family recipes and mealtime traditions and sharing that experience here. I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!