52 Weeks of Sharing Memories: A Genealogy Journal - Cooking

This is Week 3 of our second set of 52 weeks of topics for readers (and me!) to start a genealogy journal. Please join us for Sharing Memories - A Genealogy Journey by Lorine MasseyOver the years I've learned that keeping a journal is not always easy. Yet it's important for future generations. If we want to preserve the past, our own memories will one day be as valuable as those of our great-grandmothers. Our descendants will be thrilled to find a journal chronicling our lives and the lives of our parents and grand-parents.

This weeks' topic is Cooking. I have very strong memories of my mom's cooking. No doubt most of you do too, some may even remember grandma's cooking. I thought it would be fun to share those memories. 

* What was your favourite food that your mom cooked?

* Do you remember the smells in the kitchen?

* Have you copied your mom or grandmother's recipes to save them?

* Did you ever get to eat your Grandmother's food? 


I'm not sure if I had any favorite foods that my mother cooked.  She was a pretty good cook.  I do remember that when we had meatloaf, mom always made two of them.  One with onions and one without!  With nine kids in the family, we undoubtedly needed two anyway.  Another thing we had frequently was "mock chicken legs".  This was cubes of meat, placed on wood skewers, dipped in seasoned flour and browned in a skillet.  The meat was specifically ordered from the butcher and came with the skewers.   The only thing I can remember not liking were the parsnips served every Thanksgiving, and only at Thanksgiving.  I remember the smells of onion sauteing, and bacon frying.  Who can forget the smell of fresh coffee perking?


Recently I attempted to re-create my grandmother Bockie's version of Lapscus, a Norwegian stew.  I think I was successful since it tasted like I remembered.  Bockie also made a wicked cherry pie after we pitted the cherries from the tree in the backyard.  When I was in Boarding School, we were served a dessert called Prune Whip.  None of the girls would touch it even when the nuns said we would sit there until we ate it.  I didn't mind because that was another of the dishes my grandmother had made for us.


The Swiss Steak and Porcupine Meatballs that I have taught my granddaughters are meals I had as a child.  The Sunday dinner that my grandchildren eat is the same one their mother ate while she was growing up.


When I got married, I received several of my mother's recipe books.  They were about 9 x 12 and paper covered.  I think is was a series by Betty Crocker in the 1940s.  Lots of good recipes there.