“A collection of good recipes, it seems to me, is mighty like a collection of good silver: the longer you use it, the more you cherish it, and the more valuable it becomes.”
– My Grandmother, Jean Hansen
(Inscription from the inside cover of my mother’s original family cookbook.)
Family Cookbook History
From the original handwritten recipes and magazine clippings to the internet.
In Loving Memory of Marie Skov
“The Fair Lady,” Chair of the Santa Cruz County Fair Home Arts Department for 51 years and an adopted Grandmother to many of us.
Contributors
From great-great grandmothers to friends and coworkers. Thanks to everyone who shared their recipes.
“What does cooking mean? It means the knowledge of Meda, and Circe, and of Calypso, and of Helen, and of Rebekah, and of the Queen of Sheba; it means the knowledge of all herbs, and fruits, and balms, and spices, and of all that is healing and sweet in fields and groves, and savory in meats; it means carefulness, and inventiveness, and watchfulness, and willingness, and readiness of appliance; it means the economy of your great grandmothers, and the science of modern chemists; it means much tasting and no wasting; it means English thoroughness, French art, and Arabian hospitality.” – Ruskin
And for those who get discouraged when things don’t turn out quite right the first time, consider these words of wisdom from Julia Child:
“I would far prefer to have things happen as they naturally do, such as the mousse refusing to leave the mold, the potatoes sticking to the skillet, the apple Charlotte slowly collapsing. One of the secrets of cooking is to learn to correct something if you can, and bear with it if you cannot.”