As requested, my Mother recently brought me the collection of Grandmother's loose recipes. A big box of 17 large envelopes and two grocery bags full. Thousands of them and completely random.
I had long ago decided this was my legacy from Grandmother. While I could have just pitched it, I knew that there were many fine treats hidden in that maze. My grandmother was a good cook and an excellent baker. She had at least a dozen "signature" recipes that she was known for. She was very good at evaluating recipes and avoiding duds.
While sorting through, I came across several of my grandmother's signature recipes that I thought were lost: Apple cake. Starlight Surprise Cookies. I made both of them and instantly remembered the tastes from a quarter century ago! Sheer bliss.
Probably some of you have inherited similar collections. For years, I've been overwhelmed at the thought of organizing that mess. After just over a month's work, I now have a filled bankers' box of kitchen-tested, useable recipes!
First, I divided the world into sweet and savory. While sorting, I found a lot of "food porn" that contained both on the same page (or on the back of a page). So I created two more super-categories, "holidays/entertaining" and "breads." Nearly all of the food porn belonged in holidays/entertaining.
Second, I divided the recipes into 16 traditional categories (meats, cakes, etc.) and establish a folder for each. I established one for "luscious desserts" that looked like things that I'd like to go through later. Finally, within each traditional category, I paperclipped 104 subcategories together: (chicken, chocolate cakes, no bake pies, etc.) At this point, I was able to weed out a lot of duplicates. (14 sets of instructions on how to roast a turkey!)
Now I get to make and share these wonderful treats! It's probably going to take years to establish a "best" recipe for everything, but now those recipes are a resource rather than a millstone! Unlike the Internet, these are all kitchen-tested.
Going through the otherwise-wonderful recipes from the 1940s onward, I noticed so many of the newspaper clippings and magazine articles preyed on women and their insecurities. So many were about pleasing a husband, getting finicky children to eat things, impressing hypothetical party guests, and similar nonsense. I admit to laughing, but my heroes are those who demystify the kitchen and put cooking in a positive light. Making a festive spread should be a gift, not an occasion to overwhelm snarky guests or smart-aleck husbands.
