One of our favorite gifts has been a mandolin that Chads Gradmother (Meemaw) gave to us not very long after we got married. It sat on a shelf as a decoration for a few years, cherished for its message of stability and usefulness, but not really used. Until we started growing potatoes (you knew I wouldn't be able to resist a potato reference). Once we started growing spuds and harvesting them of course we had to start cooking them. The best way to slice potatoes is on an old fashioned mandolin.
Im not sure how old our mandolin is, but I think Meemaw said it is from the 30's. We tried a new mandolin and it was ok but didnt have the sturdy feel and consistent slice time after time with out any adjustment that the old heirloom did.My husband wasn't excited about us using it at first - he though it would break or wear out, but after using the new plastic model (our old one is wood and steel of course) he decided that the old one had held up for this long and it took a beating that it could probably handle a few more slices. We now use it almost weekly to slice anything from potatoes for chips, scalloped, and grilled to cabbage for sauerkraut and slaws. It is awesome! Using it gives a glimpse into the past while we are standing in our fairly modern kitchen. It is a connection with our ancestors.
Now for the cook book. I know you were wondering what that ratty old book next to the mandolin was! A second and wonderful gift from the past! It is a handwritten cookbook that was also given to us by my husbands grandmother. It belonged to her mother and it is 84 single pages of handwritten recipes! They are so much fun and such a glimpse into the lives of our people! She did not abbreviate teaspoon and tablespoon but she did abbreviate cup. Meemaw said when she (Gramma Millie) was first married that was how people saved recipes - there were not many Betty Crocker cookbooks to be had then apparently! One recipe is for an "Orange 5 day cleanse" and there is a note written in and it says "(name we can't quite read) gave up after the first day"! There are also some recipes that were obviously written (as most were) before anyone knew the health disadvantages of Saccharin. There is a recipe for Saccharin cake! Other than the Saccharin it looks really good! Most of the recipes look delish. We cant wait to try some of them, like the "Dream Bars" (like a creamsicle it looks like), and a recipe for potato cake that looks like it might turn out like a brownie. Yum! And it uses potatoes - how would I not love that? There are also the little cut outs from the newspaper - I think that must be a family tradition that we cut stuff out of the newspaper and save it! Or maybe all families do that and keep the recipes forever!
This cookbook was well used. The front cover was gone and the back cover was no longer attached. Some of the pages were so worn that they are barely hanging on by the threads that bind the book - yes - it is bound with what appears to be yellowed dental type floss. No wax though. It is beautiful! I have an old fashioned copier and I was able to gently lay the book page by page and copy it. My plan is to turn it into newly bound cookbooks and put covers on them as gifts for the family girls! I haven't designed the covers yet but am mulling that over and Im excited to see the reactions I get when they realize what they have in their hands. The original is tucked safely away now in my cedar chest to be gently brought out and perused on special occasions and when I need to feel that ancestral connection. I hope that you too have an ancestral connection like these to use and remember your people. Look around your space - Ill bet you do.
Blessed (and connected) Be!
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