Sunday, March 23, 2008

Idling through Memory Lane with recipes

After a frantic search for my sister's recipe for chocolate cake I found it tucked in one of my recipe note books and I made the cake. It is delicious. As I flipped pages, picked up loose recipes showering down on the floor I almost lost heart but soldiered on until Edna's recipe turned up. It's on a 5x3 card, covered in ancient chocolate stains but readable.

I found recipes with names and dates on them. The past lives on. "Goulash Soup from my daughter-in-law, Alana, Cold Lake, Alberta. 1987, Chicken Huntingdon, Bonnie Bean, Toronto, November 1987, Baked Chicken with Mustard, Mary Gray, Victoria, 1990. Potatoes Romanoff from my cousin Gladys, who has since died of breast cancer. Welsh Cakes, Joan Moody, Victoria,1989. Oven BBQ'd Chicken, Chris Morton, Toronto, 1985, died of breast cancer. Baked Herbed Chicken, Helen Goodchild, July, 200. Balsamic Vinaigrette, my daughter, Lesley, March 1998. And many more.

My ancient copy of The Joy of Cooking is bound together with tape. The pages most used, once upon a time, are splattered with this and that - the recipes are for cakes and cookies much loved by our two children. I refer to The Joy often. Not for cakes and cookies but for its classic recipes. And what does this have to do with writing and me as an author intent on selling my books? Nothing really. I was enchanted with coming across so many old friends and remember with an aching sadness those who are no longer here. Thanks for the recipes, Gladys, Chris and Lesley.

I'm posting the cover for my next release, Ring Around The Moon. Order it from Cerridwen Press on April 8. It's a time travel with a difference. Visit my web site for information about my other books from Cerridwen Press. A Very Difficult Man, Isabelle's Diary and Isabelle's Story.

P.S. If you want my sister's chocolate cake recipe, leave a comment on my blog and you shall have it

Anita

www.anitabirt.com

8 comments:

Anny Cook said...

I would love it! I too have a ton of recipes collected through the years. Have a blessed Easter!

Anita Birt said...

Thanks, Anny. I will e-mail the recipe to you this week. Hmmm! Where did I put it?

Unknown said...

So you found the recipe I gave you Anita! The big question is, 'have you tried it yet?'.

I too have thumbed through old recipe books and files only to find many recipies I had forgotten and sad to say, many friends who have been forgotten. Good opportunity to become reacquainted with both!

Helen

Anita Birt said...

Helen, I have two recipes of yours and will resurrect them up for you to ponder.

Unknown said...

Hi. In fact it's Martin posting not Lan. I enjoyed your notes on recipe hunting. I can picture the chocolate cake card clearly...and The Joy of Cooking.

Juniper said...

Hi Auntie Nita.
I have a lot of Grandma's recipes and would love to have her chocolate cake recipe too! I treasure her recipes, stains, splotches and all!

Jennifer xo

Joan Smith said...

Anita, I loved this recipe blog. A couple of years ago, I did a major clean up and filing of some of my recipes so I could find things in a timely fashion but I kept all the recipes on their original snipets of paper complete with stains. One of my favourites was handwritten by our son when he was 8 years old. It's a heartwarming binder to open each and every time even if you don't want to bake!

Theatre Passe Muraille said...

I would LOVE Auntie Leslie's vinegrette please!!

I'm horrible at salad dressings... and YOU caeser please!

Love
Taylor/james/bunny