I spent about an hour in bed rifling through it, alternating laughing and shedding tears. The recipes contained therein were all kinds of things, mostly handwritten but some typed by me, the earliest about age 10 and the latest about age 40 by which time I had given up on keeping recipes this way. Some were things salvaged from my mom's recipe box for sentimental reasons. It was startling to see her handwriting again.
A bazilliion thoughts as I examined who I used to be via this relic of my life:
The tabs separating the recipes were pre-printed commercially for purpose--you'd buy a set when you bought your initial stack of 3x5 cards. I was amused to see that where some sections are bulging with ideas, like Poultry and my own custom addition of Mexican Food, the one called 'Sandwiches and Snacks' was empty (I haven't changed) and 'Candies' only contained a card handwritten by my beloved grandmother, which she titled Grandma Praline. Not Grandma's, just Grandma. So cute, and so HER, I laughed out loud. I will never make it, but I'll treasure this one always.
The most recent recipe is a gem I was happy to see. I made it only once, back in the 80's, for an al fresco champagne pot-luck brunch we were invited to in Long Beach. It was the best dish at that brunch. My card fails to note where I found the recipe and it was naively just called 'Breakfast Casserole', but it's in fact what we'd now recognize as a bread pudding: sour dough bread, crumbled cooked sausage, roasted green chiles, a custard and cheese. I would kill for a plate of that right now.
My jaw dropped on finding a recipe for Grandma's green Jello Salad, which was on our Thanksgiving table every year in my childhood. It's my mother's handwriting, but scribbled badly during her descent into the madness of addiction when she could hardly hold a pencil straight. Sigh.
Many I'm flummoxed to explain that were handwritten by me so no one else to blame, like the Mauna Kea Salad Surprise which combined pineapple, cherry tomatoes and avocados in a red wine vinegar and garlic dressing. One was required to serve this in a hollowed-out fresh half pineapple shell, which might have been the draw. Obviously I thought it a great idea at the time, but: really?
Another like that: Avocado Dressing copied from the LA Times Sunday Home magazine. In a blender you combine: 1 c white vinegar, pickling spice, lime juice, one avccado, mustard, salt, MSG, white pepper, worcestershire sauce, garlic sauce, oil and last but not least 4 eggs. FOUR?
Here's a silly one: Chicken Piquant. I do not recognize the writing so it must have been given to me, most likely after enjoying it at someone's home. 12 chicken breasts are marinated, covered and baked for an hour and a half at 375 ("low and slow" had not been invented yet, apparently) in a mixture of rose wine, soy sauce and oil. The seasoning for all that was a mere 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp ginger, and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar! Fear of over-seasoning was rampant in those days.
An interesting juxtaposition are two Tamale Pie recipes. The first, typed by mom and titled "Mama's Tamale Pie", sandwiches 1 lb ground beef, 1 onion and a large can of tomatoes between two layers of cornmeal "mush". There's no seasoning but "olives may be added if desired". Yes, please God, add the olives--this needs help. The second is from Betty, who was technically my stepmother since Dad married her after mom passed but who I never thought of in the context of motherhood. It's a classic dump recipe, in which cans of salsa, hominy, chile con carne and Ranch beans are simmered with ground beef and cut-up canned tamales (Gebhardts brand specified). Sounds ghastly and from the nutritional standpoint that's not wrong, but I remember this well and it's actually pretty dang tasty. My brother still makes it, as Betty did, for game days with an array of optional toppers like cheddar and chopped onions.
I was amused by the many references to things that probably no longer exist. Written by my mother, "My Meat Curry" calls for leftover cooked beef, Kitchen Bouquet fake gravy flavoring and "Nepal Pepper to taste". What is Nepal pepper? I do not remember ever eating this dish and probably never did--as a kid I detested well-done beef, stews and the like. On the other hand it might have been how I learned to detest Kitchen Bouquet. Another recipe for a mushroom relish requires a cup of "oriental mushrooms" (I shudder at that description and so should you) and those tiny 2-ounce jars of chopped pimientos that were a popular garnish in the 50's and 60's. When I was growing up, almost no Sunday picnic potato salad was made without them.
And then there are some things that are actually fairly sophisticated, or at least for things that can fit on both sides of a 3.5 card, that I would love today, like baked/meatless/cheese-stuffed eggplant rollatinis with a relatively decent multi-veg sauce.
There are a lot of recipes for cakes, but again--if you know me--you will not be surprised that most are unfrosted and more in the lane of coffee cakes. Then, as now, I pretty much loved anything that came in a bundt pan. I saved recipes for a zucchini cake, a pumpkin cake, and a strange thing called a 7-Up Cake. Also saved was a banana-sour cream cake that calls for a dry pecan frosting mix that is surely no longer in production. But I remember it was really good--a favorite take-to-the-office recipe back in the days we all did that.
There are other curiosities like a tightly folded up page ripped out of the aforementioned LA Times Magazine in 1989 with the handwritten note: "Must do this!" From an article on Spring Entertaining, this was an "East/West Tea Party". Two hostesses with Japanese last names provided: lemon squares, scones, shortbread hearts, cactus (nopales) salad, a mixture of tequila-marinated fruits and raw vegetables, grilled chicken skewers, tea sandwiches, smoked salmon, sushi, chawan mushi and tea cakes. For the record, I no longer think this is a good idea.
I could go on but no doubt you've seen enough. I don't know if this has made my day or ruined it, but I just had to share.
