Memory Lane Monday - Comfort Food...

Welcome to Memory Lane Monday for August. It's always so much fun choosing a favorite story to share. I originally planned a "Back to School" memory for you, but I was unable to locate the specific old photo I wanted to complete the post. I'm going to save that story for next month, and will spend the time between now and then tracking down that missing image!

In it's place, I've chosen a "Homemaking/Cooking" them instead. Mum taught me how to crack eggs and prepare them when I was about eight years old, so I've been a bona fide cook ever since. Nothing makes me happier than making meals for my family and watching them enjoy the fruits of my labor as they enjoy each others company.

Handsome's mother was a consummate hostess, entertaining guests, caring for her family and filling their home with the fragrances of delicious meals. In addition to a few of her favorite cookbooks, I consider myself fortunate to have her copy of the Sunset Hostess Handbook.

By the way, if you're interested in obtaining your own copy of this handbook, I found them available at eBay, etsy and even Amazon.com. Just do a Google search under "Sunset Hostess Handbook". 

It was written in 1936 (there's also a 1937 edition) and is full of tips, black and white images and recipes for being a good homemaker. There are helpful articles about hosting a dinner party, planning a special meal or features like The Kitchen Cabinet with recipes for delicious dishes.

I think my favorite thing about turning the pages in this book is finding a little check mark or notation in the margin where Evelyn showed which recipes she made and liked. On this particular page, she made the Cranberry Salad Mold, and left a check mark as her note.

I do the same thing with the recipes I try. I like to leave a comment in the margin to say what I did or didn't like, what I might change, and the date that I made it the first time. I always make it exactly as the recipe instructs the first time. I improvise from there, unless I'm making it with notes provided by a previous cook. In that case, I follow their recommendations.

I'd like to think that my daughters-in-law (or whoever ends up with any of my cookbooks) will enjoy turning the pages for the same reason. It seems to me to be another way to share an interest across time. I hope Evelyn is smiling down on me as I prepare the same dishes that she did, and as I aspire to create a happy home for our family.

Do you have the same rapport with your family cookbooks and guides? Perhaps some day, our grandchildren will turn the pages of Grandpa's bread cookbook and read his handwritten notes as he perfected his favorite Seven Grain Bread. Or they'll find the full dinner menu in my hardcover annual collection from Gourmet magazine that has become our Christmas meal for the past twenty plus years and want to make it for their families.

So many of us create family memories over meals. I hope that our family can continue the tradition of making those special dishes...as they add their own favorites to hand down. I think that's the true meaning of "comfort food". Don't you?

Thanks for joining me for this month's memory. I hope you'll share a memory on your blog (Don't forget to link back here!) or visit the other contributors (below) to read their stories, too! Bloggers will have until September 4th to add their link to Memory Lane Monday.