Many of you may know that I love cooking. For me, food is a way of caring for and nurturing those around you. Feeding them equals loving them and I subscribe to the Ayurvedic principle that your frame of mind whilst cooking is imbued in the food itself and is shared. (And of course, drinking a glass of wine when cooking helps that immensely.) I think a lot of this attitude came from my grandmother, mentioned on this blog here and here, who would ask you if you would like her to make you something to eat the minute you came through the door. (Also, pretty sure the wine-drinking propensity came from her too!)
I remember eating steamed cabbage leaves with her in the kitchen as she made cabbage rolls. I remember setting the table for dinner every night and learning where the forks, knives and spoons go. I remember her making a coffee ring for Easter and dotting it with jelly beans. But mostly I remember the care with which she cooked for her family and the joy she found in their accepting her gift.
All that is the preface to the book below, my first cook book that I ever had. I was thrilled to see it on Modern Kiddo this week. I still remember making the scrambled eggs recipe for my mom on her birthday to surprise her while she slept. There is some kind of magic in kids trying to cook for their parents, a kind of bittersweet situation where you appreciate the genuiune effort but the big surprise is the mess in the kitchen that you, dear mother, often have to clean up. Nonetheless, it’s a tradition that I love seeing handed down and I love the responsibility that kids take on to care for themselves and others.
(Via Modern Kiddo)
This is the cutest little kiddo cook book ever. Easy peasy recipes and the BEST little spot illustrations throughout. I mean, two words: harlequin pants. OH YEAH.
Aren’t they amazing?? Uh oh….here she is again!
So amazing!I love cook books, don’t you??
Compiled by Margie Blake. Carnation Company. 1955. Reprinted in 1964. And then 1978. And even the 80s. Who can blame ‘em!
To see the more from the Vintage Bookshelf Collections, go here!
Love the illustrations, but it makes me wonder. Were those nose-less “angels” from our childhood books the origin of all the sweet 16, North Shore nose jobs? Because little harlequin girl is awfully cute, but she’s got no nose!
Seriously, right? However, I have noticed a handful of kids dolls/cartoon people without noses! Not sure what that’s all about. Weird.
What a wonderful piece you wrote today! It was so great seeing your childhood cookbook again. Do you still have it? Nanee would love this blog that you’re writing and I just know that she’d sit down every evening (with a toddy in her hand) and would read your daily pieces over and over and with so much pride! Plus she would love all the work you’ve done on your home. A flood of very fond memories each time I see what you’ve accomplished and just how much it looks like Nanee and Pape’s home! You’re awesome! Love you, mom
So cool! I still remember my first too…a Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook. I loved having that red and white checked book like my mom’s. Are the girls learning to cook?