an open cupboard

I recently stumbled upon a flickr page displaying scanned photographs of a recipe collection. A user named phil_g painstakingly scanned and uploaded his mother’s collection of recipe cards, 242 photos in total. The recipes aren’t particularly innovative, or unique, some are downright boring to the modern eater. But that’s sort of the point, isn’t it?

Flipping through recipes for Victory Icing, Chinese Chicken Wings, Tofu loaf, the recipes seem to chronicle the times in which they were written. I’m guessing the Victory Icing, which calls for no butter or margarine, was written during World War II, when homemakers were urged to take their fat cans to the grocer to help the war effort (fats were needed to manufacture munitions). Tofu loaf sounds like a mother’s foray into the healthy cooking fad that became popular in the 70’s. And Chinese Chicken Wings, well, can’t you just see that in a copy of Sunset magazine–”Spice up your chicken dinners with exotic Chinese Chicken Wings!”?

The recipes are also a personal history. Each one is carefully written, typed, or pasted from a newspaper. When copied from a friend or neighbor, the original author is always credited (a loyal and honest recipe keeper). Many of the recipes are stained, attesting to frequent use in the kitchen. A recipe for communion bread indicates involvement in church and community. A number of recipes contain no wheat flour (was one child allergic?), and recipes for cake and cookies abound. The recipe that started the collection is also the first prepared by the cook in her youth, a recipe for Bonnie Doon Oaties. The card is marked Joyce Viele, her maiden name. This is the first of many recipes that Joyce “made by herself,” says phil_g.

The recipe collection is a picture of Joyce, meticulous collector of recipes, loyal to friends and neighbors, industrious, quietly proud of her cooking, an attentive mother. You can almost smell the cinnamon drops that may well have been a doting after-school snack. You can almost see the whimsical green grasshopper pie that may have been one child’s favorite birthday treat.

The beauty of this recipe collection is its effect on the viewer. I am nostalgic for someone else’s childhood, for another family’s food history. And I’d really like to meet Joyce.

Stopping by Whole Foods on a Rainy Evening
with apologies to Robert Frost

Whose foods these are I think I know
They live in a distant village though;
They will not see me shopping here
To watch the registers fill up with dough.
These far off folks must think it queer,
To shop for produce priced so dear,
Between Nob Hill and windy bay
The fanciest food store over here.
I wonder if they’re on the take,
Ten bucks a pound must be a mistake.
Filling my bag, grumbling discontent,
I hope the poor farmers can pay their rent.
Whole Foods is lovely, though, not cheap,
But I have standards I must keep.
And brie to eat before I sleep,
And brie to eat before I sleep.