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.
