My Collection

When I was seven years old, I won a prize at a birthday party that changed my life. The prize? The Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book, Third Edition, Second Printing. Up until the day I received this book, I was clueless - but interested- about cooking. I had tried to make peanut butter by putting peanuts in the oven with only the pilot light burning (I wasn't allowed to actually turn on the oven). No, they didn't melt. I had also tried making whipped cream by stirring milk really, really fast with a fork. Again, No luck.

The moment this precious gem was in my hot little hands, I began reading it cover-to-cover. The penciled-in check marks next to favorite recipes are still visible in my book and the page of my most favorite recipe is warped from all the butter and sugar splashed on it in my frantic rush to get my Cinnamon Twists in the oven. To this day, my sister and I make the same Cinnamon Twists for our children and their friends (OK. And for ourselves, if you must know!). From the basic instructions and descriptions of common utensils at the front of the book, to the table setting suggestions and manners information at the end, this book makes me smile even now.

This one book spawned an entire Cookbook collection. My favorites are those from the 1950s, although many cookbooks from the 60s and 70s are also great sources of inspiration and fun for me. Just yesterday I indulged my hobby while I was at the thrift store. I bought two adorable vintage cookbooks. One is a privately-assembled cookbook from Chino. It was published in 1981, but the homespun cookbooks have the greatest recipes...as long as they were published no later than 1985. That is only my opinion, but it is true nonetheless. It even has recipes for pickles and marinated olives. The other cookbook is copyrighted in 1971 and includes some of the sweetest finishing instructions. Read this one included in a recipe for Chuck Steak in Papillote:

"Transfer steak, still in foil, to serving platter; open up foil, fold back edges, exposing carrots and steak... Nice served with broiled frozen french fries, succotash, and chocolate layer cake."

Doesn't that make you want to listen for your mom or grandma, calling you to supper? I'm not even sure exactly what succotash is and I want to have some with that steak! I have to be careful, because I can read a cookbook cover-to-cover and not get one other thing done. There is something so comforting about the idea of planning a meal around which your loved ones can gather and spend a relaxing time together.

I love cookbooks way more than I like cooking. The former endulges fantasy while the latter is often simply hum-drum reality. If I make any kind of steak, it is likely ground chuck on the grill, not Chuck Steak in Papillote. I might serve it with fries, though. Maybe a bag of salad, if I'm really making an effort. Dessert? You have GOT to be kidding! But, oh, the idea of putting on an apron and spending an afternoon composing a dinnertime feast is such a lovely, romantic notion, even if the reality is sometimes drive-thru at the nearest fast food place. If I can't make every dinner a beautiful time of special flavors and memories, reading these fun books reminds me that the effort to make it happen even once a week is something that needs to move higher on my priority list.

So, why do these books inspire and comfort me? I think it is because they bring me to a time in history where family really was a priority. When raising our children well was something everyone did, not because they consciously thought about it, but because it was the right thing to do. It was a time when kids still prayed in school and you likely went to church with your neighbors. If the neighbor kid misbehaved, they were corrected and sent home, only to be chastized by their mom, who recieved a phone call about Jr's behavior before he even made it across the street.

It was a time when we all were in this thing together.

Together. Unity of purpose. Maybe that's what I long for. Yes, I think it is.

Philippians 2:1-4

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

That unity includes unity in my home. I need to not only look to my own interestes, but also to the interests of my husband and my children. It is a sacrifice of love and a way to bless a precious microcosm of God's babies: my family.

Maybe I will make Chuck Steak in Papillote this week; or, at least, some Cinnamon Twists!