A Cookbook Comes Home to Tennessee

An unassuming treasure

I am a recipe rescuer. I love finding a personal recipe collection that someone poured themselves into over many years, with the same enthusiasm that I myself have been known to exhibit. This is why I have to tell you about this amazing cookbook that I came across when my husband and I went on a weekend excursion to the mountains of North Carolina.
We are both avid antiquers, (how do you think I find those old recipes?), and we were determined to search every antiques shop that we came across, hunting for old tools, which are my husband's personal passion.
 I had been wandering aimlessly through the place and nothing had captured my interest thus far. I
had about decided that there was nothing for me in this shop, when I noticed, down on the floor, a photo album almost shoved up under a chair. It was hiding there, unnoticed. and I almost missed it. When I opened it up, I fell instantly in love and knew I would have to take it home with me.
As it so happened, the lady who owned the booth was in the shop and noticed that I was pouring over the pages. She came forward and told me that the cookbook had come from a woman she had known in Memphis,Tennessee. The cookbook had been part of an estate sale when the old lady had died. This story resonated with me for a few reasons: First, I am always saddened by the thought that the children didn't want their mother's recipes.Second, these were recipes from the year I was married. I really loved seeing recipes that were compiled during those early years of my marriage. I was in love with this cookbook.  Third, I feel that personal cookbooks should be kept in the area where they originated, and here, this one had crossed state lines. I felt that it was my duty to return it to it's home. Now, it is in my collection here in Tennessee.

I know it must seem silly that I put such emotion into something which seems so antiquated in these times of Internet clouds and Pinterest recipes, but I feel that these old lost notebooks and recipe card boxes filled with some one's personal likes and tastes, is akin to sitting with them and chatting over a cup of coffee. Women used to share recipes with one another. It was personal. It was an act of friendship . It was a pastime that rarely happens in our great technological age, where people are becoming less social.
This particular cookbook was made from a photo album, with the recipes tucked neatly between the tacky background and the plastic page protector. It was a great idea. Why not follow this example and start a new personal cookbook for yourself. I'm putting it on my to-do list.