#52Ancestors, Week 49: Family Recipe

I can't think of any particular family recipe, unless it's the cheesy potato casserole that we whip out for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and any random potlucks in between.  It's a completely unhealthy concoction of cubed potatoes, sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, onions, butter, and shredded cheddar covered in a crust of buttery corn flakes.  As someone who lacks culinary talent, it's one of the few recipes I've perfected.

I'm not here to talk about hardening arteries, though. This week's prompt made me think of all those old recipe books from churches, schools, family reunions, etc. - recipe books printed on colored paper, spiral bound, and littered with amusing typos and accidental ingredient omissions.  The recipes have titles like 'Aunt Lottie's Famous Jello Mold' or 'Lazy Day Soup.'  They aren't necessarily culinary masterpieces, but they are tried and true comfort foods.  I have one in our pile of cookbooks, and I pulled it out today.

I don't know where this Oak School is.  The book was published before I was born, but not by much, so this isn't a school that my parents attended.  I flipped through the recipes, but none of the submitters' names rang a bell.  Maybe it's something I happened to pick up at a garage sale.  It doesn't really matter.  I suspect the contents are more or less the same from one book to the next.  What makes them unique are the personal touches, like this page:

Just a few gentle reminders to be thankful for the food on your table and the people in your life

I hope these types of recipe books make a comeback.  Yes, I know we can find everything we need on the internet, but sometimes nothing can top opening one of these collections, stained with the ingredients of countless recipes, and finding that 'Cousin Bob's Meatloaf' is exactly what you've been craving.  When we took my daughter for her picture with Santa at the bank last weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to be handed one of these.

It's a little bit fancier than the photocopied books of yore, but its intent is the same.  Here, people from my little community have shared their treasured recipes - crockpot meals, casseroles to make for those who are grieving, desserts for the Christmas table, and everything in between.  My husband says maybe he'll contribute when they take submissions for the 10th anniversary printing.  :)