Heritage on a Plate

In honor of Passover and Easter, two holidays we celebrate with traditional foods, I wanted to encourage you to preserve what is often a most treasured and nostalgic possession: family recipes.

This month, as you gather around a holiday table or just the dinner table, make a list of the foods that represent family to you. Perhaps it’s Aunt Sadie’s kugel, Nonna’s tomato sauce, or maybe the bootleg blueberry wine that a widow once made to support her family during Prohibition (and that is a true story!).

Here are some tips for preserving those beloved recipes:

• Write down the complete recipe, especially if it only resides in the memory of the person who makes it.
• If the recipe is already written down, scan it and type the instructions so others can easily follow it. Print both versions of the recipe and share with family and friends.
• Gather recipe stories from family members, including the recipe’s source, variations and mishaps: “Remember the time Uncle Kevin used salt instead of sugar in the apple pie!”
• For an especially beloved recipe card—perhaps in your grandmother’s handwriting, dog-eared, and discolored from decades of use—you can frame it to hang in your kitchen. You can also give a framed copy as gift to family members. (Here’s a tutorial.)

Story Trust can help you preserve your family’s culinary heritage. Give us a call (617-755-3283) and together we can cook up something that you and your family will treasure for generations.