These Family Recipes Are Preserving Family History Through Food

By Jan Hasselman Bosman
Published on June 10, 2009
article image
Flickr/vhines200

Family recipes passed down through generations hold history on cards or scraps of paper.

Recipes, recipes, recipes! They’re everywhere – in daily newspapers, on cereal boxes or postcards from realtors; and, of course, in the many magazines placed to grab our attention at supermarkets. Why, there are even a few in this one. But the best recipes, the ones that tell their own stories and define our pasts, are those heirloom recipes, handwritten or oral, that have been passed down from our ancestors, relatives or friends.

So what do those family recipes tell us?

Some, like the Slumgullion my mother used to make when I was a child living on a 120-acre farm, speak about our beginnings. The dictionary calls Slumgullion a watery meat stew; but I remember the dish as a filling meal for four or more, prepared when time was in short supply. Today, when I prepare Slumgullion, I picture my mother standing near the cookstove, browning the meat in a cast-iron skillet, or, 20 minutes later, our family sitting down together for supper at an oilcloth-covered table. This memory suggests time together and healthful fresh food.

Family Recipe Cards

Preserving Family History Through Food

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