This is the first thing I have written since May when I started my summer vacation. It is also the last thing that I will be posting on my blog Plate Full of Memories. I enjoyed writing about food and the great memories that come with the foods of our heritage for that last five years.

I spent the day canning. I put up three quarts of homemade tomato soup, three bottles of green tomato pickles and three bottles of cucumber pickles. While putting the juice on the pickles for canning I thought of Omi and Opi’s pickles. They always had a large jar of pickles in their back bedroom fridgerator but I don’t think they were dill but I remember seeing some dill and mustard seeds in the jar. Growing up I never would of have thought to ask for the pickle recipes.  For the life of me I can not remember if I liked them or not. I know that I ate them but I can not describe the flavor to you.  I just know they were always there.

We used to go there almost every Saturday afternoon. The first thing I would do was go into the bedroom and grab a small Coke from that fridge. I do not remember too much else in that back fridge. I just know they always had the small bottles of Coke when the rest of the world had much larger bottles.

I do remember that Opa had a broom handle across from the fridge where he had smoke meat hung. It was a special treat for him to cut a piece off but that was never done on Shabbos so you had to visit some other day to get some of the meat. What a strange family where the grandchildren not only enjoyed smoke meat (rouch fleich) but we thought it a special treat.

Saturday afternoons there were different from other families. At times it felt like a big weight to make sure we went for a few hours when their were better things to do with our friends. But now I look back on those times a really think it was special since we all spent time playing with each other and got to know each other. Most people I know today don’t know their cousins very well and here we are spread all over and still keep in contact. The part I really like is that we share some of the same memories from being kids. How special is that? I might not have her recipes but I think they left us something more special.

If you still would like to purchase the CD Plate Full of Memories go to the http://lifestorytriggers.com/wordpress to see how you can order yours!

 

 

 

Mother’s Day is this weekend. And you are trying to find a gift that is perfect for Mom but you are having trouble figuring our what to get a women who buys what she needs and really doesn’t ever want anything else. I have solution that fits any size and works for any age, a family recipe cookbook that will highlight Mom’s recipes. Okay it will not be ready for this weekend but you can buy all the elements for your cookbook and show Mom the intention of creating this book in her honor. I think she may like it. It is worth a try….

Thanks JB Biersdorfer of the NY Times for your tip of the week today. Google has created a feature that caters to cooks. When you search dish or an ingredient, Google gives your first batch of results and then presents a recipe option in the list of categories in the column in the left side of the page. You can click the more button if you not like what you see. Here is the cool part—you can filter the results by cooking time, calories and ingredients. Google has more information at

www.goggle.com/landing/recipes. He mentions that other search engines have recipe help—Bing and Yahoo have recipe help with key word.

As Farmers Market open up in the next few weeks, depending on where you, most of the fruits and veggies were not grown in your area. In Minnesota our trees are just budding, lilacs will be out in 4 weeks so veggies found at these markets are not grown in an outside garden but a green house to be local. For my friends in the south this might not be the case but I stress asking where the fruits and vegetables were grown. We all want our Farmers Markets feature local fair most of the year and use local green houses early on to fill the gaps but not use those bought at the warehouses where the local grocery stores purchase theirs. There needs to be local feel and reward for those markets that feature local growers and it is up to use to enforce it with our dollars.

Quick mention, I will be gone next week and not be writing this blog. I hope all the Mothers have a great Mother’s Day and enjoy their families with love from the kitchen and a favorite recipe,

Family Reunion need great planning to make a great event so if you have never done one maybe next year!

So your family has decided that this is the year that you are all going to get together. for a family reunion but that is as far as you have gotten. No dates have been chosen nor hotels have been booked. All you know is you want to get together this year.

May I suggest a reality check. Most reunions take months of planning and that is even if your family decided to hire a reunion planner it takes months There are great websites to help you with your plans but if this is the first time your family has decide to do a reunion, I say make it for next year and start doing all your planning now. Some places are listed below that can help you start.

The better the plan and the better the party. The best you can hope for is a family get together for this summer which might be where you might get your worker bees for this event. There is so much to do, that the more family members that can help can really make it a reality when one person takes the lead who can really lead chosen to make sure everything is being planned that needs to be and those plans are being implemented—a great reunion next may be had.

I discuss this since many reunions have heirloom cookbooks for fundraisers at their reunion or as gifts for the families. It can take months to create one and in some families years. So get started now with the plans and then execute a great family cookbook with family favorite recipes that will treasures by the members of your family for years to come.

You make want to check out Reunions Magazine http://www.reunions.com/familyreunions/family_activities.html 

Their podcast may give you ideas too www.reunionsmag.com/podcast/ class="f"> -

or these other websites

www.family-reunion.com/chklist.htm

www.reunion-memory-book.com/support

and don’t forget to order your copy of platefullofmemories to help with your cookbook!

Some chamber of commerces have point persons to help. The Meet Minneapolis group part of the convention and  visitors center has one person who helps with just reunions. They want to help to bring people into their towns. And have an enjoyable experience there too.

I am confused. For years I have been teaching people how to create heirloom cookbooks with family favorite recipes. The classes have focused on printed books but the more I think about the subject and read what others are writing, it seems more of the conversation should be moving to electronic.

Last week Jim Buchta, of the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote a very compelling article that really had me thinking outside my box. Jump-start your favorite recipes. Who needs cookbooks or magazines when you have a computer?    www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/119333649.html
 
He broke it down on why to go digital. The pros he said were you would have all your recipes on your laptop. No more stacks of magazines or books but the key for me was the ability to search with words your documents. I do not keep magazines. I clip out the recipes I want to use and put them in a notebook and search them the old fashion way by hand first when I am doing a menu plan. My cookbooks are all in the bookcase that is solely saved for cookbooks. I am thinking about cleaning out some books I was given over the years that I will never use to make space for the new books that I keep on getting and are not filed correctly.

His cons were that they were not as much fun or practical since you could not take it to the bathtub to read. I do not think I have ever taken a cookbook to the tub but I might have. He said that electronic recipes do not develop any character I am not sure about since you can have a video of Grandma cooking or baking. Few cookbooks have a digital counterpart and many magazines and newspapers have easy to search recipes.

He does state that he is not going to get rid of his cookbooks and it sounds like he has collected some very old and interesting ones. He is going to shift his recipes to his computer.

I think I am a half step a head of him in the thought that heirloom cookbooks need to be printed to be featured with the other cookbooks one owns and kept special. I think if you are lucky enough to have the elders in your family around to have them video how-to- cook some of those family favorite recipes and then have flap in your printed book where you can insert the video on a DVD. More and more websites are adding videos and I think we will be seeing more inserted into family cookbooks.
Now for everyday recipes, I think the jury is still out on what format to store your recipes. So I still stay confused.

Passover starts next Monday night and the holidays last until the following
 Tuesday night. The first two nights are Seders, which really are family 
feasts that center on reading the text, The Haggadah, explaining the 
festival. At my home we still use the Maxwell House ones that were used in 
our family for the last 40 years. I have still have 10 so that everyone is 
reading from the same booklet.


Most people understand that you do not eat leaven bread for the week. But 
that is really an understatement of what you can or cannot eat any grains that could be used in leavening. That means no corn, wheat or barely. If your family is from Spain or Sephardic you can eat rice but if you are from Western Europe or Ashkenazi you can’t. We all can eat quinoas that originated in South America and wild rice that originated in North America since these are all seeds from grasses. Where your family comes from and where you live really has a great influence in the meals you can prepare. Each year I try to create new recipes that keep me interested to keep the holiday and not break any of the rules.

That means I have been frantically looking on the web for new recipes and looking at new sites that might add a variety of insights. I was blown away when I read one that had a recipe for challah--that is a big no no. Leaven bread on a holiday that is
 about non-leaven bread. Some one did not do their research.


Bon Appétit gets it when they feature a recipe for fluffy matzo balls.http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/guides/passover. They had some of these
 recipes in this month's mailed issue also but their website gives more
 recipes. Most of the things highlighted were for the Seder and not your 
regular meals. I have come to rely on the New York Times Passover Recipe Cookbook. It is some times my hostess gift if I am invited out during the holiday. But when I got the New York Times today, I was excited to see a new recipe from Melissa Clark for matzo Brie kicked up a notch with lox http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/dining/13appe.html?src=me&ref=style
 . This is exactly what I had been searching
 for. Then I was excited to see Joan Nathan’s article about eating out for
 Seder with a recipe for Prune and Almond Braised Short Ribs. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/dining/13seder.html?_r=1&ref=dining
  For any one who celebrates the holiday will understand prunes are a big favorite. On line you could also see articles from their archives so there were lots
 of choices to increase your menu plan for the week.

If you read the article I want to explain eating out at a restaurant is not that new an idea. My family used to spend the week at hotel on vacation that was Kosher for 
Passover since our family were bakers and the store was closed and that was 
when our family could get away. When she was little, my mother's family went
 to the Jewish Center for Passover Seder for one night. What I love is that
 this holiday has changed over the last thousand years but still holds to its
 core values.

 I wish you all a happy Passover whether you are Jewish or not. May men and women all over the world share the joy of freedom and may we always remember that freedom did not come easily.


Have you ever watched a television cooking show and saw a meal being created that you thought, “that looks interesting maybe I will make it later and I know where to get the recipe?” Or though you thought.  I spent over a half hour on Rachael Ray's two websites and never found the stuffed chicken breast that I saw her make that week on my TV never to find the recipe. I know who the cook since I had seen Rachael make it and knew that I thought it would be simple to make and easy to find the recipe and yet I could not.

Why do I tell you this—more often we don’t remember who told us or where we found the recipes so write it down immediately since you never know when you will find it again. It is a quick warning do it now rather than put it off--life is so busy we often put it off until late and later does not come.

I also think in the world of Google everyone thinks you can find any thing given a few minutes but that is not necessarily the case. If you want to make a dish or if you want to get “what ever” that important thing is write it down right then and there. I have learned my lesson and hopefully you do not need to repeat my misguided search.

When we think of recipes write them down so they won’t get lost for the next meal or the next generation of your family. The few minutes it takes then is better than wasting time looking at site after site. I would like to get back all the time I have wasted looking up recipes to make a dish that I know that I want to make. I am sure you have had the same situation but most people don’t admit it!

As I pine away for signs of spring here in the Great Northern Tundra, today temps will hit 50 maybe and the snow is melting in my yard, my thoughts turn to weekends at The Lake. That means weekend recipes that are easy to make and a short shopping lists to buy in The Cities before we go. Sometimes, if we are entertaining it means making some of the food ahead to take up so I can spend more time with my guests.

That is why I think theme cookbooks are so helpful. They help people pull the right cookbook out quickly before going to the Joy of Cooking with its catchall index. I just received a new weekend cookbook and a dessert only cookbook that I can wait to use. By keeping the theme simple I know where to go to pull a cookbook for that part of the meal. What I also like in the weekend cookbooks they offer meal suggestions that I can correctly pair with the people who will be there. Kids in the group might get some kind of burgers when an adult only crowd my get grilled chicken sandwiches.

Creating your own themed cookbooks allow you to narrow your focus and allow for you to complete your family recipe cookbook more easily. But what I like even more is the fact that it more likely to be used by your family when they think about that kind of dish.

Many of you are saying but I just go to the web and get recipes. You can of course but more often when I go to the web for a recipe I know what I am going to cook and look just for that recipe. I need menu ideas more often then just the recipes. When you are at the lake entertaining you are going to make at least five meals so more ideas are helpful. Sometimes I even make the guests make the Sunday breakfast/brunch so I am only cooking four. My thoughts here are people like to offer to bring something and this allows them to bring something which makes them they feel better but it lets them focus on one meal which lets them use their creativity on the meal which more often will have everyone raving about it.

Theme cookbooks also allow you to enter a recipe that will not get made. If I were going to write my weekend cookbook, I would add my mother's summer fruit soup with a full story so future generations might make it since I my family does not like it.  I finally found out this year that the Scandinavians fruit soup that living in Minnesota I heard so much about was made with dried fruits and it is more of what I think of a compote. My mother's fruit soup was a liquid cherry, peach or plum soup. It was made with fresh fruit, usually over ripe fruit that my mother was able to purchase for less money at the market and cooked to soften and create a fruit broth. She would add whipped egg whites on top to decorate it like floating clouds.

It was a fun summer memory and a recipe that is easy to make and will be lost if not written in a cookbook. I am sure with the story some of my relatives might want to try it, without the story probably not. I can add the recipe to a summer recipes cookbook or a weekend cookbook. Themes are so much fun. I cannot wait for spring but I feel better about March writing this blog now!

I rarely do this but this is too important to not write about on both my blogs. Today I posted on http://lifestorytriggers.com/wordpress/blog about keeping your memories safe. Please go there and review what plans you will create to keep your family heirlooms safe. On that same theme I post this blog.

Please remember that one of your family heirlooms are your family recipes. Since I am one of those did not get family recipes handed down to due to World War 11, I am keenly aware that important things get lost due to flooding or even wars. Family heirlooms get lost and family recipes are sometimes the last things people would put on a list of things to save. If you have taken the time to collect yours please make sure there are copies where they can be reached. The cloud or a back up computer company are a great place to think about for a start but you may have better ideas.

Two things I know for sure, disasters happen without warning and if we spend a few moments planning, we might be able to saved those items that really are irreplaceable. It does take planning and it does take some  time to execute the plan. Anyone can have a diaster happen at their home, I know from experience, we had a major fire when I was in the sixth grade caused by faulty wiring. None of us are immune from tragedy.  If we take this time to safe guard our heirlooms and family recipes, the next generation will happy that their relatives were so smart to keep them safe.This insurance you cannot buy but have to create yourself.

For some of us writing an entire cookbook seems like a task that just con not be completed. For some us we are better writers than recipe collectors and there seems to be an answer, write a memoir cookbook. You can add a few of the family recipes but you are not just collecting recipe but sharing stories.My take on this would be family stories and family history with a pinch of recipe.

I heard recently about a book that talked about the different cultures that used the same ingredients. Okay, I think of it more of historical look at food but the memoir part was this person visited each of these countries. It allows to learn about cultures and how they use the food and ingredients for ceremonial as aspects of day to day observances. Hmong traditionally give fresh chicken soup to new mothers to boast her systems. Jewish mothers give chicken soup to the person with the flu and cold. I guess you see what I mean. One ingredient.

In our houses these days we have designed the kitchen to be the epa-center and for good reason. Many of us spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We hear about what went on in the day in the kitchen. Some kids do their home work in the kitchen. People moving in and moving out. Your memoir cookbook could be about the best shared secretes between you and your siblings in the kitchen over _____. You fill in the blank of what that comfort food might be. Careful on the secrets in the book-- get permission. Usually the secrets of our childhood were not important but it gives you a theme for a non-traditional cookbook.

More themes- foods I ate on vacations--what was I thinking? or never been able to taste that again. Foods for the holidays from each side of the family? You see that once you take out the collection of recipes and just the food experience you open the stories family traditions or individual experiences.Their are no rules in creating cookbooks except how to write a recipe and most people don't know how. If you want the instructions email me at memorycookbooks@gmail.com and I will send it out to you. Be creative and have fun--that is my rule.

Family recipes have been handed down from generations in the kitchens of the world. From mother to daughter and rarely written down. They were made over and over so there was no need to write them. Some of those same recipes will be served on the tables at Easter.  Families tend to bring out the family traditions for the holidays. Great stories of family members that feasted together with the flavors of the home country—where ever that home country was. How easy is would it be to write up a story about foods that were eaten at Easter growing up?  If you have relatives to ask for the recipes all the better, but if not, go on the web and see if you can find recipes from cultural guides from your ethnic group. It may take a few hours but it will be a great gift.

I know this by looking at the faces of the Top chef All Stars this past week. If you are not a fan like I am, the show brings chefs from all over the country to compete over a number of weeks to be the top chef of the year featured in magazines and all sort of other prizes. The All Stars is a show with all the chefs from previous years that did not make the top in their years the competed but were in the finals. Can I just tell you last week’s show hit all my buttons? I love food and cooking and I love family histories. The final challenge for elimination was cooking from your heritage with the chef’s relatives in attendance for final tasting. Pure joy while cooking, pure joy in the tasting round and even in the final round.

The look of amazement when connections are made keeps me loving be a personal historian. The joy you see on the faces is something really hard to explain. When you see it you know it, that is how I have to describe it. If you have a word for it, I would love to add it to my lexicon. I accept all comments that give a word for this feeling of connection to family, heritage and understanding that you stand on the shoulders of family members you have never met. Those little stories and with some recipes may give your family members that same joy I saw on the Top Chef All Star Show.

I share this link so you can see what I am talking about. And I would love to know what the word for that joy is, so please share your ideas.

Top Chef All Stars