Cuisine-Mimi’s Cookbook

Photo by Hud

Mimi and the girls prepared simple meals on quilting days. Sometimes a neighbor like Mrs. Mehutki dropped in to help. She usually brought some of her special Finnish Butter Cookies. The butter cookies became a family favorite. They are so delicate and light, they just melt in your mouth.

The meal usually consisted of stew or soup, sometimes cornbread sandwiches or just plain cornbread and milk. Mimi’s family liked buttermilk. I’ve tried milk and cornbread. It is a long way from a favorite; the buttermilk and cornbread is completely distasteful. Maybe it was good to those who grew up not having all of the convenient snacks and sugar that spoil us so today. One thing for sure, no eating or drinking was allowed near that precious quilt being made for family or friends.

My mother’s 1917 Hoosier (a portable cabinet with separate flour and meal grinders)is a treasured appointment in our family dining area. A few years ago, one of the drawers just quit closing. After trying in every other way, I pulled the drawer all the way out. Behind it were two cookbooks which had been there, heaven only knows how long. One was a 1936 issue of the JR Watkins Cookbook which sold for a whopping one dollar. JR Watkins has graciously given consent to share their recipes. I will write more about them in later posts. The other was a 1918 handwritten cookbook kept by my Mimi. It cost her a buffalo nickel.

Leafing carefully through those pages soon to be one hundred years old, feelings of connection unknown before flooded my soul. The paper is very fragile. It is apparent that handling will cause disintegration rapidly. But there written in Mimi’s hand are recipes my mother prepared over and over. Since Mimi was gone before my memory, I never knew those recipes were from so long ago. I prepared some of them for my boys and then their families never knowing they were third generation, at least. Charles’ Kay and Chuck laughed at me about the Candlestick Salad, thinking it was too far out.

Keeping this precious book for posterity is a priority. Hud carefully scanned each page.

Poppy and Mimi used available commodities to care for their family. Many of the recipes seem strange to us today. However, I have to tell you that Green Tomato Pie is scrumptious if you like tart. Choosing tomatoes already white just before the pink starts yields a little less tartness. This was one of Mother’s specialties. 

A few recipes at the end of the collection were tucked into the back of the book by my mother. We included them simply because that is the way we found the book.

If you are part of my family, this is a treasure it warms my heart to share with you. If you are a friend, you are now part of our larger family and that makes the journey all the more special.

As soon as our brander helps, we will have Mimi’s Cookbook here for you to peruse.