Jackpot!

One day recently, I went to visit George and Virgie, one set of my beloved grandparents. Just before I said goodbye and scooted out the door, Grandpa George (He prefers to be called Eddie, but he's been George to me for quite some time - since I could speak.) pulled me aside and handed me this little gem.

To the Average Joe, this is a completely useless notebook entirely filled with graphite covered pages. Not one page is untouched by pencil. It wouldn't be any good for menial note taking. There's no room for any more notes.

What this humble notebook has is years of collected word-of-mouth recipes. Recipes that were shared after pot-lucks, dinner parties, and friendly get-togethers. A priceless collection for any foodie.

Things I love most about this notebook:

1. Each recipe has been gathered and hand-written by my grandma.

2. It's a perfect example of Midwest, mid-century family cuisine.

3. Some of the recipes are incredibly retro like "Lemon Lush," "Cherry Delight," and "Salmon Loaf".

4. Grandpa gave it to ME.

5. Each page is filled with a recipe except for one....

On that mostly blank page is a very neatly printed name. My name. Written, I believe, by my dad. He must have been teaching me how to spell/write my full name when I was little. I must have claimed this notebook way back then.

I hope you are lucky enough to score some fantastic family recipes. For me, it's like being an art collector. Finds like these are down right priceless. Happy collecting!