A couple of weeks ago I found myself in a situation that I wasn’t expecting to be in. Sorting through a family members possessions attempting to decipher them and figure out what was sentimental that needed to be saved and what had to be donated or thrown away. It was a rather difficult thing to do, as I’m sure that I didn’t know the value or importance of some items, and there was just no way that we could keep them all.
I did the best that I could, and in doing so came across a few old things that belonged to my Grandmother that I had forgotten about.
Not much really, but something like a bandana that she used to wear around her head while gardening, a few pieces of jewelry – and books. A lot of her books were cheap romance novels that I had no room to store, nor would I care to read. A few of her books though were ones that had to be saved and held on to – like her obviously well used cookbooks and a couple of wedding books that were essentially the complete guide on how to establish a household as well as maintain it.
My grandma passed away when I was 16 years old, and while we weren’t super close, I do have fond memories from childhood when we would go visit my Grandparents house with my mother. My sister and I always loved going over there because they had a large property that was neatly kept and full of trees, and gardens. Perfect for exploration.
They also had cable tv…which was a big deal to us back then. We’d watch cartoons and old tv shows in the living room, and my grandma would always make us meat and cheese sandwiches with potato chips and Reese’s candies for dessert.
While we watched tv my Mom and Grandma would sit in the kitchen smoking, drinking coffee and talking. I can remember exactly where her cookbook shelf was.
Finding these books brought back memories that I hadn’t thought about in a very long time.
While some of these vintage recipes are certainly ones that I don’t think I’d cook for my family, there are still plenty of them that sounds intriguing. So I think I’ll be re-creating some of these. In fact, I’ve actually already begun.
Sometimes after a long day everyone needs to take a few moments to sit down, reflect, and take a moment to re-group. myself prefer to do this with a vintage magazine or old etiquette books and either a glass of wine or a cocktail in hand.
I’ve recently became obsessed with re-creating classic cocktails and want to share the yummy French 75 classic with you:
Classic French 75 Cocktail:
Ingredients
- 4 ounces of Brut Champagne
- 1 1/2 ounces of simple syrup
- 4 ounces of gin (I use Aria Portland Dry Gin)
- 1 1/2 ounces of fresh lemon juice
- Ice
- Lemon peel for garnish
Instructions
In a cocktail shaker add the simple syrup, lemon juice, and gin. Fill with ice and shake for 20-30 seconds.
Pour into two champagne glasses then top with champagne. Place a lemon twist in for garnish and serve!
Are you a by-the-cookbook kind of home cook or do you prefer to improvise with things that you have on hand? Do you go step by step through the recipe or do you change things up every now and then?
Most of the time if I’m using a recipe I’ll follow it, however when I’m not glancing at a recipe I’ll tend to be a bit more creative and mix things up and around – and sometimes I’ll even share them on here with you. 🙂