Something Old...and New

Our sweet niece gets married tomorrow.

I gave her a gift last night that's over 50 years old.  

In 1949, my mom had a Good Housekeeping cookbook that she brought into her marriage 52 years ago.   Over the years, she fed our family of six recipes from this book.  When she moved into assisted living two years ago, at the age of 89, she passed this well-worn book onto my family for safekeeping.

Last week, I re-covered the stained and binder-less book for our niece. 



Our niece is the perfect recipient because she loves old books.  She received her PhD in English this year, and values words, especially weathered ones.

She also loves to bake, and as she starts her new life in her own kitchen, she might enjoy trying out some vintage recipes.

Our niece and my mom both love poetry; they both love teaching; they both write.  It's interesting and beautiful to see family traits shared by women sixty years apart.

Here's the bride and our daughter today at the dress fitting.  The bride is in her dress, so I cropped the picture high, so as not to reveal her gown until tomorrow.  

Mom enjoyed leafing through her first major cookbook a final time before it traveled north for the wedding.  This is the page of her lemon meringue pie recipe - baked multiple times.

The dark spots are marks of sprinkled ingredients and love.  This book is full of them.

Mom could not make it to the wedding, but she is here in spirit.  And in cooking memories.

Our niece loved the cookbook, and we know it will be in good hands with her and her husband, who is also a teacher.

If the book survives another 50 years, maybe our niece will pass it on to her granddaughter.