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GRANNY'S RECIPE BOOK

Favourite local food from the past

Years ago my mother inherited her mother's recipe book. The earliest recipe written in her own hand was dated June 1921 which was when my grandparents were married. I believe the recipe book had some printed recipes and some blank pages so notes and other recipes could be added. I think it was a wedding gift but, alas, there was no indication of who sent it.

As a boy growing up in post-war Northamptonshire, I remember the book being used on an almost daily basis. It became rather dog-eared with its pages well-turned, often with greasy or flour-covered hands, but the book remained intact - just about. I remember my mother making many of the dishes on a regular basis.

Eventually, the recipe book ended up in such a poor condition that my mother threw it away, but not before typing out some of the favourite family recipes - although I am sure she knew how to make most of them off by heart without ever needing to refer to the recipes book.

How can old books be conserved for future generations

Conservation, preservation and restoration would have meant my granny's recipe book would have had an extended life and still be a piece of family history and part of our family archive today. So what could have been done for it to have survived?

1

Conservation of books involves protecting and stabilizing the material in its current state while retaining as much of the original materials as possible.
2

Restoration involves returning a book to as good condition as possible with the use of invasive techniques and retaining of original materials.
3

Preservation is a term which encompasses both conservation and restoration.
4

Active conservation involves evaluating the condition of a book and treating it to prevent further decay by cleaning and repairing.
5

Paper-based items such as books, scrapbooks, diaries, and postcards present distinctive problems when it comes to care and conservation.
6

Agents of deterioration in the case of granny's recipe book include regular handling with greasy and flour-covered hands, fluctuating humidity from being in the kitchen, dust, water and steam, heat, and to some extent neglect.

Agents of deterioration

Mishandling

Regular handling of granny's recipe book, with hands covered with flour, butter and lard, meant that the book pages became stained and often stuck together. The poor handling of this well-thumbed recipe book was the primary cause of its deterioration.

Humidity

Differences in temperature or humidity, typical of any kitchen environment, were damaging Heat from the oven and low relative humidity caused some of the pages to become brittle and the bindings began to crack. High temperatures and high humidity can accelerate mould growth - but I don't remember the book beaing so affected.

Dust

Dust from flour, fine sugar and other powder ingredients led to minor acidic attack; this in turn, when combined with oily greasy fingerprints, caused the surface to deteriorate further.

Water and steam

Where else but in the kichen would a book be subjected to steam as a result of normal kitchen activities? Add this to the effects of flour dust and grease and further conservation would be needed.

Heat

Like humidity, heat is not always a friend of paper and cardboard, particularly when mixed with other agents of deterioration. Fluctuations in temperature from normal kitchen useage exacerabated the problems and led to further deterioration.

Storage

My mother kept this recipe book laid flat on an open shelf next to her other cookery books. The shelf was close to the cooker above the main kitchen worktop where she prepared and served food. It would have been better if she had kept the book stacked vertically in a cool, dry and clean location.

1
Ock and Dough
- 4 oz flour
- 2 oz lard
- 1 1/2 oz beef suet
- salt
- water
- 4 oz top cut stewing beef
- sage or thyme
- 1 pork hock
- Gravy or water
Cook it any way - best in an oven. Add more vegetables and use water rather than stock. Put the whole hock in not, just the meat. The jelly that comes from the hock thickens the water.
2
Clangers
- Savoury end (left):
- 1 chopped onion
- Bit of lard
- 8oz minced pork
- Herbs as available
- Worcestershire sauce
- A cooking apple
- Peas
- Salt and pepper
- Pudding end:
- A couple of cooking apples
- 10 dates without the stones
- Orange rind
- Handful of sultanas or raisins
- Pastry:
- 11oz flour with baking powder
- Salt
- 4 oz beef suet (minced)
- Knob of butter
- 1 beaten egg
- Finish with:
- 1 beaten egg
- Sprinkle with sugar
A solid pastry meal-in-one so guess which end is savoury and which is pudding. Don’t eat the wrong end first.
3
Leek Pie

Filling
- As many leeks as needed
- pork cuttings
- beef cuttings
- cook the pork and the beef very slowly, the day before
- gravy salt
- Pastry
- Use a short crust pastry
- Make on Pancake Day.
4
Feast Pudding
- Half a loaf of dry bread
- Half pint of milk
- 5 oz beef suet, best to grate or mince.
- 2 beaten eggs
- Half a pound of currants
- Same for raisins
- Same for sultanas
- Small amount of allspice
- 2 big spoons dark sugar
- 2 oz dried mixed peel
- 1 lemon and 1 large orange both juice and chopped rind
- 2 oz fine sugar
When Thurstons (the annual fair) arrive make the pudding and bake overnight.
5
Cattern Cakes
- 9 oz flour
- Quarter spoon ground cinnamon
- Small amount of currants
- Tablespoon of ground almonds
- 2 spoons caraway seeds
- 7 oz fine sugar
- Half a slab of butter
- 1 egg
On St Catherine’s day (25th November) eat rabbit casserole and eat the cakes to finish the feast!
6
Cake
- 1lb of flour with a bit of baking powder
- 1lb of fine sugar best sifted
- ¼ oz cloves,
- ½ oz cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- Nutmeg
- To this mix add some rose water
- Currants
- Mix with it thick cream and melted butter
- Canary-Wine
- fresh ale yeast
- Have your oven hot before hoop baking.

Old Recipes

This article, however, is not about conservation techniques but about sharing some of the local recipes which we enjoyed as a family and which my mother had used for years. My granny was not one for sticking to a recipe method. Her dishes were created more by trial and error but she did include a few notes on some of them. Here are a few of her recipes - you will need to work out for yourself how to make up any of the recipes given. Good luck - and enjoy!

This article was contributed by Ian Waller from Family History Federation.