In which I go through my grandmother's recipe book looking for handwritten, family recipes. Her mother and grandparents immigrated to the United States in 1911 from England and some of her recipes reflect this origin. For example, kedgeree, lemon curd, suet dumplings, shortbread, toffee and some of the frostings.
Unfortunately, my mom told me that her great-grandma refused to write down any of her recipes, so the majority of them are lost.
Many of the recipes my grandma collected seem very 1950s and 60s, to my eyes.
To my surprise, my grandma's grandma's brownie recipe is NOT in her recipe box. I wonder if my mother has it, as it is a prized family possession. However, my grandma did put it in her retirement's recipe book, which she gave to me and my brother at Christmas the year of her death. Here is that recipe:
- 1 cup oleo
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 4 sq Baker's chocolate
- 2 cups nuts
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Powdered sugar
Beat eggs, add sugar, then chocolate and oleo which has been melted together. Add flour, vanilla, and nuts last. Pour into greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Cool, cut and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Note: This was my [Grandma Margaret's] grandmother's recipe. These brownies are not as sweet as most.
In general, I made the following editorial decisions:
- somewhat standardized ingredient amounts
- transcribed directions as written
- added names to the titles where the source was known
- left recipes in whichever category they were originally placed
My comments and edits are in []