My grandma passed away in the spring of 2010, and since then we have been left to clean out a home that was more like a museum. A relic of the past with stopped clocks, dainty tea cups and knick knacks lining the walls, it is truly a sight to behold and a place I hold very dear. One of my fondest memories of her is, true to the style of an Italian grandmother, her baking. Every occasion called for two dozen of a dozen types of cookies and her house always had the best treats. Every one of her grandkids had their favorites- my cousin loved peanut butter, my brother the lemon logs and I only had eyes for the lightly iced pink Italian cookies. We and the rest of our very large family would gorge ourselves on them whenever the occasion called for baking, notably Christmas.
As she got older, the baking stopped, but the recipes, as I knew them, stayed in a blue book in the closet under the stairs. She lent it to me once to get a few recipes, but a lot of my favorites were missing, and she couldn't tell me all the details of the ones I wanted. I tried for a few years to recreate them but something always seemed to be missing.
But the other day my mother had gone to clean the house and came home very excited to show me her finds. In addition to that little blue book she kept in the closet under the stairs, my grandmother had many other books, chock full of handwritten recipes from her and my great grandma. All the favorites, including the lemon logs, were in there. As I embark on a move into my first adult apartment, I will take these recipes and attempt my first book binding, and dedicate it to my Grandma and Nanny, whose love is written all over these pages. I guess this first post is kind of beauty related.
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