Preserving Family Recipes
Make a Family Recipe Together
This is SO much fun, especially when it is multi-generational! Choose a recipe that isn’t too time consuming to make. Invite some family members to come over and help make the recipe together. This format provides a wonderful opportunity to reminisce, tell stories and connect a younger generation to their ancestors and traditions. Ask guests to bring other family recipe cards with them to share and discuss. This might inspire a follow-up date to gather and make another recipe together.
Plan a Family Recipe Potluck
At your next family reunion or holiday gathering, ask guests to prepare a favorite family recipe and also bring the written recipe with them. Take turns having people describe the dish, who made it and what they remember about it. Scan or photograph the recipes and make them available to everyone after the gathering.
Sort Through Recipe Cards with Family Members
Rather than going it alone as you search through old recipe cards, sit with a relative or two and go through them together. It’s a wonderfully organic way to connect and share food memories and stories about family. An old recipe is just a recipe until it has meaning and fondness attached to it.
Interview Family Members
Sit down with a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling or cousin and ask them to share their remembrances of childhood, their favorite recipes growing up and the connecting traditions. I have found that while the conversation may start with food, it always blossoms into learning more about family members and the context of their lives and circumstances. It’s a unique and accessible way to engage people in conversations about their family. Getting their permission to videotape ensures that you not only don’t have to take notes but also that you’ll always have the precious footage of their memories.
