Family Recipes

This past summer, my grandmother shared with me a handwritten cook book, that my great-grandmother had given to her daughters in 1948, in order to share family recipes. Since she never used any real recipes, my great-grandmother had to make each of the recipes and write them down. Along the way, she included many of her own comments and recommendations. When I read them, it was like catching a glimpse of the woman who died before I was born. Below, I’m transcribing, word for word, her recipe for Baked Chicken and Dressing so that you can gain a sense of who she was.

Baked Chicken and Dressing

Buy about a five lb. hen—always with white fat if possible. Old hens have real yellow fat and big pores, so when possible, select the light cream colored fat. Wash thoroughly, almost cover in water (cold) and boil at gentle heat until wings and thighs will feel loose when pulled from the body. When the chicken is about half done, salt.

Take out as much broth as needed for the gravy and use the remaining broth to make up the dressing. Set the chicken aside until you are ready to brown it when the dressing is about half done.

Dressing:

Make a good egg bread—about 1 ½ cups meal, 2 eggs, 3 full Tablespoons melted lard (I use bacon drippings lots). 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and make into fairly soft dough with sweet milk. Bake in hot oven. Then crumble up in bowl. Add about 2 small biscuits or maybe 1 ½ slices light bread, one medium size onion and one small piece garlic (leave off the garlic if you don’t like it), 1 cup chopped celery. Make all this up into right consistency with the broth. Put in shallow pan and bake. Stir one time after it has begun to get dry on sides, at this stirring, add 2 Tablespoons sugar—then put the chicken in center of pan and bake to golden brown on both sides. Call Mary to come eat dinner with you.

* * *

What I love about this recipe is that I can almost hear my great-grandmother talking to me. The last line truly is in the cook book, and it makes me smile.

I wanted to create a character who loved to cook and who found her refuge in making food for others. And so, the character of Emily Chesterfield, the Accidental Countess, was born. In the prequel short story “An Accidental Seduction,” Emily is reunited with her childhood sweetheart, and she cooks an unconventional meal for him during a winter snow storm. I’ve also included some of Emily’s true recipes here. I’m doing some free download giveaways on Facebook and this month you can be entered to win a $10.00 Amazon gift card simply by joining in the conversation.

Food is a universal element, bringing families and generations together. Whenever I browse through old cook books, I feel like I’m stepping into the past where women served love and affection along with their food. It makes me wonder what sort of people they were and what stories lie untold.

And I especially like the fact that none of the recipes contained low-fat ingredients! Bring on the lard, sugar, and full flavors!