Category: Holidays

Writing the Drake Family Cookbook

Over the past year, I’ve taken a break from blogging in order to write a cookbook for my family. In the book, I compile many of the recipes from my grandparents and write about our family’s culinary history. I’m so proud of the way the book turned out!

I wanted to write a cookbook for our family to preserve our cherished family recipes, and so everyone would have a copy of our favorite recipes. Whenever I was away at school, and wanted to make a family recipe, I’d have to call up my mom to give me the recipe. I had a few family recipes written in a blank spiral recipe book, but I enjoyed using original recipe cards that were written in my Nana’s or aunt’s handwriting. A cookbook with scanned recipe cards gave all of us access to those original recipes without having to further divide the original collections. It also gave me the opportunity to share special family stories and photos with the whole family. I’m so glad I took on this project, and I’m proud of this new family heirloom that I created!

This was a wonderfully rewarding project, and I encourage you to write a family cookbook of your own! Here’s some tips for writing your own family cookbook:

It will take a lot longer to write than you think! I recommend taking at least a year to compile and write the book. This allows you to take photos of dishes at particular holidays throughout the year as you make them, and time to allow family members to locate and contribute their recipes. I spent over two years to write the book, taking photos and collecting recipes over time, testing some of the recipes, and then taking about six months of concentrated writing and editing.

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A Patriotic Parade on Lincoln Highway

Happy Independence Day, America! Although this photo was probably not taken on the 4th of July, these children are certainly in a patriotic mood! This postcard was produced between 1915-1920, and shows a parade on Lincoln Highway during an unknown event (possibly Decoration Day?). The Daily Chronicle building, which still stands on the north side of Lincoln Highway near First Street in downtown DeKalb, can be seen in the background.

Postcard - DeKalb - Lincoln Hwy - 1904

(This scanned postcard is part of my growing collection of postcards from DeKalb County, IL. See the start of my digital collection here.) 

EDIT: this post was updated to reflect a more accurate date for this postcard. Although Cyko postcards of this type were usually produced between 1903-1905, a building in the background of the photo was not completed until late June 1915, so the photos could not have been taken before that date.

Each clover is lucky…

Weil_George_1980_onPorch
George Weil on his front porch, about 1980.

When I was still pretty young, I learned that four-leaf clovers were lucky. As a youngster, I would spend hours crawling through the lush clovers that grew in our backyard to try to find one. (I never did!) One day after yet another fruitless search, my dad told me about the four-leaf clovers that he used to get in the mail from his grandfather, George Weil (1889-1981). He told me this story: Continue reading “Each clover is lucky…” →

Christmas on the German Front — 100 years ago

One hundred years ago, my great-grandfather Glenn Kaiser wrote a Christmas letter home to his mother. He had just received his Christmas box that his mother sent. Below is a transcription of that Christmas letter.

Letter dated 25 December 1918 from Glenn to his mother

(Click here to read the full letter.)

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Throwback Thanksgiving

IMG_1553 Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day for family, food and traditions! At our feast today, we made pies with my Nana’s pie crust, Papa’s pumpkin pie filling, my Mom’s Cranberry Apple pie filling, and a ten-year-old cousin’s mincemeat recipes. We also had my aunt’s casseroles, traditional cranberry relish and my sister-in-law’s baked macaroni. It all came together into a delicious feast!

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