A cookbook handed down from mom is a treasure. It’s more than just a collection of recipes printed on paper! Stains on the pages tell stories of meals prepared and creased corners point to favorite dishes that were cooked time and time again.

Last time I was home, I went through my mother’s cookbook. There were newspaper clippings of recipes and my second-grade school photo marking the page for a recipe of chocolate chip cookies. Written in the margin are notes that suggest additional ingredients and alternate baking times. There’s even a tattered envelope postmarked 1982 that has a dessert recipe written in my grandmother’s scrawled handwriting.

Cookbooks become time capsules of memories. They hold bits and pieces of our loved ones from handwritten notes to the odds and ends tucked into the pages. The recipes themselves tell us what times were like. Ingredients listed may harken to a time when it was popular to mold Jell-O ,with veggies, no less! Recipes that recreate French style dishes, or use the newest kitchen gadget from slow cookers to juicers.

If your mother’s cookbook could talk, what tales would it tell? Is there a recipe from a dinner that didn’t turn out? What about the cookies she made to cheer you up or the pie she baked for an old friend? What about notes of shortcuts and substitutions she made and secrets she used to stretch the recipes when money was tight?

As Mother’s Day approaches, Cookbook Specialists, would like to take a moment to thank all of the moms out there for the meals they have prepared and for the memories they have preserved in cookbooks for the next generation. Happy Mother’s Day!

We would love to hear from you about what makes your mom’s cookbook special! Please leave a comment below.

Create a cookbook of your mom’s recipes here.