the old metal box

from shirley's cottage

The old metal recipe box
I probably get on my editor’s last nerve. Every week when I go in, I say, "do you have an idea for my article this week?" She has enough of her own ideas to gather with her work: the editorial, the meetings she has to report on, special occasions, and just what’s going on about town. Yet, she always tries to give me a boost in the right direction.
Last week I said, "Give me one word. Any word, and I will try and write around it." Actually, she gave me two words. But those are for another day. Because when I got home there was an email from her.
It touched my heart, maybe in a selfish way. For this is the way I feel about my recipes, and more yet, about this column. My mom’s handwritten recipes and notes on the old cookbooks are not simply to feed the flock. My grandma’s Lithuanian cookbook is not just a way to use old potatoes. They are a source of memory, remembering, and maybe of a happier day when the moms were still here. A time when the kids were home, under one roof, and the chaos was music to the ears. (Sometimes).
I don’t know this mom, but I know her daughter. She is loved and there is no chance of her EVER being forgotten. Here is what the old metal recipe box means to one daughter.
Quotes from my email.
"Hey Shirley
---I was talking to my mom the other day and we were talking about recipes, of all things. I had mentioned to her how when I moved out I had her (give me) my favorite recipes so I could write them in my recipe journal.
—All of sudden, she looked really sad. I asked what was wrong and she said, ‘People will always remember your dad. I always hear how they remember him for his barbecue sauce. But what will people remember about me? All I have is recipes that have been handed down.’
She was bothered by that. The thing it made me think about is how she always had dinner done and on the table, whether it was her recipe or not. I think of the days she would pull down her metal recipe box and look through the treasure trove of memories-years of memories-in that box, and feel how lucky we were to have it."
She went on to say the taco bake recipe was given to her mom by a good friend that had moved to Florida, and subsequently died while playing BINGO!
The recipe has been used for many a potlucks, Scout dinners, funerals, and just a good family dinner.
I didn’t know the lady in Florida. I don’t even know my editor’s mom . But you can bet when I make Taco Bake, I will be thinking of them, and bingo.
In fact, I’m making it today, to be ready for when my girls get home from a Spring Break holiday. A recipe from one memory box to another.
Taco Bake
you will need:
I pound ground beef
1 can corn, undrained
1 8 oz can Hunt’s tomato sauce
½ cup shredded cheddar or taco cheese
one taco seasoning packet
1 ½ cups water
2 T corn starch
corn or taco chips
Brown the beef in a large frying pan and drain. Add taco mix and cornstarch.
Stir to coat
Add undrained corn and tomato sauce
Add water
Stir and bring to boil
Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes until the mixture thickens a bit.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
put mixture in a casserole dish
Cover with chips and cheese
Bake in oven until cheese melts
Serve with chips
variation: leave chips off when baking.
Enjoy!