That is a funny story! I've heard of people who were so protective of recipes, but my people weren't that way, fortunately. What a mystery for you to solve! My Gramps (mom's dad) was a Greek, and like many Greeks, he was a cook/chef. That is how that part of my family ended up in Wisconsin (Racine). My mom was born in Chicago in 1927, and moved with her parents to Racine in 1930 when Gramps went to work as the chef/chief cook at the Racine Military Academy. The school closed in 1933, but Gramps stayed in Racine where he had a house with a tavern attached. That is what kept them going throughout the Depression. I remember Gramps making pies for us whenever we went to visit (they moved to FL in 1960). Chocolate and lemon meringue were my favorites, though he made others as well. I don't remember him cooking much else, other than the occasional Greek dish. My poor Granny (and her mother, "Nana") did the cooking. Granny was always teased about her cooking, because she tended to overcook things and did not enjoy cooking (but made a great tossed salad!). My mother was a fantastic cook, and especially a baker, but she claimed to have learned to do all that to please my German dad and his German Milwaukee-born parents. My mom took pride in telling me that my Grandma Frank thought my mom was a great baker, which was a great compliment since Grandma Frank was also a very good baker (mmm those molasses cookies she made!). Those Germans liked their sweets (I still have too much of a sweet-tooth, even though I don't eat sugar per se, I sure like to use alternative sweeteners to make muffins, cookies, etc. And I love the breads!). I had a cookbook sent to me from my Agney cousin (Nana's maiden name was Agney). I gave a copy to my mom and found it among her cookbooks when she passed. I wasn't sure if she had looked at it, but when I paged through it, I found all these big X's next to recipes, as well as notes on some of the pages. I don't know what the X's mean. I just gave it to her a few years ago, so I don't know if she had time to try many of the recipes or not. Wish I knew what the X's meant. mrf Ellen- (Milwaukee) wrote: > I have all my grandmother's cookbooks. She was a little odd at times and was afraid everyone was out to steal things from her. Recipes were something she would never give up. She would often give part of the recipe but leave one ingredient out. > > In looking through her cookbooks, I found written in the margin next to a totally different recipe, the missing ingredient for this that or the other recipe. I am still trying to piece them all together and she passed over 20 years ago. > > Don't dismiss the handwriting in the margins. You never know when it will be important! > > Ellen- > >> > > > > >

Maybe the "X"s meant that she had tried the receipe. I've done that when I'm working my way through a cookbook. Ann in MI -----Original Message----- From: mrfrank@uwm.edu To: wimilwau@rootsweb.com Sent: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:52 PM Subject: Re: [WIMILWAU] family reccipes That is a funny story! I've heard of people who were so protective of recipes, but my people weren't that way, fortunately. What a mystery for you to solve! My Gramps (mom's dad) was a Greek, and like many Greeks, he was a cook/chef. That is how that part of my family ended up in Wisconsin (Racine). My mom was born in Chicago in 1927, and moved with her parents to Racine in 1930 when Gramps went to work as the chef/chief cook at the Racine Military Academy. The school closed in 1933, but Gramps stayed in Racine where he had a house with a tavern attached. That is what kept them going throughout the Depression. I remember Gramps making pies for us whenever we went to visit (they moved to FL in 1960). Chocolate and lemon meringue were my favorites, though he made others as well. I don't remember him cooking much else, other than the occasional Greek dish. My poor Granny (and her mother, "Nana") did the cooking. Granny was always teased about her cooking, because she tended to overcook things and did not enjoy cooking (but made a great tossed salad!). My mother was a fantastic cook, and especially a baker, but she claimed to have learned to do all that to please my German dad and his German Milwaukee-born parents. My mom took pride in telling me that my Grandma Frank thought my mom was a great baker, which was a great compliment since Grandma Frank was also a very good baker (mmm those molasses cookies she made!). Those Germans liked their sweets (I still have too much of a sweet-tooth, even though I don't eat sugar per se, I sure like to use alternative sweeteners to make muffins, cookies, etc. And I love the breads!). I had a cookbook sent to me from my Agney cousin (Nana's maiden name was Agney). I gave a copy to my mom and found it among her cookbooks when she passed. I wasn't sure if she had looked at it, but when I paged through it, I found all these big X's next to recipes, as well as notes on some of the pages. I don't know what the X's mean. I just gave it to her a few years ago, so I don't know if she had time to try many of the recipes or not. Wish I knew what the X's meant. mrf Ellen- (Milwaukee) wrote: > I have all my grandmother's cookbooks. She was a little odd at times and was afraid everyone was out to steal things from her. Recipes were something she would never give up. She would often give part of the recipe but leave one ingredient out. > > In looking through her cookbooks, I found written in the margin next to a totally different recipe, the missing ingredient for this that or the other recipe. I am still trying to piece them all together and she passed over 20 years ago. > > Don't dismiss the handwriting in the margins. You never know when it will be important! > > Ellen- > >> > > > > > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WIMILWAU-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.