We’re All Alive Here

I realized two weeks ago that I’m coming up on the end of my 8th month off (today, actually), and also SK and my first anniversary (tomorrow), and the holidays. This caused multiple rounds of “oh shit, I’m not done with projects” angst, particularly for a specific project I intend to have done well before Yule.

When SK’s lovely mother passed last summer and the monumentally difficult (in all the ways) task of handling her estate and house began, I offered to take her rolodex of mostly handwritten recipes and put them together in a book for everyone for Christmas. Around Samhain I realized time was quickly running out for getting that done on time, so I’m taking a 2 week pause to write, photograph, and collate into cookbook sections the pile of family recipes. SK found a few from his grandmother to include as well, so I’ll add a section for Grandma Ida recipes. It’s not difficult work, but it’s detailed and can be a little putzy. However, by putting the novel on hold for those two weeks and giving myself permission to take that pause, I’ve gotten through this pile as of this morning:

and I have four sections left (including Ida’s).

My goal is to finish them this weekend. I have the cover done. I’m “publishing” them through lulu.com (I’ve used them before for this sort of non-public publishing project, because really what I’m looking for is a place to format and print them, not a place to market and distribute). I’d like to get them ordered before Thanksgiving. It’s been a fun project to decipher Mary’s handwriting (which is mostly perfectly clear but occasionally tricky) and adding in notes here and there where a recipe is clearly a favorite that’s mostly memorized, therefore missing key instructions.

I recently watched a series of Professor lectures about how to find women in history, specifically in Medieval history, because for the most part women didn’t show up in records unless they were famous/wealthy/royal, on trial for witchcraft, or otherwise in trouble. The lectures pointed out that to find women’s stories in history one needs to look between lines, on the edges of records, and that you still only get snippets with no full picture. I was watching the lectures while working on Mary’s cookbook, and it occurred that family recipes right along with family bibles and letters are places to find women’s history, particularly for literate women over the past few centuries who don’t leave journals. It’s lovely to consider the stained and well-worn recipes with little extra notes as favorites she made for gatherings or holidays or potlucks.

Back to the banshee terrorizing a couple in Duluth as soon as this project goes to print. I’m extra motivated right now with the holidays approaching and the last 4 months of my sabbatical looming as a deadline. Plus, now that the horrid daylight savings time ended I’m up FAR earlier in the mornings. Every time I see someone fussing about DST ending on social media I think “yes, it’s dark earlier, but it’s also LIGHT earlier and that’s SO much easier to start the day.” Then again, I’m weird, so maybe I’m backward on this. I’m ok with weird, especially if it helps me get stuff done.

Back to the recipes for the Cake, Cookies & Candy, and Pie sections.