There are many of us over the past 12 years that have seen or at least have heard of “The Great British Baking Show”. There have been many variations of the show, such as “The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C (Standup 2 Cancer)”, “The Great Canadian Baking Show”, “The Great American Baking Show”, “The Great Australian Bake Off”, “Bake Off Brazil”, and “The Great Irish Bake Off”.
Just like the music we grew up hearing, food and recipes can trigger wonderful memories. In genealogy, food and recipes can be an integral part of who we are as descendants and what we grew up with that came from our parents, grandparents and other family members. Obviously, when ancestors immigrated to a new country, they brought their culture with them which included the foods they prepared and ate. You might say it was part of their DNA. When recipes have been handed down from generation to generation, just like family stories or family lore, they have that chance to “live on”, even if the recipes are tweaked. However, there are times when those treasured recipes get lost or are not passed down.
I myself grew up with Pennsylvania Dutch fare. There were multiple times that my family traveled to Cleona, PA in mid-August for camp meeting where Mennonite, Amish and Brethren faiths met together to worship and break bread together. The food at camp meeting still brings back fond memories and smiles, and that food was always served family style.
Here is a photograph of my great-grandparents, William and Edna Mae Earp sitting on the front porch of their cottage at Cleona Camp Meeting.
I am taking a guess that this was taken in the 40’s or 50’s.
I can still remember sitting on their front porch many times when I was young. The camp meeting grove is laid out with the tabernacle in the middle, surrounded by cottages and a forest of trees. The dining hall and concession stand are on the other end of the grove. My brother Doug has worked at the concession stand since 1982, except for the year of COVID.
Another place that was part of my childhood, mainly because my father was a civil engineer that got transferred from time to time, was West Virginia. I lived there from 1966-1973 and this was the place I met my wife when we were 10 years old. It was also where I was first introduced to the West Virginia hot dog. A hot dog with coleslaw on it.
A number of years ago, I was doing some research on my great-grandmother, Edna Mae Earp through Newspapers.com®. For the most part, searches for any mothers or grandmothers, no matter how far back in historical newspapers, your initial search should begin with Mrs. and then the 1st name you use should be that of her husband followed by her married name.
So I started my searches with Mrs. William Earp…I got a number of hits, but the one the lured me in was from the Harrisburg Telegraph, of Thursday, 08 July 1937. I was stunned to see a recipe submitted by my great-grandmother. The Harrisburg Telegraph had a page dedicated to recipes from all around the Harrisburg area called “The Harrisburg Telegraph Recipe Exchange”.
Here is the recipe.
Courtesy of Newspapers.com® – Harrisburg Telegraph, 08 July 1937
What I’ve learned about finding recipes from ancestors is you can get a clearer picture of what foods your ancestors prepared and ate. In summation, no matter how you find recipes from your ancestors, treasure them and share them.
I am hoping the result of this post is to allow my readers the chance to share recipes that came from their family and their ancestors. I’ve created a Facebook group called “The Ancestral Recipe Exchange”. I’ve included a QR code as an invite! I can also create an invite through the group.
Sources:
Newspapers.com®
Acknowledgements:
The Earp Family
The Miller Family
Cheryl, my wife and best friend…she loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Featured image: My great-grandparents William and Edna Mae Earp & family (l-r William, Edna Mae, adopted daughter Irene, my grandmother, Geraldine, my great-uncle Bill sitting and a friend of my granmothers).
Brian
Your Ancestors Demystified 