What do you treasure?

Over in the Thursdays thread we have been talking about recipes for various kinds of fruit wines. Someplace I have a recipe from my Grandmother for Dandelion Wine.

I went looking for it this morning and I couldn't find it - but did come across two treasures of mine.

One is a little packet of recipes on cards from my Grandmother written 40 years ago.

The other is my purest treasure - the recipe book from my Mother who died when I was ten months old. Below I want to share one of the recipes because it so clearly gives me an idea of who my Mom was and her sense of humor. This has been written word for word from her book.

DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING ANY WILD GAME

Soak for several hours in water to which a little bicarbonate of soda has been added. Drain, wash again and parboil until tender. Remove from the fire and drain. Let the meat cool until it can be sliced cleanly with a sharp knife.

Excessive care should be taken at this particular time that no cats are left alone in the room where wild game has been parboiled for the aroma is irresistible to them.

In a moderately hot frying pan melt as much butter as the better half will permit you to use and fry to a light golden brown.


Place item in a platter which has been warmed, pour the remainder of the butter over them and garnish with empty shot gun shells. OH YEAH!

I hope none of you are offended by the shotgun shells comment.
I know that even today hunting is a prized sport for deer and ducks - and a part of reality.

Oh your mom was certainly a funny woman!!! I was laughing at the NO CATS comments, then lost it when I saw the shutgun shells comment! ROTFLMBO!!!

What do I treasure? I hardly ever look at it, but there's a beeded evening bag that was my grandmom's from about the 1940's. Its only large enough to slip a compact I lipstick in. The beeds are falling off, and a bit discolored in areas. I carried it for my prom. :) I couldn't find it for my wedding :( I love that little bag! *runs to dig it ouot of storage to look at it again*

Goodness! I have so many things that I treasure, I'm sure I'll be coming back to this thread as I think of something new.

Hmmm... coming most immediately to mind is a recipe book that's been in the family for ages, The White House Cookbook. You can buy reprints now but they're just not the same as the original!

I treasure ALL of my Sophie pictures. (And even some "dumb" things that she chewed the corners off of.... books, scrap pieces of paper, etc.).

When I was little, I started a "whisker box." It's a box-shaped coffee can that I decorated with stickers; inside are whiskers (with labels to note the name & date) from all my furbies. (There's a few pieces of fur and one baby tooth a'la Tinkerbelle, too!)

I also have a collection of antique books and antique pencils.

Some of my valued treasures, Gini, are along the same lines as those of yours. My grandmother gave me her cookbooks. I don't even spend much time looking at the preprinted recipes, it is her handwritten notes that I love, and there are many. I have told Scott that above all, I would love to have a great place to display her books from 50+ years ago. :)

Thanks for starting this thread. One never knows when they will hit the "nerve" of someone.....you hit mine. :) Thank you.