Something to treasure...

My brother-in-law has come to live with us. Sadly, after 28 years of marriage his wife left him this last summer. The silver lining out of this terrible tragedy is that Rusty is becoming part of the immediate family.

Since moving in here, he's been slowly going through all his possessions. He's trying to pare down years of kitchen ware, clothes, boxes and boxes from his former family of four (his two children are grown and gone, one with a child of her own). Needless to say I've been the recipient of many items.

Today he really blessed me. He came up with two of his mom's cookbooks. I was never able to meet my mother-in-law as she passed away before I married my husband. From what I hear from those who knew her, she was quite a cook. For years I've been trying to find recipes to recreate many of the much-loved meals and special snacks that she made for her children. Trying to get the right Christmas cookies and beef strogonoff recipes have been especially challenging. I am so happy to say that they can be found in the two volumes that Rusty gave me today.

I with cherish these books and pass them along to my own daughters. I hope that they love them as much as I do and think of their grandmother, long ago, working in her little kitchen as they follow the lists of ingredients written in her own handwriting.