“My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me. It is a place where the surfaces seem to have significance, where the sounds and odors carry meaning that transfers from the past and bridges to the future.” ♥ Pearl Bailey
Here I am in my “temple,” making “Curried Pumpkin Pots” from my Autumn Book. I look like a mountain in Vermont in that apron, but I love it . . . I am a fall festival all by myself in my kitchen! The third best place for me after we got home. Number one, was of course, seeing my kitty; number two, we needed to go out on our walk and see how everything was doing out at the pond; and number 3, into the kitchen to nest like crazy and get ready for the holidays.
When I pull a card from my recipe box, where there are recipes from my mom, my dad, and my grandma inside, (and chocolates I saved from the QEII and a note from my girlfriend Sarah) and pick up one of my old wooden cooking spoons, I go right into that “significance,” where the “past bridges to the future.”
There’s no better time of year to feel that connection and all the traditions that come along with it, than now. And there is no better time for the nesting part of it, than when you are home (home!) from a long journey; you’re alone in your kitchen, with your birds scurrying around the feeders just outside the windows; your guy is making hammering noises outside on the rose arbor (men making hammer noises, or lawn mowing noises is an aphrodisiac to me), because right that moment you know that all is right with the world. ♣
But all is not quite right if your cutting board looks like this, not really! I promised you I would write about keeping your wooden things looking healthy, so this is the day; and here is the “before” photo! Because #1, I love my cutting boards and old spoons and #2, I really couldn’t be making beautiful fall food with dried up wooden things . . . it’s really just not done! 🙂 (I’m nesting, leave me alone.)
I’ll show you the cutting board first, because it’s basically the same method for the spoons . . . the thing that solves the problem is Mineral Oil. Because, unlike other kinds of oil, it will not go rancid. You can get it at the supermarket, or at the drug store, and keep it under your kitchen sink.
You can already see how much better the wood looks under the puddle of oil!
I use a pastry brush to paint the oil on. And since it has a wooden handle too, I soak the brush part in a bowl of hot water and dish soap when I’m done . . . no dishwasher for wooden things, it dries them out, takes all the color out of them, removes the patina of chicken soup and creamed butter and sugar, all those cookie juices you worked so hard to instill into these things. Just a quick hand washing for them is fine.
The cutting board is done; now here is the “before” picture for one of my favorite spoons . . . a spoon that knows all my cooking secrets and the inside story of every dinner party I’ve ever given. A very good girl.
And now, she is oiled. We let her sit, absorbing, while we do the others.
This takes no time at all. After they’re all done I let everything soak up the oil for a couple of hours; it will all disappear. See the “Sue” spoon in the middle? My dad made that with his own two hands. ♥ You can also find old wooden spoons, even handmade ones, sometimes in antique stores, and all they need is a good soapy washing and some mineral oil to bring them back to life, carrying all their cooking history with them, adding more “mystical” to your kitchen.
This pig board is another thing that’s been with me through thick and thin and cheese parties and sparerib servings too. I got him when I was in my early twenties and he’s followed me everywhere, from California to Martha’s Vineyard, from small apartment to New England house, through cookbook writing and Joe-meeting too. ♥
I never use wooden cutting boards for raw meat or fish, I have a plastic one for that. But every once in a while I will clean my wooden boards by sprinkling salt on them, rubbing them with lemon juice, then drying them well before I oil them.
Deep dark and delicious, that’s what they look like when they’re done. Ready to return to their spot next to the stove, ready for the holidays, ready to help bring the past, through favorite old recipes (my grandma’s Turkey Stuffing!), into the future, again, for another holiday season. ♥
Now your turn. I have a very special wooden thing that I think fits right into the realm of mystical-kitchen making, although, in the end, it will be up to you to complete the picture. It’s a starter kit, and truly one-of-a-kind, a little original piece of art in my mind . . .
Would you like to have this? I’m a big rescuer of old wooden recipe boxes. I can’t bear to leave them behind when I see them in antique stores, especially if they have some family’s collection of recipes in them. So I give them for gifts. When I found this one, it had divider cards in it and a few recipes; of course I have no idea where it came from, because like quilts, recipe boxes aren’t signed. 🙁 I made it a little more homey by writing words on the divider cards; I added my recipe for Sweet 
Potato Casserole (it’s used, as you will see; it came out of my box) . . . I also put in the words to the song Cinderella sang, a dream is a wish your heart makes, that I keep in my own box. ♥ One of you should have this box is what I think. It has plenty of extra cards in it for your own recipes. I wish I could do one for all of you, but I don’t have that many! It’s a way to say thank you for giving me such a wonderful welcome home! It’s so fun doing this blog and knowing you’re out there!!! As soon as I find out the name of the winner I will write a note on the little gift card that you see under the box, and tuck it inside. ♥
All you have to do to enter the drawing for this box is leave me a comment telling all of us about your favorite holiday tradition. Or, even just say hi, and you’re entered! You may already have a recipe box, but maybe you want to add your own recipes to this one for your daughter, son, niece or nephew. (If you’re one of the Daring Girls Club, tell your moms about this so they can enter and do it for you! :-)) And then be sure to sign the box with your name and the year. ♥ xoxo
It will fly off Martha’s Vineyard into your hands — we’ll wait a couple of days for everyone to have a chance to see this posting, then we’ll draw the winner and the wooden box will come, from my mystical kitchen to yours . . .
Oh Susan, you are amazing to find such a treasure and to give it away! Oh how I’d love to win this one! We are so excited as we have new “great” granddaughter this year to celebrate her first Christmas with! Can’t you just imagine how much fun that will be? One of my traditions I do at Christmas is make an ornament for our grandchildren so when they were grown they will have some ornaments for their trees! Now I am starting on another generation! Oh, how I’d love this and fill it with additional recipes for my daughter!
We use the mineral oil on our cutting board for years! It really works wonderful! Now..I must remember to use it on my spoons! Great idea! Love the one your dad made for you! What a wonderful gift!
Blessings and so glad you are home with Kitty, in your kitchen, with the sound of Joe and his trusty hammer outside!
xoxo Gert
Thank you Gert, congratulations on the new great granddaughter! Fun!
Holy Toledo! I just saw your blog and already 300-some replies! You are one pop-u-lar lady! It’s hard to keep holiday traditions going when the family is scattered to the four corners of the country but I keep a few for my husband, Ray, and myself. Like opening just one present each on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas morning we must have poppy seed stolen or nut stolen with egg nog while checking out the goodies in our Christmas stockings that were hung on the bed posts. Holidays are bitter-sweet with so many family members gone now but we try our best to carry on. Happy Holidays to You All….:-)
Yes like the poem “touch hands, touch hands with those that stay . . .” bittersweet. I’m not as popular as this cute recipe box is! 🙂
Please, what it the title of that piece and who wrote it?
I put it in my Christmas Book, it’s by Wm. H. H. Murray — it goes like this . . .
“Ah friends, dear friends, as years go on and heads get gray, how fast the guests do go!
Touch hands, touch hands, with those that stay.
Strong hands to weak, old hands to young,
Around the Christmas board, touch hands.”
I LOVE that! It made me teary eyed. Waaaaa! But in a good-sad way. Sometimes the creative bug bits and I make my own Christmas cards for friends and family. Boy! that would be a lovely sentiment to include. I’ve also made a “Friends” scrapbook and that’s going on the front page now. Thank you my dear…..you’re an Angel….
You are so welcome!
One of my favorite memories is on Christmas Eve after my Mom put us to bed, we would wait to hear Santa’s sleigh bells ringing outside. It would happen every year! When we got old enough to realize there was no longer a Santa, we also learned that it was my Dad ringing the bells. It was the excitement that came from the anticipation – knowing or hoping that we would hear Santa’s bells and that he would be visiting our house that night.
It’s magic; I used to run around the outside of our house with bells too, for the younger ones! It’s as much fun for the runner as it is for the listener!
WAAA??!! There is NO Santa???? I’m pretty sure you’re making that up- right?? :(—
Pay no attention to her.
of course there is a Santa Claus, he lives in our hearts forever. he is as much a part of the Christmas holidays as we make him and in my home he is very much alive and well. he always leaves snow on the carpet near the tree and the cats always get a warm pet and a new yarn ball to play with. he is always here, how else do you explain the missing cookies and hot chocolate??? hugs…. 😉
Susan,
Welcome home!
Thanks for tips on caring for our wooden kitchen items. How is that you can make even wooden spoons and cutting boards interesting?
One of my favorite holiday traditions (October – December) is to walk or drive through neighborhoods after dark looking at all of the decorations festively displayed. Jack-O-Lanterns in October, Fall themed lights in November, and best of all … Christmas in December. I love it all!
They are all little treasures to me! xo
I’ve been writing favorite family recipes in the “To My Daughter” recipe book of yours (a Christmas gift for her)…passing on our favorite holiday traditions (they all seem to involve food!). A recipe box would be wonderful for her to add her own favorites along the way!! If I don’t win one I will put it on my list of things to look for at antique/flea markets. Gotta go…lots of wooden spoons, cutting boards and butcher block to oil : )
The longer the list, the more fun in the offing! xo
Among the many dishes I prepare for Thanksgiving is one that comes from the part of my family that represents my German heritage. It is not a usual accompaniment to Thanksgiving dinner, but it has been made in my family for all the years I have been alive and that is sauerkraut! I cook it, just as my mom did, all day long with a cut up apple in it . By dinner time it is dark and rich looking, and goes great with the turkey!! At first when my kids were little they didn’t like the smell of it cooking, but now they wouldn’t have Thanksgiving without it as the smell is now a big part of their memories as well!!
That’s so wonderful, I haven’t heard of it before, but it has to make your holidays special!
I have a little metal recipe box that I bought when I was around 8 at a variety store. I glued pennies to the top to make a stove for my Barbie doll. I also started collecting recipe at that time and stuffed them into my box when Barbie wasn’t cooking. I don’t think she minded one bit. The box is stuffed full of recipes that I have collected over the years. I even pried the pennies off the top once Barbie was finished with the stove. There are recipes from my mom, ones I got when I was a Brownie and others from friends over the years. It’s a walk down memory lane when I peek into it.
A treasure to keep forever!
My Mother’s family is English/Canadian. Her grandmother had the recipe for Suet Pudding that was handed down from her mother and generations before. My Mom made it when she could get all the ingredients and even when she had to fudge a bit. We lived in Hawaii on and off when I was little and the all the ingredients weren’t always easy to get so sometimes it was an adventure in cooking. *L* Over the years I’ve had the same problems as I lived in Hawaii twice and Okinawa, Japan twice. But again we made it work out somehow most years. It’s the one food item I really look for at Christmas and miss if we don’t have it. It’s very rich and yummy and actually freezes quite well. It’s nice to have a bite of Christmas in June or July and will hold me over till the holidays when I made another. I actually have a wooden recipe box that was my Grandmother’s as well as one I was given when I was in the sixth grade from my Mom. I know what you mean about not being able to leave a wooden box behind. I’ve rescued several myself. Now my mouth is watering thinking about the pudding. *sigh* I will be making this year back in Okinawa. We are spending the holidays there with our daughter and son in law. I’ll have a whole new group of their friends and young Marines they’ll have to dinner to share the pudding with. That is our other holiday tradition, to invite single Marines my husband worked with over the years to our home for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. If they couldn’t go home or didn’t have other plans they were always welcome to come to our home. We’ve had the best times over the years and of course I love to cook for everyone. My daughter and son in law have carried that tradition in their home. I can’t wait!
How wonderful, the Marines for dinner! Send them our love!!
I’ll be happy to do that.
So very happy at least one bunch will all be home for the holidays . . . cried. xoxo
Oh, I would like this so very much! I love things with history!
The recipe box is a very special gift. Our holiday tradition is a special punch recipe that I make for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We sit in the living room with our punch glasses and each member of the family tells what they are most thankful for that year. On Christmas Day we do it again, but tell our wish for the New Year.
Sounds like a lovely tradition!
Dear Susan,
When I saw the photo of the large recipe box I thought, “Oh my gosh! Susan and I have the same recipe box!” I got mine about 20 years ago at a local farm auction, and it was full of hand written reipes, a note, and a very old black button marked Goodyear. I treasure it! I love that you have one like it. I have since acquired two more wooden boxes, which keep company with the British metal one my sister gave me for Christmas in 1977. I use them all! Right now I am writing out recipes in your “To My Daughter” book, which will be a Christmas gift for my daughter-in-law.
One Christmas tradition that I cannot give up is putting chocolate coins and Legos in my son’s stocking, which he hangs on Christmas Eve. I cross stitched it for him for his first Christmas…quite an undertaking with a 9 month old around! He is now 26, and yet the Legos go in! Last year they went back to Iraq with him, where they decorated his desk…everyone who came into his office wanted to play. That warmed this Mom’s heart, I’ll tell you!
By the way…love the apron, and you do not look like Vermont!
xoxoxoxoxo,
queenmum
LOL! Love the Legos to!
LOL, love the Legos too! 🙂
One of my favorite holiday traditions is making gingerbread moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and babies with my 2 “girls” who are now adults. They loved to do the rolling and cutting and decorating, and we have a whole series of annual photos. We always do it the day after Thanksgiving and it all started one Thanksgiving Friday when my first born wanted to know what special Thanksgiving thing was going to happen next….well, let’s see….
cute!
Welcome Home Susan~
I am so glad that you are back in your beautiful home to enjoy all that this season has to offer.
One of my favorite holiday memories and traditions is to make rice pudding to serve at the beginning of our Christmas supper. We serve it in small glass bowls. Right before it is taken to the table an almond is hidden in one of the bowls. Whoever is lucky enough to “find” the almond in their serving is then awarded a little pink pig. Some years it is made out of marzipan, others it is a peppermint pig. We have even handed out a tiny little pig figurine. The pig is for “good luck” throughout the next year. I believe this is a loose translation of a Norwegian tradition. We have alot of family in Sweden, but we are in the deep south 🙂
Sounds darling!
Susan,
My 13 year old son loves to cook and always has. He has started collecting recipes that make him happy from his grandparents and other relatives. But he is also a thrift junkie and that is great thing to keep an eye out for. I found your link in The County Register for Missouri with all the quilt shop info. Thanks!! Love Ya!!
Love your son!
Hi Susan,
One of our first traditions to welcome the Christmas season is: loading up the CD player with Christmas CD’s, putting on our Santa hats, and breaking out the Egg nog while we decorate our home for the holidays.
Blessings to you for your lively and lovely blog,
Joanna
Thank you! I want to say Merry Christmas but even though we’ve been having all these wonderful memories, I guess I should really be saying Happy Halloween first!
I am getting way ahead of myself, but seeing that orange bowl stopped me in my tracks.
First, welcome back – home and to your blog – I enjoy every post! Home is definitely where the heart is!
Second, I do oil my kitchen woods, but with olive oil – never thought about them getting ‘rancid’ – OMG – time to make a change! My favorites are my grandmother’s huge cutting board (handmade by my grandfather over 50 years ago) and my grandmother’s egg beater and rolling pin (handcarved by her brother as wedding presents in 1915) – treasures to be sure.
As for traditions, I am sad to report that I am more of a tradition breaker – the extended family is getting smaller due to distant moves resulting in less communications and fewer gatherings, and of course; the inevitable deaths. I do cherish the family memories and stories I remember from my youth and I am fortunate to be the keeper of much family paraphernalia – valuable as a precious connection to the past.
One tradition I do maintain is the writing of my annual letter which gets snail-mailed to all my family and distant friends. Not only do I reflect on my entire past year, but I get to share my life with those who I rarely, if ever, see. The bonus – the responses I receive in return. This is one tradition that I will continue.
That sounds like a wonderful one — in our family, we called that letter writing tradition a “willard” after my grandfather who also did it every year.
Making Christmas cookies as a family is one of our traditions. Thanks for the giveaway.
You’re welcome!
Hi Susan
I love reading your blog, it’s so enjoyable, it takes me to another place. I forget all about life’s problems at the moment. Thank you for that. I would love to win this because my recipe box is small and stuffed to the gills. The lid won’t properly shut. You’re a blessing! Thank you!
Yes you need Box II .. like the movies.
Well, the fact that you include the song lyrics from Cinderella makes this (surely!) the most magical recipe box in the world, and my heartstrings start singing…. hoping, hoping I’ll be the one picked!
Secret: when I was young, I thought (for sure!) I was adopted (due to the drama around my mom ALWAYS choosing me to do the chores)… thus a Cinderella of sorts. As a result it has and always will be my very most favorite fairytale. In fact, I actually collect Cinderella stories from around the world…. 🙂
Pick me, pick me, PLEASE!!
If I was in charge of this picker, I would pick you! Because you have magic in your blood!
Susan- I loved this post because I really should ‘mineral’ my woods, but I never think to pick up mineral oil when I’m out- and honestly, your perfect step by step instructions are exactly what I’ve needed to overcome the ‘fear’ in possibly screwing it up! How often do you need to re-oil? I’m actually excited about oiling all my spoons now! 🙂
I love your little giveaway treasure, but thinking of my ‘favorite’ holiday tradition seems impossible since there are so many. I think at the moment what I’m most looking forward to this season is our family’s annual caroling party. This will be our fifth year hosting it, and I am proud to say it has become a holiday tradtion for many of our friends and neighbors. We live in an ‘old’ (for the west coast) neighborhood and we go house to house singing the old carols- the children get to carry little battery operated candlesticks and this year my youngest son is hoping to accompany us on his violin. The best part is seeing those who roll their eyes at the idea of singing carols eventually warm up to it, and end up having the most fun of all! After we have caroled long enough to nearly loose our voices, we head back to our house for hot chocolate or homemade hotbuttered rum. The house is lit with candles, a fire burns in the fireplace and our home throbs with the hum of all generations laughing and talking and enjoying eachother’s company. I absolutely love it!
I absolutely love hearing about it! 🙂 — as for the spoons, not that often, every 6 months maybe — but I usually do my cutting board more often, somehow it dries out faster — so maybe once a month, or more.
Thanks! So good to have you as an ‘in’ in the kitchen. 😉
Now that my siblings, parents, and I are scattered across the country, I’m working hard to preserve our family holiday traditions. As the crazy “Auntie Mame” of the family, I’m especially working hard to preserve the traditions that were created by my grandmothers, to document my family history, the stories, recipes, and lore for the next generation – my nieces and nephews. As I go through my grandmothers’ recipe box, I find myself having conversations with them in Heaven and feel their guiding arms on my elbow as I attempt to recreate the ambiance of their houses and the aromas of their kitchen. My blog is now full of Grandma recipes, as well as those of their sisters – my honorary grandmas.
One of the most important of the family holiday traditions focuses around my Southern grandmother’s fruit cake, how it’s tied to the memory of spending three days on the North Carolina farm shucking pecans, how we horded the trove of the nutmeats once the farm was sold off, and how funny it is to try and see my mother attempt to make it now that she’s the grandmother.
Sometimes, it’s not about the fruit cake or the recipe or the card . It’s about remembering Grandma Ollie, especially now that she’s gone.
http://auntienettiesattic.blogspot.com/2007/12/its-not-really-about-fruitcake.html
PS SO GLAD you are blogging. The Willards and the website were so wonderful, but now I get can get immediate Susan fix beyond the many sayings I have cut out and plastered on my computer monitor.
It’s been so much fun Nettie . . . unexpected, but I love it! Thank you, every family needs someone like you!
I’ve always had a “thing” for recipe cards and boxes. And my daughter has shown an interest! What a great “starter kit” for her!
A newish holiday tradition is for us to go to our cabin for Thanksgiving. We bought it in 2006 and have been doing this since. It’s a great place to celebrate Thanksgiving with its fabulous Fall weather!!
That sounds fun!
Hi Susan,
In our House we have always had our Christmas Dinner around noon and open gifts late in the evening on Christmas Eve. When my Brother, Sister and I were little, We and our parents would go to my Paternal Grandparents home and have Christmas with Dad’s other 10 brothers and sisters and their families… (around 60 people I would guess) I miss that .. Alot of the family has passed on now and things change….. My Mom and I make Candies for some of the family tho …..Not as big of an event as when my Dad’s whole family got together… but a tradition full of love none the less 🙂 Then My Mom, Sister,Brother-in-law, Nephew and myself open our stocking gifts on Christmas morning ….. so much fun…. It is wonderful to hear the shrieks of laughter, or see the tears when something special is opened,…. priceless…
I’m glad you and Joe are home safe and thank you for letting us share in your adventures!!!:-) …and whether you have give aways or not..and whether I win or not…. I adore your site… It touches a place in my heart. Thank you, Tina
That’s so nice to hear! I see things, and I think of you girls, so I will probably always have giveaways…I already have other things tucked away . . . can’t help it.
On Christmas Eve my Mom and I would put out cookies and milk for Santa, then we would all get in the car to go to Church. Before we got started my Dad would “forget something” and go back in the house and (I found out later) ate the cookies and drank the milk. After I got a little older (and still in the “believing” stage) I decided that Santa had to work so hard he needed more than cookies and started leaving a sandwich. Dad was glad when that was over, he said. Too much food! 🙂
You have no idea now much your blog means to me. I miss my family and have adopted you. God bless. Love….Vivian
I love being adopted.
Do you have wooden bowls too! LOL! I like them along with the cutting boards and spoons. Love your pig cutting board! How cute is that? And your Dad did a great job on your spoon! Hope you are rested now that you are nesting! Ohhhh and the pumpkins, how I love pumpkins and orange is my favorite color. And my holiday traditions have changed drastically since I had surgery in 2007 and almost died and with my hubby on one deployment after another… And you know, I haven’t had a Christmas tree up because of all of that since 2005. Wow, that has been a while! I had my tree up for Christmas and left it up for most of 2006 while my husband was in Iraq and when I moved in November of that year, well, I haven’t had one up since… OH my and this year, I will be staying with my sister looking for a house in NC as we are preparing to retire from the Army and start life in the civilian world… and you asked about traditions and I had not realized this until I started typing it to you… I guess I needed a nudge in that direction… thanks Susan…
I think you have been pretty busy!
Oh yes, I found that life itself is so very, very precious! I had a friend ask me had I read your blog lately and I said I lived for that blog! LOL! I have learned that I now live for what most take for granted… each day is such a perfect gift no matter what it brings. I am alive to live another day on this side of heaven!! Blessings to you Susan…
You really have it so right. Not everyone gets this, but I think people who come here do! Blessings to you Terri.
P.S. I have my Mother’s wooden recipe box…intact with recipes…..it’s wonderful! I’d love to have one of my own! Hint…hint… lol
Workin on it Vivian!
I love your blog and am so excited when I see the email in my Inbox that you’ve posted to your blog. I’ve never thought about using the mineral oil on my wooden spoons. I will have to give it a try. We welcomed a new great granddaughter to our family the first of September…our 1st great grandchild. Unfortunately she is on the east coast and we are on the west coast. Loved following your train trip across country…love the SLO area…have very dear friends that live there…
Hugs,
Betty T.
Congratulations on your new baby!
One of my favorite Fall holidays is Halloween. When my 3 children were young, they would hurry home from school, change into their costumes, and we would hurry off with other friends and their mom’s to trick or treat in our neighborhood. Over the years, their costumes were always handmade from my imagination. One year, after my son, Jon, received his First Holy Communion, I used his white jacket, added a toy stethoscope, medical mask, jeans and sneakers, and he was instantly Doogie Howser, MD! Another year I used my younger son, Thomas’ blue Communion jacket, added a toy microphone my father’s old fedora hat, and a tie just a little bit askew, and Tom was transformed into Frank Sinatra. Now, my daughter is following in my footsteps; she is dressing my granddaughter, Juliet, who is fondly nicknamed JuJu as a box of jujubes!
So cute, a box of jujubes! Love your costume creativity!
My favorite holiday tradition is buying a special Christmas Ordament for each one of my children – something special to remember the past year. Last year my son went to Australia to study abroad, so of course I bought him an Australian flag/kangaroo ordament; my daughter graduated college last year, so I got her an ordament with her college colors with the date of her graduation… My husband and I get something too, last year I bought a snow flake ordament that was made of tiny pineapples to remind us of our Hawiian vacation. It’s little things like this that makes me happy – I even have a special crystal bird of peace ornament of our wedding date that we got as a wedding gift 27 years ago. Every year I look at my Christmas tree, remembering all the wonderful years we have had together in all those ordaments… Now my children have their own ordament stories to take with them at Christmas to share and continue with their own families someday. Now that is what I call Christmas traditions…
Thanks for letting me share my story…
Chris
Thank you Chris! Your tree is a tree of memories!
I don’t have a favorite holiday tradition to comment about but I do have the tradition of using favorite family recipes over and over. So, like Bonny who is giving the “To My Daughter” recipe book as a gift to her daughter; my daughter will receive one also. My daughter knows about the book and is reminding me often of what recipes I should include. My mom’s famous turkey stuffing, my twice baked potatoes and scrambled eggs, her grammy’s cheese cake, Aunt Kathy’s macaroni and cheese, Aunt Sue’s whoopie pies and Grammy Deb’s monster cookies. The list goes on and on. I especially love the page at the start of each section for helpful tips. I am having as much fun filling it in for her as I hope she does using it. By the way, my daughter loves the pictures you posted from the Madonna Inn. She likes to show her friends when they visit.
Oh that’s so fun, that’s why I wrote that book! Tell your daughter hello for me!
One of the hundred favorite traditions I have (and they are all favorites, believe me) is that of making a traditional English Pudding on “Stir-Up Sunday”– the last Sunday before Advent. I’m always ready to be getting ready for Christmas at that point anyway. 😉 The ingredients make the kitchen smell wonderfully spicy while The Pud is steaming, and then there’s wrapping it up and keeping it for Christmas dinner. My husband makes the brandy sauce (two sauces, depending on how much brandy the guests prefer) and we do light the Pud before serving.
One special thing we do for the children is put their letters to Santa in a special red Santa sack on St. Nicholas Eve (Dec 5) with their slippers. St. Nicholas comes during the night, takes the sack and leaves behind goodies for them to share. When he returns on Christmas Eve he brings back the sack–full of some of the presents requested in their letter!
Ooooo your kids get double the pleasure, two times with Santa!!!
One of my favorite childhood Christmas memories was going to see Santa on the Santa train every year. My grandfather, my dad, and now my brother, has worked on the railroad. Who knows, maybe someday one of my boys will work on the railroad. 🙂 Now, I get to take my two boys to the Santa train, and those warm-fuzzy memories come flooding back every year.
Susan, I’ve been a big fan of yours for many years. Almost twenty years ago, I received your “Heart of the Home” book from my sister, and I still treasure it. You are precious and a blessing.
That was so sweet Beth, thank you!
I cannot wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!
I have a boring recipe binder- maybe I should switch to the
more-charming little cards.
Your stories are wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you for visiting!
I love old recipe boxes! I’ve rescued a few myself over the years and the recipes end up being some of my favorites! My favorite tradition is Christmas decorating on the day after Thanksgiving. It’s so exciting to dig out all of the Christmas things that have been put away for a year. I go through everything one decoration at a time and place it in its rightful spot. I love shuffeling around the house in my PJ’s getting full of glitter and pieces of garland and then after a day of decorating, sitting down for dinner with Thanksgiving leftovers. It’s one of my favorite days of the year!
I know, they all seem like new don’t they!
Susan, love you, your like my sister coming right into my kitchen with each blog!! Thank You!!! I have enjoyed each and every cookbook you have written, and I would enjoy this recipe box too!!! A tradition we all love at my house, is using your “christmas ” cookbook ( my first branch but not my last 🙂 not only for making the cookies, but just reading all your holiday memories and suggestions! This book is out as part of our holiday decoration every year!
That’s nice to hear…love being at your house!
Susan … I love that you share your “love” for recipe boxes. As you know, I lost my home and all of our possessions in a fire now almost three years ago … and one of the dear items I miss is my family recipes … As I have told all of my friends, if you ever have a disaster … GRAB your recipe box … everyone thinks of the important paperwork and photos, but family recipes are just as cherished. I have started a new collection from friends and family, but I SOO miss my own recipe collection … the favorites all spattered and well-worn (and especially my favorite carrot cake recipe) … and I don’t have a BOX to collect them in yet! I would LOVE yours … I already LOVE the Sweet Potato Recipe and have made that almost every Thanksgiving for years … but having it in your own original handwriting would be the “icing” on the cake! Thanks Susan for all you do for all of us … brightening our days and make the world a better place … at least for a few minutes!
Oh Pam, now I will add that to my “emergency list” of things I shouldn’t forget if I have to run out the door. Thank you!
Please please do, Susan! No one ever thinks of it … but it’s so important! 🙂
I will! I’m glad you mentioned it!
Seeing the #s ahead of my comment, I almost decided not to try….then I decided “why not”?!? How I’d love to win that little recipe box. It would MAKE. MY. DAY.
Not going to matter who came in first, it all goes into the hat! Glad you’re here!
One of my most favorite traditions in fall is scavenging the roadsides with my husband for bittersweet. He is the expert “spotter”! We then return home and decorate the house… inside and out… the chandeliers, the mantels, wreaths.
Thank you, Susan for all of your inspiration!
I love bittersweet too, and have a secret place where I “keep” my stash (in the woods).
This would be a perfect bridal shower gift for my soon to be daughter in law, and a perfect way for me to introduce her to you. Susan Branch, queen of all things cute!
xoxo thank you!
What wonderful tips you share with us. Thank you! It has been way too long since I have had the chance to go “antiquing”, but it is now on the top of my to-do list. I have two recipe boxes, both quite vintage but not nearly as wonderful as the old solid oak ones like you have pictured. Now I will add that to my list of things too look for, along with some great wooden spoons. I do, after all, know how to care for them properly now.
My most favorite holiday tradition is that everyone in our growing family tries their best to gather together for holiday meals, each bringing an addition to the food table. My favorite thing to make for dinner is pies, and some years I make 3 or 4 to share, along with home made dinner rolls. Of course there is always lots of cookie baking to be done in December, now with grandchildren helping. I will be adding some new recipes this year from your wonderful cookbooks. Funny how so many holiday traditions seem to center around food.
Food and smells! I just love biscuits at the holidays!
Thank you so much for the cutting board restoration lesson! I have the most wonderful wooden cutting board that I bought at a sale several years ago. The elderly lady that I bought it from said it belonged to her mother and traveled to all their homes with them. It even had the tags, from different train trips when they moved by train, still stapled to the ends! It is such a treasure and I love getting it out during the holidays to roll my pie crusts and cookie dough on!!! When I’m not using it I have is standing next to my hutch in the kitchen just looking beautiful!!! 🙂 I can just picture it sitting on my kitchen table with a wooden recipe box sitting on it!!! 🙂 Thank you for your generous giveaway!!!
My pleasure, I just wanted to see it go to a good home, and think this is definitely the way to make sure that happens! 🙂
One of my favorite Christmas traditions has been to read out loud from Christmas books at night the entire month of December with my twin girls (Polar Express is one of our favorites). On Christmas Eve we would sprinkle reindeer food (a delicious blend of oatmeal and glitter) on the front lawn and the overhang that we could reach from a window. This year my daughters are away at college so we won’t be able to read our books together all month long, but I’m thinking that we should still mix up some reindeer food, on Christmas Eve, just for the memories :).
I think you are right! And you never know . . . who might just come around to eat it!
Susan, you make all of us feel so special! We love sharing in your life, and you sharing in ours. What a large group of sisters we are!! When I thought TRADITION……the word ROLLS came to mind. Homemade yeast rolls of course. My grandmother made them, my mother made them, I make them, and my two daughters are learning to make them! A quart of milk, LOTS of flour, yeast, sugar, etc etc. Smelling them, and seeing them brown just right, (having basted them in butter), is truly one of the greatest joys of this life!
Love you,
Jane Alexander
Absolutely the best. And then split, buttered, covered with turkey meat, and drowned in gravy!
Hi Susan,
Another fabulous post!!!
Love the tip on the spoons and wood board. My Mom used to have a chopping block a huge heavy one and she would salt and oil it. I loved how it looked when she was done and it looked like new.
Oh the memories of my Moms recipe box. She used to have a wood recipe box back when I was little. I think when she moved years ago some how it was lost? broken? I don’t know. I know I remember exactly what it looked like and oh if I can have the recipes that my Mom had in that box. That box was like magic to me.
Okay so holiday traditions. Well there were tons of them but then my Mom died a few years ago and they all seemed to have gone with her. My Mom made Christmas magical. We kept some but then a few months ago my Dad died. I know I have to have traditions for my children. We do put out cookies for Santa and we leave the reindeer carrots and sparkley oatmeal. Our stockings are filled till they are overflowed and I like to open all the gifts under the tree extra slow to make it last. We also have a beautiful Christmas breakfast with a sausage egg casserole and tons of things to pick on. I sure do hope I win that box. But I am sure whoever wins it will love it. You make everything so beautiful and cozy
we all love you Susan.
deezie
Thank you Deezie, it sounds like you’re doing an amazing job of keeping the traditions of your mom!
Oh, Susan, I’d love to have this box from your own hands! My favorite cooking holiday tradition is boiling the turkey bones after Thanksgiving or Christmas to make turkey noodle soup! It’s something my Mom did (and still does), and there is NOTHING like that wonderful smell! We have a tiny kitchen with a tiny oven, and so several years ago we got a big Nesco stand-along baker, and that’s where I put the bones, and the usual things to make stock, and let it simmer while we’re cleaning up after the big meal. It makes quarts and quarts of that wonderful stuff, which is frozen and enjoyed for months later. YUMM!
The leftovers are almost as good as the original meal!
I have realized over the years that its the things that have history that mean more and not the stuff you buy which you can get rid of without any regret. A recipe box is a lovely way to pass on YOU and other special recipes and suggestions to future family members, in spirit when not in body
So true!
So many comments already but I will throw my hat in the ring anyway 🙂
Just wanted to thank you for all that you do on this blog! What a great tip (the mineral oil). Love seeing the inside of Madonna Inn too! My husband and I spent a night or 2 there on our honeymoon 20 years ago (!?!?!) and stayed in the waterfall room 🙂 I wanted to mention that the hotel matchbooks that were in the room were pink as well, and I still have one!
On the Holiday traditions…I have so many, but the newest tradition I started 4 years ago when my daughter was born is building a gingerbread house, so much fun to do it with her now, I can’t wait to make this years!
Thanks again Susan, your posts are so much fun!
Thank you Melissa! I remember the matchbooks too!
Isn’t it good to be home! Sure do love your blog on all the homey, simple pleasures in life. That is what I like the best about this time of the year as well as every other time of the year too!
I picked up an ancient book at the thrift store for 50 cents called Building and Using Our Sun-Heated Greenhouse by Helen and Scott Nearing who were ancient back then in their 90’s (Mr.) and 70’s (Mrs.). My husband read me a chapter every night as the weather is turning cooler. It is inspiring me to think green for fall, winter and early spring, and to keep working hard no matter how old I get! Take care and may the best lady win!
LOL, yes!
Susan,
I love your collection of wooden ware, particularly the personalized wooden spoon that your father made. That’s an heirloom, for sure!
I have a really good recipe for fudge that I make each year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My family, friends and co-workers have come to expect their annual fudge-fix….and I deliver! 🙂 It just wouldn’t be the holiday season without this fudge!
Marilyn (in Dallas)
I’m sure it wouldn’t! Fudge makers are always very popular around this house!
Hi Susan
Your kitchen truly shows the love you have for it…. comfort, love, memories, home! I never tier of seeing this lovely room…. Have a good cup of coffee! bake! and yes in your slippers. Home is where the heart is and that’s where yours is!
xoxo Kim!
Susan sometimes I forget and put Kim I wanted to put kimi OOPS
I think I can smell the pumpkin curry from down here in North Carolina! We are having a delicious, cool, rainy fall day here (finally!) and I have so many holiday traditions that I couldn’t bear to single one of them out…. but I do love baking, and it warms my heart when my children request something we’ve made before. Caramel pecan pie is a favorite down this way, and nothing says “fall is here!” quite like that coming out of the oven. I love functional antiques, too, and would love to give that sweet recipe box pride of place in my kitchen!! Thanks for this enchanted place on the web, dear Susan!
Thanks for being here Amy!
Oh Susan, again you bring back memories of my mom and grandma with the recipe box. I have 2 boxes not wooden like that, but they both mean so much to me. Of course one is grandma’s and one is mom’s, both of them gone now physically but still here always with me, especially in the kitchen…
Thank you for sharing and helping to bring sunshine to my day. (It’s raining and cold outside)
xoxo
Raining here too, quite cozy isn’t it? 🙂
“If a dream is a wish your heart makes, then a dish is a dream that your hands make”…from my husband, Jim, who loves to sit with me and read your blog posts as much as I do.
And its the day before we are taking an autumn road trip to Vermont so will I see something similar to your apron in real life?
I think you will. The colors haven’t changed down here, but as we went though upstate NY, the colors were wonderful. Tell Jim I said hello!
Kathy … pick up a leaf for me … never been on the East Coast … Pam from So Cal here! Enjoy your journey!
Kathy, you will enjoy your Vermont trip. Rich (my hubby) and I just took a trip there (the Bennington area) last week. The colors were just starting to become visible. Susan is right, the colors in Upstate NY were just beautiful by the time we left. Enjoy your trip and yes…Susan’s apron is exactly what you are going to see. Don’t forget your camera! ~ Doreen ~
We actually live in upstate NY (Rochester area) so we do see the beauty of autumn and now we get to see Vermont for our first time from our motor home. We are excited! Thank you ladies for assuring us we chose the right destination.
Aloha! I would love to give it a new home. ~Laura
Aloha back! Something tells me I can guess where that home might be!
I feel as if I just took a twain trip across the country, thanks to your blog! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Keep up the wonderful writings. I feel like I know you personally, like I’ve known you for years, like your one of my bestest friends. Every time I get on the computer I check my email for a “letter” from my best friend, Sue. I love you, and all the adventures you take us on. Thank-you so very much!!!!
Linda
Oh Linda, how sweet, we are a great big, really good bunch of best friends!
Favorite holiday tradition…being anywhere family is, wrapping paper strewn about, delicious cooking smells coming from kitchen, music playing, kids laughing…
Perfect!
Susan,
Oh wow! Over 500 comments. All those wonderful ladies wanting that special recipe box you found, and I am one of them too!!! My daughter is getting married next year and I would love to give her something special, something to treasure in her own “kitchen temple.” She has already the gene for needing to have just the right bowl for the right food that she has gotten for me, and oh I have so many bowls!!! I was so inspired by your blog about revitalizing your wooden spoons and cutting board and the oil is on my next shopping list. Thank you. After all isn’t it the simple things in life that make us smile??? Thank you so much for everything you add to so many ladies lives! I just found your blog this year but have followed your calendars for years, absolutely treasuring them! The day I decided to google you and found you on FB and your blog I was in heaven on earth! Thank you so much. I hope your life is as happy and fulfilling as it can possibly be. God bless you always! patty
Thank you so much Patty — I’ve only been blogging since June, it’s as new for me as it is for you — and it’s my new “toy” — I love doing it! Thank you for finding it!
Love reading your blog!
As for holiday traditions in our family, we are finding they they have been changing over the years. Things changed when my mother, and then my mother-in-law passed away. Then my husband and I moved for work about 300 miles away from our kids and grandboys. And when your children marry, you have to take in account their family traditions. It’s been sad at times but the important thing is to just be together as often as possible. We sit back and thank our blessings.
Hard to be so far away!
Wow! Seeing your old, loved recipe box brought back some memories. Way back when I started cooking classes in junior high school, my talented dad made me a wooden recipe box out in his workshop. He cut different pictures of food out of magazines and decoupaged(sp?) them all over the sides and top and even inside. I remember buying colored (it was the 70’s) 3 x 5 index cards and writing all my new recipes from school on them in my then teeny-tiny 13-year old handwriting and filing them in the box, together with recipes that I found and cut out of magazines. Remember “Porcupine Meatballs”? Or “Snickerdoodles’? My Dad’s “favorite” recipe – he said – was for the muffins that I would make for him every Sunday morning. Time passed and Dad’s recipe box was packed away. A few years ago, I happened upon the little recipe box and sat down and examined it and read all those recipes written in such tiny handwriting! All the work that went into the making of that little box, and I hadn’t even asked him for it. He just made it and gave it to me. He was always a talented woodworker and I could always find him out in the his workshop every Sunday afternoon working on something – almost like Santa in his workshop! Anyway, I ended up giving it to my daughter Katie since she was interested in cooking and baking and told her how Gramps had made it and what recipes I used to make from the cards inside. I knew it was in good hands because she is sentimental like me and I know she will appreciate it and add her own recipes to it. (There are still a few empty index cards waiting to be filled out.) Who knows? Maybe someday Katie will give it to her daughter!
How great! That’s just the right path for recipe boxes to take!
One of our favorite traditions was carving jack o lanterns when grandkids were younger! Now we have great grandchild on the way start again next year I guess! Can’t wait! Thanks for the tips on wooden utensils!
You’re welcome, thanks for stopping by!
Our Holiday tradition is a very popular one. At our Thanksgiving meal we go around the table and everyone gives what they are mose thankful for. My husband and I have 10 grandchildren (with one more due any day now) and it is so interesting, heart warming and uplifting to hear what those little ones are thankful for. It truely makes Thanksgiving a day to be thankful for.
🙂
Susan,
I would love to have this box to sit next to the pig board that my father made for me in 1961. It would be a special place to store a lifetime of recipes from my parents.
I love this blog. You are always “feeding” my creativity.
Thank you, Candy
Thank you for being hungry!
What a wonderful gift ! I love old recipes and old recipe boxes….have one that is wooden and 35 years ago when I was student teaching the High School girls in the Library Club bought it as a going away gift for me since I just got engaged. They each put in a recipe….and I still have the box ( and the recipes) on my kitchen counter…..and think of them ( all grown up now) and what they shared with me. OK – Favorite Holiday Tradition was hard to pick because there are so many ( mostly I love to take your advice and “Be an ELF”) but it would have to be what we call “Holy Supper”. My ethnic background is Slovak and my husband’s is Ukrainian – and our famiy holiday traditions are sort of the same. Christmas Eve is the time for Holy Supper ( in Slovak it’s called Valijah…but I don’t think that is the correct spelling) and we have special foods and traditions. Each region of Slovakia and the Ukraine had a little different take, so we meld all the ones from each side of our famiy together. Early in the day I set the table for guests with all my best stuff….and we always set an extra place for the Baby Jesus so there will be room for him at our inn. Dinner does not start until the first star appears in the sky…and it begins with flat wafers called Oplatki that have holy Christmas scenes pressed in them – this is from a time when the people in the Carpathian Mountains might have gotten snowed in for Christmas so the local priest would give them some of these to have Communion. Now we all get one on our plate and everyone breaks a little piece off of each others while we wish a Merry Christmas. The food consists of Pirogie ( dough pockets filled with potatoes, or cheese, or sometimes prunes), fish , peas, prunes, homemade bread, and wine . Sometimes we have a cabbage soup that was my husband’s Baba’s (grandmother) recipe. We sit and talk and eat and remember people no longer with us…..and listen to Christmas music the whole time. Dessert was the prunes when I was a little girl, but now it is lots of Christmas cookies ! When we are cleaning up we put a little food on the tablecloth then shake it out so all the animals who are out on Christmas Eve will get fed. I LOVE THAT WE DO THIS….I can remember being so excited for this as a little girl, and my Dad had a family tradition that once you sat down at the table for this you could NOT get up for anything until dinner was over……one Christmas eve my sister’s boyfriend was knocking at the door forever before we could get up and let him in…..we don’t keep that part of the tradtion any longer. But for 34 years we have hosted or gone to a relative for Holy Supper. A lot of my family and friends used to keep this tradtion, but it’s fading away. I sit at the table in my home and think of how generations before me celebrated this way, and how my grandparents celebrated this way, and now….we keep it alive. I really cannot imagine the holidays without “Holy Supper” !
This is what makes America so very beautiful, all these different traditions from all over the world, right here! This is just wonderful Ann, thank you for sharing it with us!
Wonderful traditions, Ann. I love hearing about Christmas traditions from other countries! How special to share this with your family (and now with us!).
I am also a recipe box “rescuer” but have never been lucky enough to find a wooden one filled with recipes. My latest one was a “Land of Lakes” metal one. Having that beautiful one from you would surely make my collection VERY special!
Just every so often, I run across one of them, a little treasure. Thanks Sharon!
Susan – the wooden recipe box is such a treat and anyone would be lucky to have it. I love cookbooks and like so many others can read them like a novel. Recipes can tell so many stories of times with family and friends – holidays, celebrations, date nights and our treasured day-to-day memories….. my Honey’s Spaghetti, Lisa’s Baked Corn, Tammie’s Fruit Dip…or the Egg Casserole I make Christmas morning and the Oyster Stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas or Grandma’s Baked Pineapple and Mom’s Strawberry Pie at Easter. Certain foods remind us of special times and the love of our family and friends. For me, preparing these foods for my family is an expression of my love and my recipes are a treasured keepsake. Thank you for the inspiration you provide in your books, your newsletter and your blog. I look forward to everything new that comes out. Thanks Susan! : ) Kim
Heaven Kim, but you just made me so hungry! I’m inspired, have to cook something!
I have to many memories….. I guess just basking in the love and warmth of my family for the holidays. Loving on each other. The recipe box is delightful. What a treasure that would be to pass on to my loved ones.
Thank you Lois!
When my sister and I were growing up, my mom would make “Orange Rolls with Chocolate Chips” (yeast required) and we’d have them once a year ……. on Christmas morning. She continued this tradition as we grew into adults, had children of our own, and everyone would pile into their cars and go wherever she was …… either at my sister’s house or mine. Now that she is 91, I have taken over the tradition because she taught me how to make those delicious Orange rolls. Christmas morning is not the same without them. The rolls are delicious and out of this world but my mother makes this Christmas tradition complete.
Welcome home Susan ………….. and thank you for allowing all of us into your world as you live life to the fullest!
They really sound fantastic . . . the chocolate chips on Christmas morning, to me, would hit the spot! Thank you Barbara!
My own personal holiday tradition is to read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at Halloween, and “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens every Christmas. Both really get me in the mood and set the atmosphere.
You can’t go wrong with those two!!! Thank you Tina!
Not so much a holiday tradition, but for family weddings I love to pass along family recipes to the new bride and groom. I request recipes from family members on both sides and provide them with the cards so they all start off matching and then buy a card recipe file to put them in. So far, everyone loves this idea.
Christmas I love to give a gift to someone who has made an impact or impression on me during the past year – they are unsuspecting and I think it is nice to tell them I appreciate them with a small gift. Could be someone who just called to see how I was feeling – a courteous cashier, a waitress at our favorite restaurant, or a neighbor that just remembered us with cookies.
Love the idea of the antique recipe box – could sit and wonder for hours where this little box has been, what it has seen and what recipes it has shared. What a lovely giveaway – that speaks to my heart. Judy C would be a wonderful caretaker.
LOVE that . . . surprises are always the best! xoxo
How can I choose a favorite fall tradition? It is my very FAVORITE season.
I just put mineral oil on my shopping list, guess what I’ll be doing soon. I love old kitchen things, my most treasured ones belonged to my mom, I feel close to her when I use them. One of my favorites is an old wood spoon worn smooth by her and now me.
Thanks for the tip!
I wonder if my mom is going to notice me rummaging around in her drawers and missing kitchen equipment??? Thank you Cindy!
Yay! When you were looking for suggestions about what to blog about when you got home, I really wanted to shout from the rooftops….cutting boards & wooden spoon care, please!!
Now I can add cutting board beautification to my list of fun stuff to do on my Fall Break. BTW, it started today!! I work at an elementary school as a lunch lady. I love my job! I am lucky enough to work with a great group of ladies. And the kids are so cute!
Have a great evening! Talk to you later!
LOL Ronda, so glad I picked the right thing!
My favorite Christmas was spent in New Hampshire at my sister’s house and the only gifts that we were allowed to give, were ones that we made ourselves or if you weren’t handy were handmade. The gifts ranged from chocolate chip cookies to hand made mittens it was truly a Christmas from the heart simple and joyous.
Perfect.
Oh my, I’m the 543rd comment on this very special blog… I have no chance to win. But here I go. My children are just beginning to “leave the nest” and my favorite, warm feeling is that they WANT to come home for the holidays. I never thought I was such a great cook, until my kids say how much the miss the meals I made, day in, day out, for them. But on xmas eve,my children and husband make pizza (from scratch) since I was the one creating xmas dinner and all that goes with it the following day. At one time, this was the only dish they knew how to make! “Just sit, have a glass of wine while the kids and I create the best pizza ever”. That’s AFTER I’ve gone to purchase all the ingredients, of course. But it’s still a delight to watch three grown children and husband “create” a xmas pizza for mom, while I look as it I’m relaxing on the couch, but really, I’m watching their reflection through my glass fireplace doors. What a delight.
Sweet! Love the reflection in the fireplace doors! And you have as much chance of winning, btw, as everyone, because all the names go into some sort of blog-equipped electronic “hat” and a name is “drawn” randomly . . . There are worse odds than one chance in 543! xoxo
Hi Sue! I started a holiday recipe box for my sons when they were little. I bought plain wooden recipe boxes and stained them. Each year, I painted one side with something relevant to their lives. And every Christmas, family members would add recipes in different categories. Sometimes I would ask their special teachers, coaches or other important adults in their lives to contribute. One of my sons has a recipe for ‘how to be a team player’. They are now 22 and 18, and this year will bring another set of recipe cards. They have your cards in there as well, with family recipes on them. Not sure what to add (paint) to the sides of the boxes this year, but I will think of something. 🙂 Thanks for all your inspiration. xo Tracy
What treasures those boxes are!!! Thank you Tracy!
Hi Sue!
Where the holidays are concerned, EVERYTHING is a tradition in our family. Pie Day the day before Thanksgiving is legendary. The day after Thanksgiving is the first “official” day of listening to Christmas music, which plays pretty much 24/7 (I can’t wait). Decorating the tree with the same ornaments that hold so many memories. Baking coffee cakes for Christmas morning. Christmas Eve at my Mom and Dad’s. I love this time of year!!!
Thank you Debbie, just wonderful!
Dear Susan,
I so enjoyed going with you on your train adventure, how wonderful of you and Joe to include all of us! And how much fun would that be to own the little recipe box, which you have filled with love! Sending you hugs!
Cocoa
Back to you Cocoa!
Dear Susan…what a wonderful post. I actually have a wooden box that my mum gave me when I was old enough to copy recipes( about 7 or 8 years old). My Grandmother and Great Auntie were THE recipe queens, and I felt so special being included in their “club”. Just in case my name is picked, I would love to donate that box to one of the Daring Girls Club members. Would seem fitting, and maybe they would cherish their wooden box for 51 years, like I have!
Oh, and for my Holiday tradition…. we always put on the first Christmas CD after the dishes are done. It is the official start of the Christmas holidays for us and I am a huge lover of Christmas music!
Oh I love the idea of making an event out of putting on the music! Thank you for your memories, loved it!
Susan, you have solved a mystery for me. I never knew how to properly care for my wooden cutting boards and spoons. They are still with me, so I guess my transgressions towards them weren’t too bad. Thank you! Since Christmas is such a busy time, and we still want to see everybody, we invite our closest, non-relative friends over on the night of the Winter Solstice for a candlelit dinner. It’s a good excuse to entertain by the glow of candles and twinkle lights. Everything sparkles. Now, about that Onion Casserole recipe peeking out of your box……
🙂 I’ll put it up soon!
So good to see you “at home” again, Susan. Thank You for taking us with you on
your travels..it was fun for you and for us!
As always, you inspire us with the simple things in life… It would be wondeful to win your special recipe box but I know you will agree that we can all create our
very own to give away …
I’m about ready to gather my recipe treasures and find the right box for them…
a gift from the heart…so very special…I know I will not be alone in this
endeavor…
We will be together in creating memories.
Thank You ….you are a gift!
Lillian
That was the idea, I figured we can all make one of these ourselves! Thank you Lillian!
I’m not sucking up, I promise! But, every year I make your grandmother’s stuffing and Annie Hall’s sugar cookies. It isn’t the holidays without those two wonderful recipes!
I discovered your books right after I married my husband. I loved all your tips and hints (I put put jingle bells on my babies’ shoes because of you!) and over the years our traditions grew, many straight from your books.
One year we moved far away because of my husband’s job. It was November, dark and wet and I was terribly homesick. I remember making your cookies, from your books, for Christmas, and finding just a little bit of comfort in the familiar recipes. Thank you!
Oh Joan, that was so nice. My grandma would be so happy! Thank you!
Oh, Susan! This is so fun…reading your blog and reading everyone’s comments…especially when you have a wonderful Girlfriend Giveaway like this!! 🙂
“Handmade” always seem a little bit more special around these holidays. My daughter-in-law and I make/bake/create small handmade gifts to give to special friends. I have no daughters so the gift of her time for an annual handmade Christmas gift session is very, very precious to me. Our Christmas 2011 project is (ta…da!) to be Susan Branch’s Chocolate Sauce! We have already printed out your blog pages that give the “how to”!
Also, another holiday tradition I like is…to send Thanksgiving cards to everyone on my Christmas card list! (Yes, you read that correctly!) Its the perfect time to express Thankfulness to everyone for their Friendships! We tell them what a Blessing they are in our lives…whether from past memories or from current relationships! They receive our best Holiday wishes for Thanksgiving AND for Christmas and New Years…during a less hectic time. (They tell me they actually have time to read them!) 🙂 Then I sit back and enjoy each and every Christmas card that is delivered to our home…without the stress of having to get out Christmas cards! 🙂 YAY!
Taking the time to think/write this comment AND reading all the other comments has released a flood of appreciation! Thank you, as always, Susan, for bringing out the best of our everyday lives!!! <3
p/s Thank you for wooden spoons and cutting boards maintenance advice, too!
I love everything about your Thanksgiving card idea! Thank you Charlene for taking the time to be a part of this!
Hi Susan,
One of my favorite autumn traditions is to make lots of soup. One of my favorites is your wonderful Butternut squash soup from your Autumn book, but I serve it in big bowls instead of shot glasses. When I saw your leaf garland a few blog entries ago, I thought that I should let everyone know what I do with my favorite fall leaves. I press them between two sheets of wax paper. Use an iron on a low setting and a dish towel over the wax paper of course. I cut out the sheets of wax paper to fit inside the window panes on my kitchen door. This is so pretty. I don’t use curtains on the door and I leave one or two panes open to see out of. I can’t remember where I got the idea….maybe it was from YOU!
I need to makes some of that butternut squash soup . . . love it! I like your idea, not mine :-), are you saying that the wax paper seals the leaves on the inside?
Hi Susan! I so enjoyed your train trips! I too love to travel by train. I too see things at antique shops and can’t leave them behind. I tend to find bowls, lots of old bowls that look lonely, and sewing things… old quilt blocks, pin cushions, needle cases, wooden thread spools and old cabinet photos of children and women. Your blog is great, you’re more faithful than I am with mine. Enjoy nesting! oh… p.s. What you said about men making hammering noises… I totally agree, it definitely is a fabulous sound, that means “home & love” to me.
I know, like we’re cared for . . . xoxo
Welcome back to your kitchen, Susan! Your feeling of “past bridges to the future” stir in me, too, at this time of year. As a matter of fact, I’ve already been pulling out my Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes to decide on menus and gifts from my kitchen and on the top of my gifts to give list is your Chocolate Fudge Sauce.
Another tip for using mineral oil on wooden items is to oil the handles on your kitchen knives. I’ve had one sent of wooden handled knives for 40 years and still are in fine shape.
Thank you for sharing on your blog and reading all the wonderful Christmas traditions that your fans observe. You are an inspiration for creating from the heart and sharing with everyone. Bless you!
Thank you Suzi … and for the reminder about the knife handles too!
Oh love the old wooden recipe box…the first of my recipes to go inside will be for “Cheeseballs.” I’ve made them for Christmas giving (and snacking) every year since the early 70’s and my daughter now keeps the tradition alive for the next generation. I just read that Cheeseballs are being revived as a “vintage appetizer!” Ha ha…you know what that makes me!
Let’s not think about it! 🙂
I’m running back and forth between the computer and my stove where I’m cooking up some pear preserves. My house is starting to smell wonderful — just like the holidays, which is when these pear preserves will make their debut as gifts for extended family. I have a “thing” for any old recipe box. Inside my cupboard are some little metal ones with mid-century designs. I would certainly make room for a sweet wooden one with a touch of Susan Branch for good measure. You’re a generous soul!
Thank you Jodi, that pear preserves sounds wonderful!
Susan i have a question on the mineral oil, would it help an antique table regain its shine, i hate using furniture sprays on it, seems to make it shine and then a few days later the wood is dull again. would the mineral oil help clean the wood and leave a good shine on it??? i hate using commercial furniture oils or sprays on that old table every week and it seems i shouldn’t have to do that. i also have other antique pieces of furniture that i would rather use the mineral oil on than the sprays. thanks for the help. 🙂 Happy Fall
oops forgot to ask , but i would just love that recipe to the curried pumpkin pots, may try that with our Thanksgiving dinner this year along with grandma’s cranberry -pear sauce and acorn squash with apples. thanks again. 🙂
That’s in the Autumn Book if you have it . . . ? I think it’s page 37.
Only if the table doesn’t have a finish on it … it will only work on raw wood, otherwise the finish just pushes back at the oil and it won’t absorb. I use it on my wooden kitchen table. Hope this helps!
thank you Susan it will, thats my project for today, cleaning and oiling the table, the boards and the spoons, even grandma’s old goat spoon!!! thanks again. will look that recipe up, sounds yummy for Thanksgiving. hugs…. 😉
Hi Susan, When our two boys were small, we would make them wait upstairs until my husband and I grabbed our robes and camera before they could run downstairs to see what Santa had brought. Now that they are 17 and 20, we wake THEM up to go downstairs. I always have a breakfast bread, either muffins or scones in the oven while we open presents for after the gift-opening frenzy.
I read your blog to my husband often, and he always says that he knows why I love you so much…kindred spirits! I’m going to write you a long letter someday, like I’ve been telling myself I’ll do for years. We are so much alike it’s weird. I love you, Susan. You truly are a great girlfriend!
So sweet Carol! Thank you, and say hi to your husband for me!
I so enjoy reading your blogs. I love people who enjoy everyday life and the little things. The recipe box would be a wonderful addition to my recipe collection. Something useful to leave to my daughters.
Thank you Barbara, glad to have you here!
And you thought when you started this blog that you might be writing to yourself….right! I’m sitting here with my cup of tea at my kitchen table looking over at my cutting board…boy…shame on me, the poor thing needs attention. Guess I’ll have to get to it soon. As for family traditions, I always like to use the utensils my mom used when she was preparing our holiday dinners when I make mine. There is just something wonderful that is added to the experience when I can hold onto the handle of her pastry cutter and almost feel her working the dough. It is such a comforting feeling. One that talks to the soul and gives the heart a little moment of extra love if you know what I mean. When my mom passes away, I took her recipe box (which was just a tin box) and went through it. Tears came to my eyes as I read the back of some of the recipe cards. She wrote down some of the special times she used the recipe and how she enjoyed it. We go through life taking each day for granted and each meal as just another meal….my mom thought ahead…she even wrote little notes to us to let us know what and what not to do when following her recipe. Well, my tea cup is empty, the
kitchen is silent..but my cutting board is giving me the dirty look so I’d better go see if I have some mineral oil under the sink. Thanks for the chance to share. Happy you are enjoying your kitchen. The “girlfriends” really missed you Susan, such and nice cozy feeling knowing you are home.
Yes, that’s what I thought! Isn’t it wonderful to be so wrong? 🙂 I love what you wrote . . . I have my grandma’s cookie spoon, we are so lucky. Thank you Doreen!
I am a immigrant. Came from The Netherlands. Didn’t really do much of cooking till i came to the U.S. about 25 yrs. ago.
Funny how that goes… 🙂 Now i have lots of favorite recipe’s. My kids have asked for the certain ones they love. And now my grand daughter (10) is starting to ask to help. For sure this year we are making pumpkin rolls. Even after all these years i am not a great pumpkin pie fan. But i can handle the rolls. Messy…but oh so good! As always, love your pictures. And the photo of your kitchen…so warm. Inviting. Thanks for the tip on treating the wood. I will do that. Love old things. Knowing they have been loved by many before us. Just feels good… 🙂
Thank you Els . . .
After eating an early dinner on Thanksgiving Day, we pile into the car and head out to the annual “Overly Festival of Lights”, held at one of the local fairgrounds. As we drive through the lighted wonderland (all headlights off, please), Christmas music blares from hidden speakers all along the route. Once we complete the drive-through, we can’t wait to park the car and jump out to explore the Christmas Shoppe and the lavish miniature railroad display inside one of the rustic cabins. The large Nativity display, complete with live sheep, goats, and donkeys, is our next stop. Then, it’s time to board one of the horse-drawn covered hay wagons for a spin around the lighted display. The beautiful (huge) workhorses have jingle bells on their bridles and it’s magical as they pull all of us crazy folks through the whole display. We hit the hot chocolate stand next, as we head over to sit on the logs surrounding the big bonfire. Everyone looks mesmerized as they sit staring into the crackling fire. Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and even Elvis fill the air with Christmas music. On the way out, there’s a stop at the Kettle Korn Shoppe to get snacks to eat on the way home. Brrrrrr, it’s cold. But what a way to get into the holiday spirit.
That sounds like holiday spirit to me! How fun!
I felt terrible that there were so few comments (only 547 at this point!) – ha – so I thought I would add to the mountain! (LOVE the Vermont mountains and your apron, by the way!). One personal holiday tradition is to stay up late, by myself, on Christmas Eve after we’ve come home from church and everyone else is tucked into bed & dreaming of sugarplums. I live to listen to Christmas songs on my headphones (and sing along, softly), while sprucing up the kitchen and family room, arranging the presents under the tree just SO, and then filling the stockings with care! I often find myself having such a good time enjoying the Christmas magic that I tend to stay up a little too late (and sometimes pay for it later!), but I can’t break myself away from the Christmas spell while I play Elf!
Thanks for helping me get into the spirit of holidays to come! Your blog is a blessing and a treasure…. many, many thanks for your time and efforts. xo
Thank you for your part too Cindy! I could just see you there in front of the tree!
Love the sweet little box, would love to have it on my windowsill holding some crochet items next to the table in the kitchen, where I crochet daily!
Pretty picture!
Hi Susan! Love your blog. You keep me smiling and chuckling along your daily journey!
My most treasured family tradition as a child was going to cut a tree every December. Sometimes it was on my birthday (2 weeks before Christmas). It was a time of glee, wonder and excitement for me and my brothers and sister. All my Dad’s brothers (4 of them) and their young families would go. We went to tree farms that ususally had a hay ride on a trailer drawn by horses or tractor. We would be given a candy cane and hot chocolate at the end of our time there. We did this into our teen years and then when I was married and had children we began our own tradition of going to Mt. Hood and cutting a tree for our young family. We would pack sandwiches and hot cocoa in a container with mugs and add our marshmallows in the car after being outside in the cold and sometimes snowy afternoon with our tabogans. Very fun memories!
Best of luck to all who have entered for your treasured “find”. God bless you and your family in these upcoming holidays. : )
What a great memory . . . I love hay rides! Thank you Helene!
Since moving to our new place just one year ago after living in the same house in Seattle for exactly 40 years we are starting new traditions around harvest time. We are surrounded by apples so we have put our apple press into service and invited two groups of friends over to fill their cartons with wonderful apple juice. Hubby and I also pick up walnuts from our one tree (thank goodness) and put them on a rack to dry.
Nature at this time of year is especially wonderful isn’t it? Thank you Cheryle!
Wow maybe a wooden receipe would be the answer for all my ‘very old’ family receipes and I can get rid of the plastic thingie which I thing is too modern pour moi. Since I am old I don’t mind my items being old as well. The older things were always made for a ‘good purpose’ and to last a lifetime or more.
It would also be a ‘sweet birthday’ present pour moi which is next week. When I win would you please sign it pour moi as that would make it extra special.
What a wonderful tip for keeping wooden tools in good shape. I also love wooden bread boards and now it is harder to find them as most is made of glass, plastic, and you name-the-material. Love all the natural things for my kitchen.
Never liked the melmac, plastic, etc….. Always used glass dishes, glass jars, glass canning jars, etc. Never have liked all the ‘throw-away-items’ for the kitchen and never used foam cups, perfer fabric napkins to paper, etc. Love to eat in places where they still used cloth tableclothes and napkins, don’t you?
With gratitude,
Sylvia Faye
Yes I do, I liked old even when I was young!
It sounds like you had a wonderful trip. When my son was little, I started playing a game with him to help keep him from being so irritable driving home from daycare/school. He would be hungry and tired, while I was mentally changing hats from office manager to single mom. All the while thinking what we would eat for supper. Right after Thanksgiving, every time we were out at night, we would see who could spot the most lighted Christmas trees. The winner would get to pick the bed tim story to read that night. We also make a delicious little ham/swiss cheese sandwich that everyone loves and expects. When my son went off to college, I would send a care package to him with these little finger sandwiches. I only make them for special occasions… okay… for us, everyday can be a special occasion!
I am in need of a new recipe box. Would love to win one. Collecting recipes and cookbooks is my new hobby.
Have a great day.
Kath
Little games like that make such a difference! It doesn’t take much!
What a wonderfully fabulous give away !!!!
Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday !!! It is filled with such beautiful, sweet memories for me ….
I am 52 years old, so 45 years ago … my Dad and started a tradition that would continue to this year … God willing. Thanksgiving morning, Daddy and I were up early to watch the parades … and He asked me if I would like French Toast :0) I know that he had never made it before … but to me … it was the very best french toast I had ever tasted …. and for 45 years, he has made me, and now my Husband, Daughter and Son … french toast. Daddy is 87 and wonderful ….
Many things have changed in the 45 years, the parades are not quite the same …. oh but I sure look forward to Thanksgiving morning this year …. with Daddy and french toast :0)
Thank You for letting me share this ….
ohhh, little tears, that was nice!
Susan, I don’t usually make comments on blogs I read, but I truly do look forward to reading what you have to share. I got your book, “Love from the Heart of the Home” years ago and rediscovered you through four of your books this past year. I love all your books and the wonderful ideas and illustrations. They are beautiful! One tradition we have had for the holidays has been making Christmas cookies and attending a Christmas Eve. candles and carols service at Church, when our schedules have allowed for it. I have enjoyed reading about your train trips as of lately, among your posts and I really enjoy the videos you include and the links to the music. The wooden recipe box is beautiful and truly a treasure for someone, fortunate to receive it! I appreciate the tips for the wooden boards and spoons and will have to try it out myself. Thank you so much for sharing with us all. Take care, Susan… Teena
I am honored when people comment, so thank you for taking the time Teena! So happy you are liking everything!