by Sadie Grey

Created on: November 19, 2008   Last Updated: November 23, 2008

Sadly, I must agree that cookbooks are becoming a thing of the past. No one wants to sit and flip through cookbooks anymore and check out all the recipes. Kitchens don't seem to have room for them, and most homemakers have a computer set up nearby for easy access.

I have more than a couple favorite brownie recipes. Several in fact. However, I make one recipe when I'm with family, because it's the brownie they all expect. The recipe comes from my mother's dessert cookbook. A cookbook bought from my oldest sister who was selling them for Future Homemakers of America (FHA) her junior year in high school.

Mom bought three of these cookbooks if I remember correctly. One was for meats, one was desserts and I think one was soups and vegetables. Until this time, she had just one cookbook. A large, thick, old cookbook given to her by my paternal grandmother.

The new dessert book had this brownie recipe, which was delicious. We even marked it excellent' so as not to forget which one it was. So used was this recipe, marking it seemed silly after a few years. The page was discolored by cocoa powder and slightly gritty from flower and sugar. Easily found when perusing the cookbook.

Oddly, I still remember the first time we used that brownie recipe. Older Sister was the first one to spill cocoa on the page. You see, that's the thing. I have fond memories of learning how to cook or bake because of these cookbooks. As if looking through a photo album, I can tell a story about most of the recipes in Mom's cookbooks.

I suppose there is something to be said about getting on line. One doesn't have to plan meals this way, just tell the computer what you have on hand and there you are; supper is served via computer! In addition, if you have to cook for more than one, you don't have to agonize over how to double or triple a recipe. I suppose this makes it easy on modern homemakers.

I have my own cookbook, if you will. A 4x6-photo album I have been tucking away tried and true recipes that friends, family and acquaintances have shared with me. Each with their own memory or story hidden inside.

From Grandma's cookbook, I learned to make snickerdoodles. I made them at least once a week when I learned the recipe. This was a bit much for my sisters and brothers who began to demand I learn something new or let someone else in the kitchen.

I have Mom's dessert cookbook. The front and back covers are completely gone but the book, for the most part, is still in tact. Many recipes have been marked to show how much we enjoyed the cookies, or how the carrot cake just didn't turn out right'.

The brownie page can now be found by sitting the book on its spine and letting it fall open. Well, not quite, but almost.

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