Southern Shoebox Recipe Collections

Cooks of Days Gone By Passed On the Recipes We Treasure Today

Jun 15, 2009

An old shoe box may not seem like anything special, but when it's filled with treasured recipes, then it's a pot of gold.

Women in the South have always loved to find, hoard and share recipes. It must be something genetic. Something in the blood. Part of a heritage and a legacy.

Shoe Box Recipe Collections

Old shoe boxes filled with clipped recipes and great dishes from various dinners scribbled on little bits of paper or on napkins are rare but certainly special. Some may be wrinkled. Some recipes may have food splatters. Others may be yellowed with the years. The very best are ones that have little notes from the cook who took the time to care about a recipe and add her own thoughts or touches.

These snippets from days gone by may be found by family members cleaning out homes after loved ones passed on or may even may end up at Good Will or Salvation Army. What may seem junk to one person may be a blessing to a cook who adores retro recipes and the heart of those who mixed, whipped, basted, broiled, and baked in earlier generations.

A New Age – And New Shoeboxes

Today, there are still some shoebox recipe collectors. The sneaker boxes are sturdy and don’t take up much space, but the organization may be less than desirable.

This generation may scrapbook recipes. It’s a fabulous way to save the family favorite recipes with a lot of personality. But, these recipe collections tend to be one-of-a-kind recipe booklets and hard to share. That makes the scrapbook cookbooks an extra special gift, but the go-to person has to be willing to spread the cooking love around.

Personalized recipe and food scrapbooks are really the new shoeboxes and can be much more special than any other gift given at a milestone event like graduation or a wedding.

Software Generated Cookbooks

There are a number of computer software applications to build family and friend cookbooks.

Going the software route can be pretty simple and can be nice if you want to print personal copies and give to close friends and family. Certainly, It’s much easier to type once and print over and over.

The down side of software based recipe programs is that you may have them on old formats. You have all that work on a 3.5 disk, and you upgrade your computer. Then, you don’t have a 3.5 space. There are workarounds.

Also know that if you send these fill-in-the-blank recipe files or give them to family or friends, they may not be able to open the recipes if they don’t have the specific recipe software. That can be really frustrating to know that a great collection of recipes is right there but beyond reach due to the format.

Printing Out Recipe Books or Booklets

If you spend a lot of time documenting your recipes, then you may want to publish. This can be done in a number of ways and may be well worth the time and price if you’re a great cook and want your people to have all your best dishes.

Check with local office shops. Most will run copies and do some sort of binding for such unique collections. You can do those on standard sized office paper and then just get spiral binding.

Several online companies deal specifically with personal cookbooks. These are often put together for groups, clubs, or churches. If you have a big family, this option may make sense.

There are also print on demand companies. You upload your recipes. Single recipe books are sold as needed/wanted. You can direct family or friends to these spaces to get books printed up as paid for.

Shoeboxes Full of Recipes Rock

It’s hard to beat the old shoe boxes full of recipes that were lovingly cut or written out by our foremothers. The new options available today are more organized and searchable which can be a good thing. But, if you ever run across a dog-eared shoebox packed with echoes of the food of the past, snatch it up and know that you have a piece of the past and lots of wonderful meals tried and tested and loved by someone who may or may not have been part of your past but our part of our collective past. and recipe heritage.

Old Recipes Found in ShoeBoxes:

The copyright of the article Southern Shoebox Recipe Collections in Southern Cuisine is owned by Cyndi Allison. Permission to republish Southern Shoebox Recipe Collections in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.