Auntie’s Quilting Recipes

Apparently quilting and cooking go hand in hand with many people.  I’ve begun to see more and more recipes in newsletters I receive via e-mail or check out on web sites.  Sometimes there will be a recipe in every issue.  With other newsletters, the recipe will appear occasionally.

As I’ve mentioned before, this idea must date back to the old time quilting bees when the ladies contributed food for lunch at their get togethers.  Then the menfolk, and sometimes children, too, joined them in the evening in the evening for a social affair.

As I think of quilting at my grandmother’s when I was eight-years old, helping her make quilts for my sister, brothers and me, I also recall Auntie’s cooking.  At that stage in her life, my aunt lived with my invalid grandmother and cared for her.  Auntie was a wonderful cook and her kitchen always smelled so good as Nanny and I sewed.

I was fortunate that another aunt saved Auntie’s handwritten notebook with recipes she used and others she acquired from her mother, grandmothers, relatives and friends.  My daughter and I are in the process of compiling this as part of our family history.

Perhaps I should share a recipe occasionally from my quilting heritage.

RAISIN MUFFINS – Mix ingredients together until slightly lumpy:  1 tablespoon sugar, 1 egg, 4 tablespoons shortening, 1 cup sour milk, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 3/4 cup flour.   (Auntie’s recipe called for 1 cup graham flour and 3/4 cup white flour.)

Spoon into greased muffin tins.  Cook at 400 degrees F. for 12-20 minutes, depending on size of muffin tins.