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Interesting cooking-related random kindness gift

I've been meaning to post about this since April, but one thing and
another and I kept forgetting :-)

Shortly before school let out, I went to check my "mailbox" in the
teachers' lounge and found a spiral notebook, the cover decorated with
cutout pictures of cooking implements and food (yeah, it sounds tacky
and fourth-grade collage-ish, but stick with me for a few moments
more). I quickly glanced at the other mailboxes and realized that
there was a spiral notebook in each one (about 50 staff members in
all).

So, I opened the notebook and read the first page. I'll paraphrase the
letter that was included inside the front cover, but essentially it
said, "my mother is 87 years old this year, and she lives on a small
farm in Idaho. For years, she's been collecting interesting looking
recipes from the local newspaper, church bulletins, and magazines, but
given her age and that she lives alone, she no longer does very much
cooking. About 15 years ago, she began creating these 'cookbooks' to
give to friends and neighbors. They're created in such a way that the
recipes can easily be removed if you find you don't care for one, and
there is always plenty of space to add more. All of the people in her
community now have one of Grandma's books, so she's begun making them
for my friends and colleagues. Please accept this as her gift to you."

I began to look through the book and discovered that she'd created a
blank index on the first few pages, then she'd numbered the pages in
the rest of the book. The first 50 pages of the book were full (4-6
recipes on each page) of recipes cut from, as the initial letter
mentioned, newspapers and magazines and cookbooks and various other
sources. Each one was tacked on the page with small pieces of tape at
the corners so that it was secure, but could easily be removed if so
desired. The recipes were generally different and fun -- there were
very, very few "ordinary" recipes that you'd find on the back of, say,
a soup can.

We'd never met the woman who made these, and it took us a full day to
figure out who her daughter was (it turns out that she'd substituted in
our building twice early in the year and had enjoyed her time with us).

On Mon 01 Aug 2005 07:55:45p, Alexis wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> I've been meaning to post about this since April, but one thing and
> another and I kept forgetting :-)
>
> Shortly before school let out, I went to check my "mailbox" in the
> teachers' lounge and found a spiral notebook, the cover decorated with
> cutout pictures of cooking implements and food (yeah, it sounds tacky
> and fourth-grade collage-ish, but stick with me for a few moments
> more). I quickly glanced at the other mailboxes and realized that
> there was a spiral notebook in each one (about 50 staff members in
> all).
>
> So, I opened the notebook and read the first page. I'll paraphrase the
> letter that was included inside the front cover, but essentially it
> said, "my mother is 87 years old this year, and she lives on a small
> farm in Idaho. For years, she's been collecting interesting looking
> recipes from the local newspaper, church bulletins, and magazines, but
> given her age and that she lives alone, she no longer does very much
> cooking. About 15 years ago, she began creating these 'cookbooks' to
> give to friends and neighbors. They're created in such a way that the
> recipes can easily be removed if you find you don't care for one, and
> there is always plenty of space to add more. All of the people in her
> community now have one of Grandma's books, so she's begun making them
> for my friends and colleagues. Please accept this as her gift to you."
>
> I began to look through the book and discovered that she'd created a
> blank index on the first few pages, then she'd numbered the pages in
> the rest of the book. The first 50 pages of the book were full (4-6
> recipes on each page) of recipes cut from, as the initial letter
> mentioned, newspapers and magazines and cookbooks and various other
> sources. Each one was tacked on the page with small pieces of tape at
> the corners so that it was secure, but could easily be removed if so
> desired. The recipes were generally different and fun -- there were
> very, very few "ordinary" recipes that you'd find on the back of, say,
> a soup can.
>
> We'd never met the woman who made these, and it took us a full day to
> figure out who her daughter was (it turns out that she'd substituted in
> our building twice early in the year and had enjoyed her time with us).

What a wonderful and loving gift. had I received one, I would have
"needed" to meet the grandmother.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

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Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
> What a wonderful and loving gift. had I received one, I would have
> "needed" to meet the grandmother.

Well, the closest I could get (Alaska is a fair bit away from Idaho) is
the thank you note I mailed to her. Oh, and mentioning it here, in
the spirit of paying forward, so should anyone else find themselves
with an excess of recipes and no idea what to do with them ... :-)

Alexis.

"Alexis" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I've been meaning to post about this since April, but one thing and
> another and I kept forgetting :-)
>
> Shortly before school let out, I went to check my "mailbox" in the
> teachers' lounge and found a spiral notebook, the cover decorated with
> cutout pictures of cooking implements and food (yeah, it sounds tacky
> and fourth-grade collage-ish, but stick with me for a few moments
> more). I quickly glanced at the other mailboxes and realized that
> there was a spiral notebook in each one (about 50 staff members in
> all).
>
> So, I opened the notebook and read the first page. I'll paraphrase the
> letter that was included inside the front cover, but essentially it
> said, "my mother is 87 years old this year, and she lives on a small
> farm in Idaho. For years, she's been collecting interesting looking
> recipes from the local newspaper, church bulletins, and magazines, but
> given her age and that she lives alone, she no longer does very much
> cooking. About 15 years ago, she began creating these 'cookbooks' to
> give to friends and neighbors. They're created in such a way that the
> recipes can easily be removed if you find you don't care for one, and
> there is always plenty of space to add more. All of the people in her
> community now have one of Grandma's books, so she's begun making them
> for my friends and colleagues. Please accept this as her gift to you."
>
> I began to look through the book and discovered that she'd created a
> blank index on the first few pages, then she'd numbered the pages in
> the rest of the book. The first 50 pages of the book were full (4-6
> recipes on each page) of recipes cut from, as the initial letter
> mentioned, newspapers and magazines and cookbooks and various other
> sources. Each one was tacked on the page with small pieces of tape at
> the corners so that it was secure, but could easily be removed if so
> desired. The recipes were generally different and fun -- there were
> very, very few "ordinary" recipes that you'd find on the back of, say,
> a soup can.
>
> We'd never met the woman who made these, and it took us a full day to
> figure out who her daughter was (it turns out that she'd substituted in
> our building twice early in the year and had enjoyed her time with us).

That's just fantastic - I was touched just reading about it.

Some people have a real knack for restoring or bolstering one's faith in
human nature, don't they?

Thanks for sharing, Alexis.

',;~}~

Shaun aRe
--
Life is the dream you wake up to.

"Alexis" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I've been meaning to post about this since April, but one thing and
> another and I kept forgetting :-)
>
> Shortly before school let out, I went to check my "mailbox" in the
> teachers' lounge and found a spiral notebook,

<snip>
>
> We'd never met the woman who made these, and it took us a full day to
> figure out who her daughter was (it turns out that she'd substituted in
> our building twice early in the year and had enjoyed her time with us).
>========

That's really cool Alexis! How sweet! Please share any recipe(s) that
become favorites!

Cyndi

Alexis wrote:

> I've been meaning to post about this since April, but one thing and
> another and I kept forgetting :-)
>
> Shortly before school let out, I went to check my "mailbox" in the
> teachers' lounge and found a spiral notebook, the cover decorated with
> cutout pictures of cooking implements and food (yeah, it sounds tacky
> and fourth-grade collage-ish, but stick with me for a few moments
> more). I quickly glanced at the other mailboxes and realized that
> there was a spiral notebook in each one (about 50 staff members in
> all).
>
> So, I opened the notebook and read the first page. I'll paraphrase the
> letter that was included inside the front cover, but essentially it
> said, "my mother is 87 years old this year, and she lives on a small
> farm in Idaho. For years, she's been collecting interesting looking
> recipes from the local newspaper, church bulletins, and magazines, but
> given her age and that she lives alone, she no longer does very much
> cooking. About 15 years ago, she began creating these 'cookbooks' to
> give to friends and neighbors. They're created in such a way that the
> recipes can easily be removed if you find you don't care for one, and
> there is always plenty of space to add more. All of the people in her
> community now have one of Grandma's books, so she's begun making them
> for my friends and colleagues. Please accept this as her gift to you."
>
> I began to look through the book and discovered that she'd created a
> blank index on the first few pages, then she'd numbered the pages in
> the rest of the book. The first 50 pages of the book were full (4-6
> recipes on each page) of recipes cut from, as the initial letter
> mentioned, newspapers and magazines and cookbooks and various other
> sources. Each one was tacked on the page with small pieces of tape at
> the corners so that it was secure, but could easily be removed if so
> desired. The recipes were generally different and fun -- there were
> very, very few "ordinary" recipes that you'd find on the back of, say,
> a soup can.
>
> We'd never met the woman who made these, and it took us a full day to
> figure out who her daughter was (it turns out that she'd substituted in
> our building twice early in the year and had enjoyed her time with us).
>
What a very neat gift!!!!! I love it!

--
Jean B.

Alexis wrote:
>
> Well, the closest I could get (Alaska is a fair bit away from Idaho) is
> the thank you note I mailed to her. Oh, and mentioning it here, in
> the spirit of paying forward, so should anyone else find themselves
> with an excess of recipes and no idea what to do with them ... :-)
>
> Alexis.
>
I agree. Food for thought! (This is added to my ponderings
re generation-skipping trusts, which I only learned about
recently.)

--
Jean B.