My great aunt's secret pie crust recipe almost got lost last month

I was cleaning out my mom's kitchen in Cleveland and found a box of old recipe cards, all stained and faded. One card, for a lard pie crust, had my great aunt's handwriting and a note that said 'double the salt, trust me'. I made it for a family dinner and it was the flakiest crust I've ever had, better than any store-bought kind. If I hadn't found that box, her trick would have been gone for good. Does anyone else have a family recipe that was almost lost? How do you keep them safe?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_phoenix2mo ago

My grandma's ginger snap recipe was almost gone when her house in Toledo got cleaned out. My cousin found it written on the back of a gas station receipt in her junk drawer. Now I keep a photo of it on my phone and a copy in my recipe box, just in case.

butler.abby1mo ago

That line about "written on the back of a gas station receipt" really got me. That is exactly how these old family recipes end up, just scrawled on whatever paper was handy. It says a lot about your grandma that she kept it that way, probably in that junk drawer for years. You were smart to make that photo and the copy. In my experience, paper gets lost or ruined way too easily, especially something that small and flimsy. Having it in two places gives you some peace of mind that the recipe will outlast the receipt.

uma_nguyen242mo ago

Did you ever try making them from the receipt photo before you had the copy? I'd be so worried about smudges or losing the file. Glad it got saved twice.