Prologue
(by Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes from
Recipe Traditions)
After my grandmothers passed away in the late 1970’s, I had in my
possession many of their recipes. Most of these were handwritten, some
just listing the ingredients, leaving the instructions to one’s
imagination. Wanting to share these treasures with the entire family, I
began kitchen testing many of the recipes, and in 1982 published the
Great-Grandmas’ Recipe Book. This small book contained
wonderful cake, cookie and bread recipes. Many of these were
familiar favorites, which were part of our family’s heritage.
Twenty-three years have gone by since the Great-Grandmas’ Recipe
Book was released. During that time my husband, Don, and I
have raised two wonderful children, who are now young adults.
While raising our family we developed our own food traditions and
familiar favorites. Plus, we were involved with two family restaurants,
the Road’s End and the Copper Mine Restaurants. From both of these
restaurants wonderful recipes emerged.
This book
brings together many of the recipes from the Great-Grandmas’ Recipe
Book, plus favorites from both restaurants, and recipes that were
served frequently in our home. They are the food traditions of our
family, passed to us by previous generations, or by friends, and some
were either adaptations of similar recipes, or unique dishes, created by
the culinary adventurous individuals in our family.
Since both of
our children are now grown, living in their own homes, I wanted to share
with them those familiar recipes of their childhood, which was one
reason for this book. Another motivation was meeting the needs of those
loyal customers of the Road’s End and Copper Mine, who frequently ask us
how we prepared a specific dish, dessert or beverage. I hope you enjoy
our recipes, and perhaps they will become part of your own family’s
recipe traditions.