Simple Recipes from Grandma's Recipe Box

Rock Island has a new antique shop: DooDad's on the corner of 30th Street and 14th Avenue. Went there Saturday and found quite a few bargains: a marble base lamp, a California pottery dish and an old recipe file box with a bunch of old recipes in it.

The recipe box was the greatest find, and it prompted me to dig out my Grandma's recipe file box with her clippings and concoctions. I know that some of the recipes are hand-me-downs from my great-great grandmothers before. The ingredients are all so simple and basic. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by cooking a recipe I've stopped before I've started.

I'm going to try and build a Web site of Grandma's Recipe Box to see what else is out there. I know I've heard of OLEO, but where can I get it? Do people still use it? What ever happened to Pimentos? They were everywhere.

Cooking has been a big part and process of my life, from 4H to my first cookbook at the age of 6 or 7. I like my cooking magazines but there's something about digging in the recipe box that is adventurous and fulfilling. I'm sure Grandma agrees, although she can't tell me anymore, but there's nothing like the taste of her homemade apple bars that I know can't be found in any recipe book.