Beans Cookbook Legacy

     My mother, lovingly known as Bean or Grandma Bean,  was a well known coffee-holic. Her knowledge of coffee was legendary and she was one of those rare people who could take a sip of coffee and tell you it’s country of origin. But, that being said, she enjoyed her tea as well. Earl Grey, Moroccan Mint or Irish Breakfast were her teas of choice.      There is something decidedly comforting about a hot cup of tea. A fragrant steaming brew cupped between your hands on a chilly winters day afternoon or shared and enjoyed with a friend over conversation, and healing when you feel under the weather. As the author of this book shares, the making of tea is really a mindfulness practice, a ritual to be savored and mastered, never rushed, the beauty is in the details.      So I wasn’t too surprised to find this small charming book amongst Beans cookbook collection, “Tea Celebrations - The Way to Serenity” by Alexandra Stoddard. Publi...

The Cookie Book, 1971.      There is a bitter bite to the wind today. Trees stand bare and exposed against a grey sky and landscape as snow flurries scurry about their limbs.  I layered up early as I had errands to run and I wished to get things done so that I could spend the majority of this day pursuing more creative play. First to the grocery store, then the library and finally to the nursery to pick up a Christmas tree.      Home once again, cheeks red from the cold I set my sights on pre-holiday activities. Making a cup  of steaming cinnamon tea to warm my self I turned to Beans cookbook collection for inspiration. This was the perfect cookie baking day!      Two things close to my mothers heart were Christmas and baking and in particular, baking cookies.  Growing up my mothers cookie jar was never empty.  She was a connoisseur of cookies and to her they were the perfect snack and always with a cup of black c...

Traditional pumpkin pie.      I started cooking today. Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I thumb my way through one of my Moms recipe card folders in search of family favorites and with every page I scan, memories answer and my heart fills with gratitude.      Truth be told Mom didn't look or need the recipe cards or cookbooks anymore on those pre- holiday cooking days as they had become part of her as naturally as the words that flowed from her lips. I was usually the one who would go in search of some new recipe to introduce in hopes it would become a regular holiday offering. But as in most families you have your Moms tried and true, traditional offerings and it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them. I can still here the cries of my brothers (and yes, even Me) if Mom dared contemplate trying a new turkey dressing. Usually she would then make hers and a small batch of the new recipe, which never went over well. For years she tried time and again to m...

     "Seasoning is an art which goes with good cooking. Spices are necessary, but even more important is knowing what seasoning goes best with a certain food. This comes only with experience."  Gene Leone     Mama Luise Leone.      My mother too mastered the art of seasoning. She could, magically it seemed, create a depth of flavor from the simplest of ingredients and from her spice cabinet she could pull a vast array of both everyday and exotic flavors. She would have loved to sit down with Mama Luisa Leone, to whom this book is lovingly dedicated, and happily swapped recipes. This cookbook held a special place in my Moms heart.       Leone's Italian Cookbook, by Gene Leone, was published in 1967 by Harper & Row, New York, NY. It is a compilation of his mothers recipes  from their family restaurant Leone's which was in the theater district of NYC from 1906 through 1959 before finally being sold to Restaur...

A Rage to Nosh...          Have you ever read a book and your inner voice takes on an accent to match? As I sat down to read A Rage to Nosh, by Ruth & Bob Grossman (published by Paul S. Eriksson, New York, 1966) I couldn't help but hear my mother and the paternal branch of her family all sitting around 'tawking' after Thanksgiving dinner with their New York accents and their hands flying. New Yorkers 'tawk' with their hands, really their whole bodies. They are animated, loud, and full of life.      It's especially funny since my Mom was just first generation Swedish-American. Her parents, and her fathers brothers all spoke with the familiar melodic, sing-song Swedish accent. By contrast their children, she and all of her cousins, spoke with the distinctive guttural New York accent. As a child it was quite an interesting backdrop of sounds and inflections to listen to. It was rather like trying to follow the strains of a lovely melody th...

  I'll never forget the day Bean was gifted with this treasure of a cook book. The owner of the local used bookstore, Diane, who well knew Beans passion for cook books and who frequently kept back special books that came in just for her to have first perusal,  handed her this book. She explained she couldn't sell it as it was really in tatters but it was special and it was a gift to the one person she knew who would truly appreciate it. You could the hear the angel's singing I swear as my Mom held this book in her hands! The Buckeye Cookery Book.     Granted it doesn't look like much.  The cover, which is loose, is unreadable and actually looks as if brown paper was glued to it over a hundred years ago. The spine is broken, the threads holding it together are visible, and there is no title page anymore. But, it has a quirky dedication page:                               ...

         Bean-Lill-Sie Knower       A legacy is defined as being a gift of money or property, something of value and/or something that is a "part of your history or that which remains from an earlier time."  Love above anything else was my Mothers true legacy that continues on through her children and all who knew her. Her vast cookbook collection is a physical legacy that reflects her adventurous and ever curious mind. Her philosophy... food is the great equalizer. We all eat. We all need to eat. Food brings people together and sharing food connects us. We all have food in common. Food nourishes. Food can heal, and... it's hard to argue when your mouth is full of good food! My Mom had, and now her children have, an insatiable need to feed people.      My Mom, affectionately known as Bean, was an amazing and skilled cook, a master of the art of seasoning. She could coax a depth of flavor from the simplest of ingredient...