Coffee Breaks at Gram's

This blog is inspired by my Grandmother Alice Peterson's recipe box.  I was fortunate to inherit that recipe box, and several years ago while perusing it, I thought of the idea of making something from it each week.  Reliving childhood memories in the form of warm cookies and the smell of spices flooding my kitchen was tempting but my life didn't really allow for much baking time so the idea was tabled.  

I've recently become a stay at home mom looking for a project (or perhaps a distraction!).   I never intended to formalize my little baking expeditions but I was convinced by some friends there may be a broader interest, so I've started taking photos and making notes on my efforts.

A bit of background for some explanation of how I got here.  I grew up living next door to Grandma and Grandpa Pete (as we called them when needing to differentiate between sets of grandparents) which meant that not only did my older brother or I ever have a babysitter, we always had an alternative if we didn't like what our mom was fixing for dinner!  Gram took her role as housewife and grandmother very seriously.  She was a Norwegian married to a Swede, so twice daily coffee breaks complete with a freshly baked sweet was genetically mandated.

Grandma was a good cook and a very good baker.  She was not a gourmet, nor did any of her recipes call for fancy or expensive ingredients, complicated techniques or equipment.  There were no gadgets in her kitchen, except perhaps the ricer, used to make lefse, a wonderful Norwegian soft flatbread made with potatoes. All of her dishes and recipes were very simple but delicious.  I don't know that any of her recipes were her own creations, some may have been, but most came from friends and family, community cookbooks, the back of packages, or even the local newspaper. 

The plan is that more or less each week I will dip into Gram's recipe box and make something to go along with my morning and afternoon coffee breaks (no matter how hard I've tried, these breaks are habits I just have not been able to shake).  I will post the recipes, notes, some photos and perhaps a bit of commentary.  I may experiment with some, where as others will be best left to a purist approach.  I'm so looking forward to my time in the kitchen with Gram looking over my shoulder!  I welcome any thoughts, comments, ideas, and suggestions.