A Kettle of Lilacs

I wanted to show everyone my moms latest work. This is our family cookbook. "A Kettle of Lilacs" named after my grandma Palmers favorite flower. Mom wrote the first version of the cookbook in 2001. Let me tell you how that book came to be.

My grandma Ruby Palmer was a great lady. The things she taught me both when she was trying to, and not, will forever stick with me. She was such a wonderful loving grandma, and a really good cook!

Grandma had several notebooks, loose papers and a specific green spiral notebook that I remember, to hold all her recipes. Most of the recipes had been used for years, and were family favorites.

During the last couple of years of her life she lost her sight. This was particularly hard because of her love of cooking. It was one of the ways she showed us love.

My cousin Heidi took all of her recipes a few months before her death. Heidi was going back home to California, and was going to type all of them up on her computer, to make sure we all had them.

My grandma died the end of Oct. 1996. My grandpa, (her spouse of 55 years) went to spend Christmas with my aunt Judy and her family in California. This was great for grandpa to get out of the house for the holiday.

Christmas Eve, my aunt Judy's home burned down. Gladly, everyone made it out safely. So many of the family's priceless possessions though, including all the recipes were gone. It was so traumatic for all of them.

In 1997 Heidi was engaged to be married. My mom wanted to give her something she would remember. She wanted to get as many of those recipes together as she could and make a book for her. She called all of my grandmas old friends from Utah and Idaho. She talked to all the family to see who had which recipes. She ended up with quite a few, and then decided to add other favorite recipes of our other family members as well. The book was fabulous, and Heidi loved her gift. We ALL loved her gift!

It was so great having all our family favorites in one book. She decided to update the book last Spring. It was a lot of work, but the new version is beautiful, and even more dear to our hearts than the old one. On each of the divider pages is an old picture of my grandma, grandpa or both. They made a handsome couple!



As the family has grown, more recipes have been included. I love the book because I've had almost everything in it before, and it's not weird food. Those of you who watch the FoodNetwork like me, know what I mean. I love trying new things, but sometimes you just want something a little more normal.

Thanks mom for doing all the hard work, so we can just look in one spot for that "special" recipe.
If anyone is interested in a book, let me know. I'll give ya a deal!