I’m drowning in cookbooks. So many cookbooks that I haven’t cooked a thing this week.
Here’s the deal. My grandparents are working on moving out of their house to be closer to my parents right now, for health reasons. I’m not going to explain all the details in the newspaper, but I’m sure plenty of you understand the woes of getting older.
It’s a very sentimental and emotional time, especially since my grandfather built their house when I was a little girl. With his hands. And his blood and sweat and I’m sure some tears.
But the house also holds memories beyond my lifetime. There are more than seven decades worth of mementos and sentimental items coming out of that house. Many of them I’ve never seen before, and they hold the personal touch of folks that I’ve never met.
My mother has been on the front lines of this move, as she has been helping to sort through all of these personal treasures. She has sorted and packed for weeks now. I’m surprised she isn’t sorting and packing in her sleep, at this point.
But her biggest challenge so far has been my Mimi’s kitchen.
My mother’s mother is known for her cooking, as many southern women are. But she is even better known for her baking. I wrote recently that I don’t think she ever shows up to a church event or a family function empty-handed, since she always brings a dessert.
Even that is an understatement. I believe her house must be sugar-lined at this point, from the sheer amount she has baked in that home.
While Mimi has shown her love to others by baking, others showed their love back to her by buying her every piece of cooking and baking equipment on the planet. She’s also received dozens upon dozens of cookbooks over the years. But with her plans to move into a smaller space looming, she knew she couldn’t take everything with her.
So, last week, I got a text from my mother asking if I wanted Mimi’s cookbooks. And I couldn’t imagine saying no. But I wasn’t at my grandmother’s house at the time, and I had no idea how many of them there would be.
There were boxes on boxes of them. Hunter picked them up for me, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw that they had filled the entire back of my car.
But see, I’m a book collector. I know how valuable books are, even if they’re not my preferred genre. And I know how it feels to give up one that you love, that you’ve spent time pouring over. And when I saw that carload of books, I knew my grandmother had trusted me with something truly special.
I’ve spent the past week flipping through them, taking pictures as I go. Some of them are more worn than others, and those I treat with particular care. A well-used, food splattered cookbook is a treasure. You know those recipes must have been good. A cookbook that was published in the ‘90s, but the spine is barely cracked? You know it didn’t pass muster.
I’m sure when I’m done sorting through all these cookbooks and testing recipes that I’ll have a lot to share with you all. But like I said, it’s been a sentimental time. Who knew you could cry reading a cookbook?
Instead, for now, I’ll share my grandmother’s recipe for Key Lime Mini Cheesecakes, which hold plenty of good memories themselves. I promise to be a more active cook next week, but for now, bring some to a church function for me.
KEY LIME MINI CHEESECAKES
(Recipe from Sandra Abney)
Ingredients
For cheesecakes:
Mini vanilla wafers
2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese (at room temperature)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup egg
3 Tablespoons key lime juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
For topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
Directions
■ Prepare mini muffin pan by spraying with Pam. Then, place paper cups in each section of the muffin pan. Place one vanilla wafer in the bottom of each paper cup.
■ In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat room temperature cream cheese until smooth. Then add 3/4 cup sugar, egg, key lime juice, vanilla and coconut extracts and mix thoroughly. Divide mixture evenly, spooning on top of each vanilla wafer.
■ Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool.
■ For topping: Whip together sour cream and sugar. Place a small dollop on each cheesecake. Garnish with shredded lime peel.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
