Monthly Archives: March 2024

Mom’s metal recipe box

Memories, Television, Things,

Mom kept her clipped and hand-written recipes in this metal recipe box. She consulted it when she needed a recipe she didn’t make often enough to have it memorized. I think she switched to an older, wooden box because that’s where her handwritten recipes are now. The metal one just contained a few items that came from newspapers, magazines, food packages, or appliance inserts.

This box, though, is special to me because I remember it from as far back as I can recall. It was probably a bridal shower gift from a friend or family member.

You won’t be surprised, then, when I was excited to see it in the kitchen of the TV series, The Middle, that I binged on a while back. The show took place mostly in the kitchen, so the recipe box was featured in nearly every episode.

Mom’s
The Hecks’

The recipe box was not the only item the Hecks had that we did. Their bedspread was the same one we had for years.

Ours
Theirs

Backdoor note

Family, Memories, People, ,

My mom and I had a difficult relationship when I was in high school and sometimes (often) we would have arguments over things she said and I misunderstood (sometimes purposely) or didn’t want to hear. One way for her to apologize without actually apologizing in person was to tape a typewritten note on the back door so I would see it before I walked inside. Once, after explaining to me what I might expect at my doctor’s appointment the next day (she thought I’d get a pelvic exam and I was horrified and lashed out) she typed an apology that she should not have told me in such detail — and also that the doctor’s appointment had been postponed. (In reality the appointment was simply a wellness check — no stirrups involved.)

Another time Mom taped a note to the back door was after I’d been through a very sad few days, having been told by my English boyfriend that he would not be able to come to the States that summer. She’d gotten the mail that afternoon and a letter from Jeremy had arrived. He’d written on the back of the envelope “GOLDEN NEWS INCLOSED! Coming in on a wing and a prayer.” Mom knew I would be happy so she typed it up and taped it to the back door.