marilyn martell Chef Profile

Marilyn, I have read great comments about your recipes! Do you still have copies of all your cookbooks?
Sheryl

Marilyn,
You asked about how to get started on a "Family Generational Cookbook". That is exactly what mine was. I did it in 1994.. We named it "Generations of Good Eating". "My" Cookbook (really a compilation) consisted of my favorite recipes, my Mother and Grandmothers', and 2 ex- mother-in-laws and THEIR mothers! My husband Terry's Mom even got out of her sick bed to show me how to make a slimmed down version of Eggplant Parmesan...lower in calories and easier to make for someone who can't spend as much time in the kitchen as they used to!

It originally started out to be a loose leaf binder full of my step-daughter's favorite recipes. It was my College Graduation present to her. Then I realized, as I went through my recipe box, that EVERY ONE of them were her "favorites"! I cook a variety of dishes, from Chinese (Kung Pao Pork tonight) to Italian, Mexican, Southern, and a little Indian...."Southern" food has it's influences from the Black South, the English or French or whoever owned the plantations, and from just "making do" with what you have on hand...in season. Our maid gave me some lessons. For instance how to make good Collard greens better, and other delicacies that only Southerners would love!

Anyway, I digress. I just went through my recipe file (no Internet in those days) and started typing out all of the recipes. My husband proof read for me and pointed out mistakes. I did it by category, including who the recipes came from, tips on preparing the recipe,(including what baking dishes to use) and stories about the person who passed the recipe down to me. After a while, I had to categorize. Then sub-divide...."Desserts" became "Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Candy, and Misc. Desserts. Etc. Main dishes became Pork, Chicken, Beef....I had a whole section on Mexican recipes that I picked up from my ex-husband's Grandmother when I lived in California. The Mexican "section" became sort of like a cookbook within a cookbook.

I think the most important thing when you are doing a multi generational cookbook is to talk about the people, how they prepared it, what special occasions that wouldn't be complete unless your Grandmother brought "the" cake, for instance....My ex-husband's Grandmother always brought a Mexican dish to every family meal, Christmas, Easter, it didn't matter! And she was NOT Mexican...(Native Californians are really "into" Mexican food, I found!) Include fond memories that you shared through food. It is for these reasons that it will become a Family Treasure and not just another cookbook.

After a while, I realized that a LOT was missing! All of the "recipes" that were only in my head!...taught to me by Mama and my Grandmother without ever looking at a cook book. My stepdaughter Jacquie didn't have an idea how to make spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, beef stew, pot roast, country style steak....she didn't know how to "deglaze" a pan or make gravy I just took these things for granted! The more I thought about it the bigger my cookbook became. I added "tips" before each chapter. ..(I started to just write down ingredients and directions while I was cooking...and measure, something I almost never did!) I asked my Daddy to write down what he put in his Bar B Que Sauce, and I asked my brother to write down his Shrimp Creole as they prepared it....I called Mama a million times a week to ask her questions. I needed to know how many ounces were in the old baby cup that she used to "measure" the rice. ( It was not an 8 oz cup, we found!)

The dishes that I find myself taking to church suppers are the ones that I don't need a recipe to make. When someone asks me for the recipe, it is only because I wrote it down for my step-daughter, Jacquie, that I can give them a copy.

This project took me 9 months. (I think that if I was doing it now, with a computer, I could have done it somewhat faster.) After going through every recipe again with a really critical eye, and culling some of them, I ended up with 365 pages, an Introduction, an Index, a Dedication page, and my husband took the pictures for the front and back cover. We had 500 bound at a local printer (after presenting Jacquie with the 1st one) like church cookbooks are bound. I regret that I never had it really "published", but we couldn't afford to do that at the time.

If I were doing it again...it would be far easier now with a computer...I would include pictures of all of the cakes, and most importantly, pictures of the many cooks in my life who have inspired me!

Sorry this was so long....

Now, would you please return the favor and advise me about how you think I should go about making a Recipe Blog for Disabled people who love to cook but don't have the endurance that they used to have? (THAT was a long, awkward sentence!) Do you think I should I make another Blog entirely and put a link to it on my Post Polio Syndrome Blog? Again, I will have to write a lot of stuff down....new recipes that I have learned (only in my head) and ways I have learned to take short cuts or change recipes to make them easier but still tasty.

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Linda (aka "Lindaonwheels")

I always wanted to be a pastry chef love to cook but love to bake is my Passion Won several ribbions at the Great Geauga County Fair Burton 1st place and Best in pies rosette ribbon out of 140 pie entries 2009 2010 won 1st place and 25.00 Maple Pecan Pie I love entering pastries breads and pies e year. Hope to put a 3 Generation cookbook together this year and all my fair winning receipes My pie crust is awesome people say flour lard butter and milk very flavorful and Flaky I am hungarian German and Slovak