I can't even remember exactly how I got there, but I ran across a nifty site today: American Cookbook Project from the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibition Key Ingredients: America by Food.
I have a feeling it is just getting off the ground, because there are only 141 stories/recipes so far. That's what, the size of one of those little spiral-bound church cookbooks?
I love those cookbooks. I really love the ones that include a bit of personal or organizational lore, making them social history as well as food. And that's the aim of this project:
The American Cookbook Project is a forum for sharing food stories. People from across the country are invited to share their favorite recipes and memories associated with this dish. This is not simply an online cookbook but a collection of memories and recollections of great meals from the past.
Once I've talked to the family to make sure I have the history right, I may submit beigli and chrusciki. How else will any of us end up in the Smithsonian?
Although...this is one of the things I love about reading other peoples' family recipes, seeing how many things are really universal...I was browsing the Eastern European secition and found Yugoslavian pastries called Hrstule that look a lot like chrusciki.
Maybe I can still be first with beigli, or with that fruit salad with those little marshmallows.
Posted by Nic at December 13, 2004 04:47 PMI love those kinds of cookbooks, too. Thanks for the link, I'm going to go check it out.
Posted by: RP at December 16, 2004 06:11 AM