Secrets in my Mother's Cook Book

I never saw the cover of my mother's cookbook until she died and I removed its protective sleeve.   She had more than one cookbook but this was most likely her first and the one I remember most.  It was published in 1946 and I like to think she bought it before getting married in 1948. Maybe she received it as a gift?  I never asked her.  I took the book for granted and used it only to make homemade pancakes,crepes,and cornstarch pudding.

When I look through it now, I sense the years behind it: life's transitions hidden in its pages. Taped inside the front cover is a newspaper clipping advising Heloise's readers to grease the bottom of cake pans with shortening rather than oil before sprinkling with flour so cakes won't stick. Sandwiched between pages, is a flattened cornstarch box with additional recipes for custard and pudding and cherry pie.  My mother advises decreasing the quantity of sugar in the custard recipe from 3/4 cup to a 1/2.  I believe her.  But why does she have the page on corn-meal mush marked? And when did she mark it?  Did she even LIKE corn-meal mush?  

One of my favorites is a clipping from February 28, 1958 highlighting "Barbara's" champion cherry pie.  (We don't know Barbara's last name and we don't know what she won because my mother only saved the recipe, not the article.)  And even though this was champion level pie, my mother commented "more cornstarch or flour" in the margin. My mother made a helluva cherry pie so, I'm going with Margie's recommendation.  

The pie chapter is clearly worn: pages thin and stained by hands that turned them and jotted reminders for future pie preparation.   
Reminders like this written in her beautiful, perfect hand and found on the back of a full-page halftone plate: 

Pie Crust + other pastry can be made more flakey if 1/2 teasp. of vinegar or lemon juice + 1/4 teasp. of olive oil are added to the cold water in mixing --- When making pie crust a little added baking powder helps to keep the crust rich + tender.

My mother didn't keep a journal, but the part of her life she enjoyed most can be found inside Woman's Home Companion Cook Book.  She had a lot to say.

Works Cited

Woman's Home Companion Cook Book, with Introduction by Dorothy Kirk. Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City pub. co, 1946. NDL-OPAC. Web.