Back in 1968, Donna Jean MacKinnon came over to my home to share recipes with me. I was about to be married and I suspect she sensed I had little experience in the kitchen. We looked at her recipe cards and chose the ones we would copy out by hand. To this day, I still have those cards! Let me share two of the recipes I have made many times.
“Church Basement Things”
Bring to a boil:
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine or butter
Take off heat and add:
1 cup coconut
3 cups rolled oats
Drop onto waxed paper by the spoon full.
Meringues
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and then:
Beat 2 egg whites until stiff.
Add 3/4 cup of white sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Add 2 cups of stuff; e.g., raisins, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips in any combination you like.
Drop little blobs onto a cookie sheet covered in tin foil.
Turn the oven off.
Put a cookie sheet in the oven and leave it for 12 hours.
Store meringues in waxed paper.
In addition to the hand written cards, I still have the recipe box given to me by a grade 9 student back in 1968. I recently showed the box to my two youngest grandchildren who still seem to enjoy my “stories.” They of course live in a “throw away” society where not much of anything is saved. Perhaps this Christmas, I will teach them how to make their own “Church Basement Things” and keep these recipes going.
