Grandma's Recipe Box

After my grandmother moved into assisted living, my mom gave me her recipe box. It's a dented tin box with a faded strawberry on the lid, full of index cards in her loopy handwriting.

Some of the cards have notes in the margins. "Less salt — Frank complained." "Double for church." "Hannah's favorite!" That last one is on the card for her cinnamon rolls.

I made them last weekend and brought her a plate. She took one bite, closed her eyes and said, "You used real butter. Good girl." Then she told me the story of the first time she made them, in 1961, in a kitchen with a stove that only worked on one side.

We sat there for two hours eating cinnamon rolls and talking. Her memory is fading for a lot of things, but she remembers every recipe.

I'm working my way through the whole box, one card at a time. Every recipe is a visit.