Sourced from the “green metal boxes” and our memories from Gma’s kitchen!
Long before a traditional recipe box and three-ring binders became the norm, Gma stored her handwritten recipes in this tin box along with some pretty funky Better Homes & Gardens cutouts that I don’t think she ever tried – at least as far as I can remember. The tin was carefully tucked away most of the time but when it appeared on the kitchen table, I knew something special was about to be made or even better, it meant the holidays were coming soon.
As the recipe collection grew, the newer ones started to fill empty Fluffernutter tubs, so Junko came to the rescue. She copied many of these recipes onto traditional recipe box-sized index cards.
My original plan two years ago was to turn the green can into a recipe book, using the “restored” can as its cover. That turned out to be an endless effort and I think that’s partly because there’s a few more steps to take before a book can come together and I believe its all about information gathering. My is hope is that this site can allow us to create a living cookbook of family recipes and the stories that accompany them. Please feel free to add your memories, and recipe adaptions, share links, and make requests in the comments section here and in the recipe posts!
A little box history: This tin contained packets of dried, red bean soup, sweetened with wasanbon sugar (和三盆) made by the Toraya Kurokawa confectionary company. The company was established in the 1600’s and is best known for its wagashi or sweets like Yokan. The image on the tin is of a “kotsuzumi” or drum.