Novy Family Recipe Collection

Contents: About the Collection | Why this Project | Tech

About the Collection

This website is a collection of recipes from my grandparents’ collection, which includes recipes from my mother’s childhood and even some from my great-grandparents. The recipes were written down as early as the 1930s, giving some insight into what life and food was like, especially during the mid-1900s, WWII, and the post-war. Most of the recipes came from my maternal grandparents Mary Lou and Russell Novy, although there are at least a couple from the 1930s which were created, or at least written down, by my great-grandmother, Hallie Garth. There are also some recipes which were written or donated to the collection by other family members or friends. If there’s not an author written on the recipe, it means it were probably written down by either of my grandparents or great-grandmother.

These are dishes that my mother grew up eating, and then passed on her favorites to myself and my sister (Men’s Garden Club Pancakes).

Through the selection of people choosing to make and pass on their favorites, there were also quite a few recipes which hadn’t been seen in quite some time, and even some that my mother was unaware of (Watermelon Pickles).

Why this Project

As technology has advanced, websites and apps which are used for collecting and creating recipes have become ever more popular. Almost every social media platform has recipes being shared (some in better formats than others). Apps that act as recipe collections are becoming more popular and sophisticated. There are also several specialized websites which cater to specific time periods and the recipes created within them. This collection addresses the increasing demand for recipes online.

One of the reasons I chose this project was because it was the perfect example of archiving a collection for future use. Many of these recipes are over half a century old, and the papers they are contained on are not in the best shape, having been torn, stained, and even burnt over the years. By creating a digital collection, I can preserve the recipes before they degrade further.

Another reason for this project is access. My mother has two sisters who also grew up with these recipes, and who love to cook and bake. Unfortunately, with the recipe cards being physical objects and located at my mother’s house, my aunts, who live on opposite sides of the country, don’t have ready and easy access. With an online collection, all they have to do is get onto the website, and the collection is there for anyone to use and enjoy.

Finally, this project is meant to create access in a different way. For myself at least, but I’m sure other people have run into this problem as well, it can be hard to read cursive (especially old cursive), which is almost exclusively what these recipes were written in. Add to that the stains and marks, and it can be nearly impossible to understand some of the recipes. By having an online collection of recipes that includes a transcription of the ingredients and directions, the accessibility of the recipes is increased.