Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt

One of my inspirations for starting a retro-themed blog was the gigantic, exploding green binder that lives on a shelf in my parents kitchen. It’s stuffed with a collection of crinkled papers from the past, recipes cut from magazines and newspapers, single leafs torn from tattered cookbooks, the odd school report card or holiday to-do list in my mother’s handwriting.

There are as many flop recipes as decent ones in it but I can’t bring myself to organize it by getting rid of the duds or even adjusting the order of the pages too much (a feat for my obnoxiously organized personality). It’s like a time capsule that I don’t want to disturb.

And flipping carefully through the pages a year ago I had a thought about how overwhelmed I sometimes felt with so many cookbook releases and social media food advertising which always seem to be pushing the “new.” I thought how refreshing it was to just have physical recipes in front of me, carefully curated by someone I know. If I went looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe online I would likely end up with thousands upon thousands of results. There’s not that many ways to make a chocolate chip cookie!

So I decided I would use my blog to explore this, maybe not by using “retro” recipes every single time but by hopefully finding a way to cook with context, and share that process with anyone who might be interested in it, as I know I am. Simply, I’m the kind of person who’s favorite part of cookbooks is reading the little “blurb” section above the recipe. The longer and more convoluted the references, the better for me.

I’m not sure exactly where this recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Cake came from but the mystery is as good of a story as knowing. I think it is in my Aunt’s handwriting but it could be my Grandmother’s or maybe even someone else’s entirely. All I know is whoever wrote it took the time to write it out carefully enough to make me have major handwriting envy. Seriously if I have children one day I apologize in advance for putting them up to the task of deciphering my scribbles. Best of luck to you. It might be easier to get takeout…

Nevertheless, I appreciate the care that goes into sharing recipes like these and the sense of community it fosters. Maybe whoever took the time to write this recipe out did so at the bequest of someone she had served it to. Maybe she was copying it out of a book. What she ultimately did though is preserve something for me to share. And I thank her for that.

Happy Mother’s Day!