This object is my Nanaw’s recipe book, more specifically her recipe for “Fresh Apple Cake”. This recipe has been passed down from my Nanaw’s great-great-grandmother, to her daughters, to my Nanaw’s mother, to my Nanaw, and since she had no daughters it came to me and my mom. Almost every woman in my family has this recipe but I had the privilege of being taught by my Nanaw on how to make it. I can’t think of a family gathering where there hasn’t been apple cake present. My Nanaw made it throughout my grandpa and his brothers’ childhood and my mom’s as well and now I have the joy of being able to make it and pass it on to mine and my sister’s kids in the future.  It connects to my family through the tradition of the recipe being taught to daughters and granddaughters going back a few generations. It connects to our identity as baking is a major thing on my mom’s side of my family — my Nanaw bakes, I bake, my mom bakes, my grandma bakes — every time we’re together we’re either baking or eating what’s been baked. The importance of heritage is considered quite important in American life, so by passing down this recipe and tradition it emphasizes that importance and ties my family closer to our heritage. Making the apple cake, especially since it’s made from scratch, reflects American values of hard work as well as the ideal of passing down life skills and stories through generations. Americans also tend to value community so by making something my entire family enjoys this tradition of making apple cake brings a part of the community together.

– EH

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more