Remembering Arwilda

I knew Arwilda as Grandma. Whenever we visited, she had sloppy joes ready for us, with buns toasted, buttered, and salted. It’s one of the things I remember most about her, that familiar welcome and the food she had waiting.

She was generous with her time, her food, and her money, and was a pillar of her community in Olean, New York. Her sugar cookies, pies, and other desserts are among the foods we remember her by.

Grandma shared her recipes, too. She copied them out by hand to give to others, especially the popular ones. Many of the duplicates in this collection exist because she kept extra copies ready to give away.

After she passed away, family members began choosing recipes to keep. My wife, Kaitlin, her granddaughter, scanned the entire collection. I built this website so everyone could have access to it.

We made this site in her honor, for friends and family who want to make something of hers again and remember her while they do. Her recipes and handwritten notes are here to return to, cook from, and share.

Keeping her words

Her original cards are here alongside the recipes, including her crossed-out words, additions, and notes. When she replaced something, the readable recipe follows her final wording and keeps a note of the change. If we cannot read a word with confidence, we say so.

We’ve also kept the personal and household notes, menus, clippings, dividers, and blank backs that were among her recipes. They belong to the collection she left us.

Find something to make

Look through her recipes for something you remember, or browse the boxes as she kept them. If a recipe brings back a memory, you can send us a note from its page.