My grandma's 1958 recipe card had a typo that ruined three batches of cookies

I was baking from a box of old recipe cards I found in her attic, and one for "Butterscotch Delights" called for 1 tablespoon of salt instead of 1 teaspoon. I didn't catch it until after the third batch came out like salty hockey pucks, and I was about to toss the whole thing. My dad walked in and pointed at the card, saying "Grandma never used a tablespoon for salt, she used a teaspoon." Now I double-check every ingredient against my own common sense before I start mixing. Has anyone else found a crazy mistake in an old family recipe that made you question everything?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan_bailey9d ago

Damn, that's a rough one. Bet your grandma never thought someone would misread her handwriting and toss in a whole tablespoon of salt. I've got a weird one - my aunt's chili recipe says "add 1 can of beer" but it's in the ingredient list twice, once for the pot and once for the cook. First time I made it I drank the beer too early and ended up with dry chili that needed water. Old recipes were basically survival mode, you had to know which measurements were sane.

xena_anderson9d ago

Third time I made shepherd's pie I realized my grandmother's "pinch of nutmeg" was written in pencil so light I'd been reading it as "pint of nutmeg". Threw a whole bottle in there. Tasted like Christmas threw up on mashed potatoes. Still ate it because wasting food felt worse.