my grandmother's blintzes

from her recipe box to yours 💖

A couple of months ago, I helped my parents move my grandmother into an assisted living facility. In her downsizing, I became the recipient of her recipe boxes.

The boxes are filled with recipes she wrote down on index cards. I have no idea where most of these recipes originated. I imagine she wrote down things she read about in newspapers and magazines and from friends.

My grandmother no longer cooks or bakes. The last time I saw her, I asked her if she missed doing so. She simply said “no.” Honestly, it was not surprising to hear. While I have no memory of my grandmother enjoying cooking or baking, she did it often and always with a spirit of economy and efficiency.

I like to sift through the recipes and see her handwriting alongside various stains and drips, all evidence of decades of cooking and baking for her family, myself included. I like the way the index cards feel in my hands. I get a kick out of the varying level of detail. I like that when I open the boxes, a faint smell of my grandparents’ old kitchen floats out towards me. The boxes, and the cards within them, feel like evidence of not only her reluctant time in her kitchen, but also of generations of memories.

I like to find specific recipes that I remember her making often, especially for certain holidays. Chicken fricassée (which, for her, was a pot of chicken and meatballs simmered in a thin tomato sauce) and honey cake were Rosh Hashana regulars. Sponge cake for Passover. Gazpacho and four bean salad in the summer. Mandelbrot cookies anytime, always in a tin.

This week I decided to make her blintzes, one of the recipes from her recipe box. For the uninitiated, blintzes are plain crepes that get filled with a sweetened cheese mixture made of farmers cheese (you can substitute ricotta or even full-fat cottage cheese). Then you pan-fry them in a little butter until they’re golden on the outside. There are a million variations (you can fill them with cheese and fruit or jam, or with savory mixtures…you can top them with all sorts of things, too). But regular cheese blintzes are what I most associate with my grandmother.

I remember her making blintzes in huge batches, layering them between sheets of waxed paper (which she probably reused!), and freezing them. I know one of my uncles particularly loved them and she would make extra for him to bring home.

Here’s the index card I found:

Me being me, I couldn’t help but adjust things a little. I zhuzhed the ratios a bit, plus I added some vanilla to the filling and lowered the cinnamon so there’s just a hint. I also wrote down…instructions!

Here is the result:

And below, for paid subscribers, the full recipe, including many helpful videos and photos, plus notes about making these ahead/freezing.

MY GRANDMOTHER’S BLINTZES

Makes 20 small blintzes

For the pancakes:

• 2 large eggs