I worry that digitizing family recipes strips away their soul

I've been helping my mom put all our old recipes into a computer app, and it just feels empty. My great aunt's pie crust note is written in her cursive with a smudge of flour from when she taught me. Typing it out turns it into plain words without any life. Lots of folks say digital is the best way to keep and share recipes, but I disagree. Those handwritten cards tell a story about our family and the hands that made the food. They have stains and notes that show love and mistakes. I think we lose that connection when we make everything clean and typed. For me, the real recipe is the card itself, not just the list of things to use.

3 comments

3 Comments

markm271mo ago

Actually you lose the PERSON who made them, they become just another file on a drive.

grant_hernandez1mo ago

Files bury the human part.

willowc601mo ago

Just another file on a drive' is painfully accurate. Tbh, I'm pretty sure my coworkers see me as a recurring tech support ticket.