This P.E.I. woman's recipe for coping during COVID-19 is sharing her grandmothers' treasured cookbook - Action News
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This P.E.I. woman's recipe for coping during COVID-19 is sharing her grandmothers' treasured cookbook

Sharing her grandmothers' recipes with people on Facebook during COVID-19 has kept Islander Lori MacAskill going.

'When I bake, it's sentimental baking, it's a connection to the past'

Lori MacAskill's grandmothers Myrtle Babineau, left, and Muriel Pitcairn were great friends and loved to swap recipes. (Submitted by Lori McAskill)

For as long as Islander Lori MacAskillcould remember, the book was well-loved, tattered and fat with recipes her granny Muriel and nana Myrtle had compiled together over the years.

For much of its life, the book of recipes lived in a drawer at granny Muriel's house, where it was barely contained the drawer never could closeall the way.

"My nanaand my granny were both really good friends. They weren't just related by marriage, they were great pals and they shared recipes with each other all the time," MacAskill said.

Nowthat both her grandmothers have passed away, the book lives in MacAskill's kitchen.

"You literally can't close the bookbecause there's so many extra recipes in the book and [granny Muriel]has her handwriting all on it," MacAskill said.

"She would write whether the recipe was good or not, who she made it for, what year she made it."

'Sentimental baking'

Since COVID-19 struck the Island, MacAskill, a former pastry chef, saidthe book has been a source of comfort.

MacAskill's grandmothers' lovingly weathered book of recipes now lives in her kitchen. (Submitted by Lori McAskill)

"It's really neat to go through the book and you see her name in her handwriting. You just have that moment of like, 'Yeah, she put a lot of love and thought into everything she did," MacAskill said.

"It's nice to embrace that, especially in a world where everything is so upside down, and crazy and there's a lot of negativity, it's nice to hold on to those sweet moments."

MacAskill says she started baking with her nana Myrtle when she was barely tall enough to reach the countertop. (Submitted by Lori McAskill)

The book's ability to reach into her family'spast andprovide her comfort and guidance by way of her grandmothers' baking instructions made her to wonder if sharing the recipes couldhelp others during COVID-19.

"When I bake, it's sentimental baking, it's a connection to the past," she said."I think of them constantly when I do it."

Granny Muriel and nana Myrtle definitely left their mark on this book of recipes. (Submitted by Lori McAskill)

MacAskill, 43, decided to put her grandmothers' recipes to good use in late March, sharing them in Facebook Livebaking tutorials everySunday.

She started with granny Muriel's biscuits.

But, she saidsharing her biscuit recipe felt oddly difficult, as it was something that felt very personal andclose to her.

MacAskill, 43, worked as a pastry chef for years. (Submitted by Lori McAskill)

"As soon as I shared it, I was like, you know what, this is what I'm supposed to be doing."

The response to MacAskill'stutorials has been heartwarming, she said, with a group of 20 or 30 faithfully joining in on Sundays and about 100 viewing the tutorials later.

MacAskill's friend Jillian Drake decided to give granny Muriel's biscuits a whirl! (Jillian Drake/Facebook)

MacAskill said she's also been careful to choose recipes from her grandmothers' book that include accessible ingredients and don't require people to have to leave the house.

She said sheplans to compile the pictures from everyone who has participated over the last several weeks and create a scrapbook and potentially share it with the participants, to serve as a reminderof a positive experience during the pandemic.

Allison Vincent spent some time with her daughter Josie, baking cinnamon rolls from MacAskill's grandmothers' book of recipes. (Allison Vincent/Facebook)

"I've saved every picture that everybody's sent me," MacAskill said."Quite a few people baking with their kids, which I love to see as well because that's how I started.

"For me, baking is showing love. So when I bake for family, friends, co-workers, that's my way of saying, 'Hey, I love you."

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