My name is Laura Warnke. I started this site in February of 2006 (under a different url) with a few boxes full of family recipes handed down from many generations, including both of my Grandmothers, my mom and many other family relatives and friends.
Both of my Grandmothers have passed away and when they did I realized how easily many of these great recipes could vanish without some sort of documentation.
I have since moved two older websites I used to own over to this domain and combined them all together. I am also adding more lunch, salad, and main dish recipes to this site.
Inspiration
My intention was to preserve many of the family recipes that I remembered enjoying when I was younger and also to share some of my favorite recipes with others. Many of the recipes on this site are from the Depression era and others are just good comfort foods and family favorites from the 1960’s to the 1980’s.
Also, I have a bit of a liking for hot and spicy food, so every once in a while I will be sharing some newer recipes with some kick.
My Background
I am a home cook and my training has mainly consisted of watching and learning from my Mom and Grandmothers while they made some of my favorite recipes.
I have a wonderful husband and young child and reside in Wisconsin. I grew up on a fairly large dairy farm so there was plenty of cooking to be done to feed everyone and also any hired help.
I grew up on all the good stuff…whole milk, butter, sour cream, cream cheese and cottage cheese. In fact, I don’t ever remember their being a carton of milk from the store in our home the entire time I lived there, as we were able to get milk directly from the source – the cows! Also, margarine was a completely forbidden item in our house.
Sunday brunch was our family’s way of relaxing from the hectic work schedule of running a dairy farm. Most times it would be buttermilk pancakes and other times homemade waffles. There are a lot of memories attached to sitting around the breakfast table on Sunday mornings and also part of the inspiration for this website.
I have made and photographed most of the recipes posted on this site. I find it is much easier to write a recipe if I have made it at least once. Our family has had many “brunch recipes” for our evening meal, in order to test out a recipe. If no one likes the recipe, it usually doesn’t get posted on my website unless I really feel it has something to offer.
Building this Website
In June 2011, I quit my day job and became self-employed, working on this website and a few others full time. Prior to that I worked on this website nights and weekends, whenever I found a spare hour or two.
Balancing a day job, parenting, and writing a website can be a challenge at times, especially when it comes to new recipes.
I am quite thankful to my husband for helping make my dream of staying home with our son during the summer a reality. It also allows me to be there for him after school.
Best regards,
Laura Warnke
VintageCooking.com
