Recipe Cards

Illustrated Recipe Cards

Because of the nostalgia associated with casseroles, it is not uncommon for recipes to be shared among family and friends or passed down from one generation to the next. These three casserole recipes are handwritten on illustrated recipe cards that have been shared with a loved one. The cards all include given text, such as "A recipe from," and spaces to write in the bake time and serving size. The cards are also lined on the decorative front side to make handwriting easier and neater, but many of the recipes spill over onto the back of the card. While the cards are convenient (and pretty) to distribute, the size of the cards might be somewhat small for the level of detail provided by the composers. The Recipe for Squash Casserole, for example, adds on the back of the card that turkey or other meats can be added to make the casserole a main dish as opposed to a side. 

These illustrated recipe cards also feature an image. The image does not correspond to the recipe; instead, the images seem to be standard cooking-themed illustrations that likely adorned a set of cards. For instance, in the case of the Brocolli Cassarole recipe, the recipe card was provided by the organizers of the bridal shower for the guests to use. Overall, the effect of these illustrated recipe cards is to provide a home made, old-fashioned feel--even if the cards were composed fairly recently. 

Text-Only Cards

Although these two recipe cards are from different times, different people, and were composed with different technologies (one is handwritten, the other typed), both are similar in that the feature the text of the recipe only. There are no visuals to accompany the casserole recipe.

In the case of the Chicken Casserole, the recipe is still formatted according to the conventions of the recipe genre. The recipe title is centered on the top line. Following the title, the ingredients are listed with one ingredient per line. The directions are indented after the ingredient list and continue onto the back of the card.

In the Spaghetti Corn Casserole, however, does not appear to have attended much to the genre's formatting conventions. While the order (title, ingredients, directions) seems to be followed, the lines and spacing are difficult to follow. The ingredient list starts on the same line as the title, and the ingredients are separated by commas, not line breaks. The directions begin on the same line as the last ingredient. Overall, the effect is that the recipe looks like a solid block of text. It might be the case that the person who typed the recipe was not particularly familiar with word processing--or--perhaps, did not choose to focus on design, instead thinking the recipe would be accessible to the intended audience.