Mom's Recipes

Mistreatedbycs · ‎03-10-2010

As we all age, time goes by so fast and sometimes we forget to do the "little things" and wish I could talk to my grandma and ask her how she made some of those delicious baked goods she made. Her specialty were sponge cake squares with white frosting rolled in coconut and her kolaches which were nothing I tested from recipes off the internet

so...............

no matter how young or old you are and have mom and/or grandma alive, make sure you talk to them, ask them how they made the wonderful things they do.

My mom is up there in age and sure don't want to think back and regret asking her how she made certain things and so many times I thought it was "written" and she would say "oh no, that's not what I do"....what?!!!!!!!! It's all in their head and that doesn't do me any good.

Anyone else do this or have done this?

spix · ‎04-26-2013

I know what you mean Nantucket, & then it's too late, been thinking about my kids, I usually cook by "touch" or whatever, should start writing things down for them before it's too late, Thanx for the reminder

Harpa · ‎03-10-2010

I share in having regrets.

My Dad, for some reason, was good cook with some things - (passed away when I was 17). His brother & SIL, my uncle & aunt, owned a restaurant, where I worked as a waitress, my 1st job, and I so wish I had their recipes! Everything in the restaurant was home-made! And soooo good!

My Mom, a terrific baker, but even when I do have her recipes, they never taste like hers! I'm a good cook, but my baking skills are lax.

I share recipes w/ DD all the time, and I often get things from her! She's a good cook, too. We're both riots at baking, though!

stilltamn8r · ‎03-14-2010

On 4/10/2014 Harpa said:
I share in having regrets.

My Dad, for some reason, was good cook with some things - (passed away when I was 17). His brother & SIL, my uncle & aunt, owned a restaurant, where I worked as a waitress, my 1st job, and I so wish I had their recipes! Everything in the restaurant was home-made! And soooo good!

My Mom, a terrific baker, but even when I do have her recipes, they never taste like hers! I'm a good cook, but my baking skills are lax.

I share recipes w/ DD all the time, and I often get things from her! She's a good cook, too. We're both riots at baking, though!

My dad was a great cook- he came from rural East Texas and I guess watched his mom and sisters- Anyway, he was famous for his Chili- It was the best around, whenever he would make a huge cast iron dutch oven full, friends and family would swarm over (oh and it was HOTTTTT!)

I always watched him, and picked up his tips all my life, and I will never forget, about a month before he died, he wasn't feeling well, so I made some and took it over to him, and I said "Dad, this YOUR chili, I know you aren't up to making it, so I made it for you!"- He took one bite of it, and looked me in the eye and said, "No Tam, MY chili was never THGIS good!"

Lordy I miss that man!

Shogirl · ‎12-06-2010

Yes, many moons ago, my dear mom wrote down all of her family recipes and gave them to me. They hold a cherished spot in my recipe cabinet, and in my heart. Next month it'll be a year ago that she passed.

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

It seems the holidays always bring out the requests for what we enjoyed years ago with family members who are no longer with us. Cooking, baking, eating and for me the table has to be set just so in remembrance of my grandmother.

It's work but never a chore but a labor of love. ${#emotions_dlg.wub}$

Don't blame yourself when a recipe doesn't have the same flavors and texture as it once did. Ingredients have changed so much! I recently made a biscuit recipe that I've had great success with only for it to be a flop over and over. I changed the fats I used and omg, what a difference!

The only thing I hated was when I asked "how much of this"? or "how long do I let it bake for"......and the answer was "well, you'll know". ${#emotions_dlg.laugh}$

Flo08 · ‎03-29-2014

When I was learning to cook it was my Gma as the teacher. Everything she did was in her head but to keep a very young little girl occupied and out of the way I became her helper. She would sit me at the kitchen table and give me little jobs to do while she was cooking. All the time she was telling me things like " we ill have at least 8 people eating dinner tonight so I ordered a 2 pound bag of carrots" or When I put the sugar in this I use my coffee cup with the broken handle filled to the top" She always spoke in packages, bags or large or small whatever. Saying I use two large Onions or 3 med or 4 small for liver & onions. It did not matter how many times she mad something she always told me what she was doing or would quiz me about how many small onions she would need because she did not have large ones.

I learned to think about cooking in the same way. She passed away when I was in 4th grade but by then I could put a few of her dishes on the table and fix dinner for the whole family. Many years later I became the owner of that coffee cup with the broken handle. Turns out that it holds 1 1/2 cups of sugar or flour.

When my parents took over cooking the family dinners I was able to recreate what we call "Grandma's Green Stuff" and have the recipe in my collection. It is typical jello, pineapple, cream cheese and heavy whipping cream Salad/Dessert but is for a very big batch. I have tried to scale it down but it just does not taste the same.

On my Mom's side of the family it is real easy to find the recipes that were passed down to her because I have my Great Grandma's cookbook and only need to look for the stained pages or her notes about changes.

Since I have no family members that are interested in "my" recipes I share them when someone asks for a version of something. I try to include the "history" of the recipe with the information when I post it if there is any.

stilltamn8r · ‎03-14-2010

The memories are truly more precious than the food....

Mary Bailey · ‎03-09-2010

Luckily I got my paternal grandmother's kuegla recipe from my aunt, and my maternal grandmother's potato pancake recipe while cooking them with my Mom.

I learned my Mom's recipes while cooking for the family when I was in Jr High and high school.

SmokieBear · ‎04-18-2010

When I was growing up, we always had a huge garden. My Mother canned and froze enough to last until the next summer. When they retired and moved to Florida in 1975, I stayed in my hometown (for work) and was fortunate enough to have an apartment where I could have a garden. The first year the yield was out of this world. I called Mom and asked her to send me all her recipes she used for canning and freezing. She has been gone for 27 years and I no longer have a garden, but I still love reading the recipes in her hand writing. The simplest things are the best.

Smokie