Kitchen

[Marienkaefer2]

On 3/3/2015 Snowpuppy said:

I had exactly one family recipe from my aunt dated 1939. I treasured it!

Without thinking I handed it to a girlfriend who asked for it. A few weeks went by and I asked her to return the recipe to me. Her reply? "Oh, that old thing? OMG......I tossed it but I'll email you what I wrote down".

As some have said here, they don't share family recipes. Now I understand why.

Omg, that is so sad! It's too bad your friend didn't realize what a treasure that was to you! My grandmother made lots of soups and stews. My mom made them and I guess by osmosis I picked it up, because I make them too. It was never anything written down. Just what we normally ate. My grandparents also made polenta (they were from Northern Italy.) Again, it was something that we watched and just picked up.

[Mary Bailey]

I have nothing written down from either of my grandmothers, but through my Mom and Aunt I have the recipes for kuegla and potato pancakes.

I may have a recipe or two that my MIL and my Mom wrote down for me.

[sarpy]

Saw this in our paper. Copy one of your Mother's recipe, frame it and stand it up. I have done this with my Mother's recipe. Makes me smile when ever I walk past it.

[Bird]

chickenbutt, your post reminded me of a very funny Everybody Loves Raymond episode, but Marie DID sabotage poor Debra in the recipe!

Our grandmas had very little pre-fab ingredients with which to cook. Our mothers probably slipped more and more into the convenience traps of the modern grocery store. I never had grandmas, but to this day I listen raptly when one is talking. I really value REAL cooking and want to learn as much as I can. Although Rachael Ray's ingredients don't agree with me (meat, meat, and more meat, cheese, cheese, and more cheese) what I do admire is that she really cooks from scratch, too.

I've got a repetoire of classic Polish recipes, but alas, they are not recipes. They are in my head lol. - Bird

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

In the same vein, if you have siblings do they like to cook/bake. While I would love to have all of the old family recipes my sister would be in heaven if she never had to cook another meal. Hates cooking with a passion and only does it because she has to. It's funny how people can grow up in the same house and be so totally different.

[Mindy D]

The brands of ingredients used greatly affect the outcome of any recipe. If, as in Chickenbutt's example, her mother in law uses a certain brand of bouillion in her version, getting the exact ingredients is necessary, even for brands of butter, oils, spices-everything. Secondly, the cookware used can affect the outcome, when reproducing a recipe. My aunt uses a tall, straight sided, hard anodized aluminum stock pot when she makes her chicken soup, which affects the final product. I used to use a particular brand of vanilla wafers in my banana pudding, but the manufacturer changed their recipe and now my pudding is not as good. I am still trying to perfect a recipe for eggs and onions appetizer I got from my grandmother. I never got the chance to watch her prepare it, and now that she has passed, I can't phone her to find out what I am doing wrong. Her ingredients are all natural, non-branded, ones; eggs, chopped Spanish onions, potatoes, salt and pepper. I think she left out something when she wrote down the steps. One day I hope to get it right.

[RedTop]

I have many handwritten recipes from my mothers family, and while I love seeing their handwriting, only a very few recipes have any meaning whatsoever.

[Barbarainnc]

My mom went through her recipes and picked out her favorites and typed them up. She printed off a set for me and my brother. Now we have recipes that are tried and true. These are recipes we have eaten all our life.

[05gage25]

On 3/3/2015 sarpy said:

Saw this in our paper. Copy one of your Mother's recipe, frame it and stand it up. I have done this with my Mother's recipe. Makes me smile when ever I walk past it.

Sarpy, thanks for this idea!! My mother's handwriting was really pretty, and this is just the perfect project for my kitchen.

[DiAnne]

My mother was NOT a good cook. Everything she made is probably in an old Campbell soup cookbook. We ate in nice restaurants often when I was growing up. My parents got dressed up and went out every weekend (which was unusual for the time). Now I realize my father was just hungry!!!