Recipes

[colliemom4]

That's hilarious! And for some reason it reminded me of my aunt who made the worst cookies yet thought they were delicious. You could barely chew them!

[Pook]

Love it!  Thanks @house_cat 

That reminds me of the time I was trying to get an Italian cookie recipe.  I would always buy lots of those particular cookies at a church festival and really wanted the recipe.  It was before the internet.  I was talking to the priest of the parish and told him how much I liked those cookies and asked if I could possibly get the recipe.  He said 2 old Italian sisters make them and they would rather slit your throat than give out a recipe.  He introduced me to them and I raved about those cookies and they were all talky and friendly until I had the audacity to ask for the recipe!!! Well I could see dagers in their eyes and felt the evil eye they gave me.  They turned and walked away both saying never, never!!!!

[Drythe]

This is so funny!

I had an aunt who would give you her recipes if you asked her, but she always left out one ingredient.  She was sneaky, you couldn't tell exactly what was missing, but you knew something wasn't right.

[Coquille]

@house_cat  What a hoot! So that's where you get your sense of humor.  She must have been one fine lady!☄️

[Abby Grace]

This is so funny, and I had a good chuckle.   Then I remembered, we have a friend, and her Mama took a prized recipe to the grave with her.  To this day, the daughter is heartbroken.

[corita]

      I had to laugh at this thread!!  Had a dear friend whose family had a wonderful chicken, Mexican recipe.  They would not share the recipe with anyone!!  And now, no one living  knows that particular way of cooking chicken!!

[SahmIam]

I originally wasn't going to say this but since others have, I will.

I have never understood the attitude of "NO. You can NOT have the recipe!" by women (never asked a man so, this about women). Are they that insecure? Do they need to feel superior? Special? I don't get it and I never will. 

My mother is one of those women; but with a twist. She would give you her recipe. She would write it down on one of her special recipe cards preprinted with "From the Kitchen of Thelma (not her real name)" so everyone knew it wasn't YOUR recipe. All I heard growing up (and as an adult) was "Thelma, I just can't make XYZ like yours. Yours is just SO MUCH BETTER! What is wrong with my cooking?!" and my mother would smile and say "you just have to keep trying".

As an adult, I've asked for many recipes. She would ONLY give me the ones she WANTED me to have. Fine. Ok. Whatever. They would NEVER taste like what I remember. I would tell her and her reply was that obviously I wasn't a good cook and that some people weren't and oh well.  Gee, thanks mom. I would keep trying and eventually stopped making anything I grew up with my own family.

One day, Daddy was over  and he saw my recipe box with a bunch of recipes pulled together with a rubber band. He asked what that was and I told them all of the recipes Momma had given to me; they always tasted horrible so I pulled them all and keep them separate. He looked them over and said "this isn't how you make XYZ. I know because your Momma just made it last night and I had to get some of the fresh ingredients". A few days later, Daddy showed up with her recipe box. NO ONE TOUCHES THAT BOX!! Daddy and I compared and every recipe she gave me had been changed to make it taste horrible. Her own daughter. Yeah, it hurt.

A few years later I came across the Church cookbook that Momma donates recipes to every year (raises money for the parish activities). Sure enough, every recipe she gave was fixed to be taste horrible. I mean, you DOES this?!

I believe there is something twisted inside those who do this stuff. A mean streak, a selfish streak, something. So anytime a woman refuses to give up a recipe I know this isn't someone I'll ever be friends with.....and so far, that's been the case.

[house_cat]

@sfnative 

Makes me think of that expression, "Lighting another's candle will not cause yours to burn less brightly".  I would think you'd have to be very insecure to refuse to share.

[house_cat]

@Coquille 

It's not my mom... just a meme I got from FB.  My mom and dad are buried in a Veteran's cemetary.  The stones are so small, I'd never fit a recipe if I wanted to, lol....but my mom wasn't known for her cooking anyway. I'd have to put a knitting or sewing pattern on the tombstone.

[house_cat]

Wow!  I'm surprised so many of you have encountered these unsharing cooks and bakers!  @SahmIam Your story just has me shaking my head - and to put a bad recipe in a collection for the church members, what's the point of that, so everyone would think her recipe was awful? I assume that otherwise, she was a good and loving mom to you.