Family Memories in a Cookbook

Food and family go together like peas and carrots. Family recipes whether good are not quite so, a part of our memories. Grandma's pound cake and Parker house rolls. Grandpa's barbeque sauce or aunt Beulah's baked macaroni and cheese casserole. They are memories of family get togethers that deserve to be savored for generations to come.

As times change, so do the recipes. A little more seasoning and a little less fat, changes that may cause the original flavor to be lost to future generations. With the recent passing of my mother the security of those family favorites that made many let their belt out a notch came to mind.

The preservation of family recipes is important. Not only the current version with its health conscious changes, but the original recipe, to keep the family culinary history alive. Every family should start a cookbook that each new generation can cherish and add their own favorites.

Many families have few original recipes. Granny's banana pudding may have started with the Nilla vanilla wafers recipe on the side of the box, but it is part of the memory of Granny. Holiday meal menus that made the table groan are part of family history, even if the recipes were from Betty Crocker or Julia Child. Toll House cookies made from scratch or out of the grocery refrigerated foods department at the Piggly Wiggly, still made an unforgettable aroma that was home.

I was blessed with being poor as a child. Not that poverty is something I would wish on anyone, but in our home it meant more traditional recipes and more home cooking. Helping my folks can fruits and vegetables from our own garden and neighbors orchards. Wild game suppers with homemade biscuits and blackberry jelly made from wild blackberries we picked ourselves. Momma using the stale bread to make the ultimate comfort food, country bread pudding. A big pot of beans or peas on the stove on a cold day filling the house with scents that will always bring back memories.

It may never be a best seller, but the history of your family recipes, original or not, is something every family should consider. Now I think I'll have to can some pears just to enjoy a memory on a homemade buttery biscuit.

This article was submitted for non-payment. Associated Content has not reviewed this article and does not endorse the views of the author. They also aren't getting any of my pear preserves.