My Mom's Kitchen

Today, I found on that one of my mother's recipes has been published in "Taste of Home's Quick Cooking Annual Cookbook" and like any mother's daughter, I was not surprised because of course, my mom is the best cook in the world. How could she not be? I learned to cook from her and my daughter has always believed I am the best cook in the world.

Some of Mom's recipes have been handed down in our family for many years and some such as my great-grandmother's whole wheat dinner rolls have been lost to us because the way our family cooks, recipes are not often followed. I learned about a pinch of this and a handful of that in my mother's kitchen as I am sure she learned those same lessons in her mother and grandmother's kitchen. Some recipes can never again be duplicated but they live forever in the DNA of our family and the memories that we carry for a lifetime.

I learned so much in my mom's kitchen but the most important lesson that I learned is what makes my mom the best cook in the world to her kids and has also made me the best cook in the world to my daughter: Love is the most important ingredient.

My mom never settled for the same old same or the easy way out when it came to feeding her family. Instead of buying frozen French fries mom peeled pounds of potatoes and then put them in the deep fryer. Meatloaf was not allowed to be dry and this is why I only make meatloaf with plenty of tomato juice which doubles as a wonderful gravy for the mashed potatoes that must go with the meatloaf.

When feeding those she loves, mom never scrimps or cuts corners, she cooks as if she were feeding visiting royalty and to her; we are better than royalty, we are her children. Perfect in our imperfections and of course the most beautiful men and women in the world. She certainly take offense when others don't share her views about her children and we know that in Mom's kitchen we are Kings And Queens and it is there to indulge our greatest desires and mom is happy to fulfill our fondest culinary wishes.

From my mom, I learned to not take short cuts and to cook not only with my skills but with my heart. My daughter still expects me to make her green bean casserole, French fries and crab salad as only I can make. I still crave Mom's bread stuffing and pop-over's as nobody, not even me, can make them as delicious as mom does.

It is often said that food made with love tastes better and from my experience it not only tastes better but it creates magical memories that live forever in our hearts. Time passes, loved ones leave us but one never forgets the meals that are made from the heart or the mom that taught us so many lessons sitting at the dinner table as kids fought, families laughed and day by day we all grew up and yes sometimes even moved two thousand miles away. It isn't the ingredients in the food or the price that is paid to prepare the food that has daughters calling their mother for recipes to share with their own children; it is the love that went into them and the desire to pass those memories and the love that goes with them onto our children.

My mother's children are grown and now she has grandchildren to spoil and feed but one thing I know without a doubt, that when I go home, Mom's kitchen will be filled with the wonderful aroma of my favorite foods and yes, the occasionally scent of baked oven mitt might be hanging in the air on occasion as when mom cooks she leaves nothing out. There is a table waiting, plates ready to be filled and most importantly, my mom, my siblings and everyone that we love gathering around that table to share in the love and the memories of my mom's kitchen.