Adult children and family recipes

[BarbecueMom]

My mom makes "her" spaghetti sauce recipe every Christmas Eve for the big family dinner, and when I grew up, we ate it at least every 2-3 weeks. I don't think she realized until she moved in last year that I never make her sauce. In fact, I rarely make spaghetti because DH doesn't like it and I've cleaned up too much kids spaghetti barf for it to be appetizing anymore. Mine tastes very different, and I think she's a bit hurt that I use something so completely different than her signature recipe.

 

I guess I feel bad about it today because while I was sick this weekend in the hospital, she had to make meals for the kids with the ingredients I had. Because I cook so differently, not everything turned out right.

 

I asked her if she'd make her sauce later this week. ;-)

 

So does anyone not use their parents (or grandparents) favorite or signature recipes? Does it hurt their feelings?

 

Would it bother you if you had the perfect recipe or a family recipe passed down through generations, and your adult child chose not to ever use it?

[Miss Peregrine]

Nope.

[Ann.without.an.e]

My mom worked a good bit and our signature dinners started with words like Chef-Boy and Stauffer's.  So not at all.

[Dory]

My Grandma won't even share her recipes with her children so those were never passed on. I have a larger repertoire of recipes then my mom has. My mom's goal was just to try and figure out ways to feed us all on as little as possible, she didn't really have the resources or time to play with the food much.

 

I do use her bread recipe. I think that makes her happy.

[Night Elf]

I wish I did have family recipes, but I can find anything with a quick google. I just don't come from a cooking family. I'm not bothered that I don't have anything to pass onto my kids though. I'm very much the type of parent who believes my kids need to do things their own way.

[umsami]

I think it's wonderful to have family recipes to pass on….and to make them from time to time to build a sense of history (not sure if that's the word I want).

 

BUT, it's also perfectly fine to want to do your own thing…to realize that people have different tastes….and that tastes change over time.

 

If it were me, I'd probably want to continue the tradition of the sauce on Christmas Eve…and maybe make it on my Mom's birthday or one of her other signature dishes.  Of course, you can also create your own family recipes as well.

 

Maybe do a spaghetti cook off? :)

[Happy]

My mom wasn't a great cook...she could order in like a pro. :)  So I don't have any recipes from her because she didn't have a specialty. My grandmother's banana pudding recipe can reduce some of my relatives to tears. Memories-rich and sweet.

 

On my husband's side, whoa baby, those folks cook. We have great recipes from his dad and mom and from my various sis in laws and bros in laws.

 

That said...all of us are up to modifying each and every recipe. My recipe for FIL's killer oatmeal cookies is slightly different than his original one--I sub dried tart cherries for the raisins.  Yum!  The same with MIL's cherry pie recipe and chocolate sauce. I choose to honor the person when I make a recipe like theirs...but none of us get totally bent out of shape if it's not exact. It helps in the above cases that the person is gone from this life....I do remember being more exact when FIL and MIL were still living.

 

 

[marbel]

There are a few (very few) things of my mom's that I miss and would like.   But no, overall I did not make most things the way she did.  She was always happy to try my creations and was quite an adventurous eater.  I think she would have been a great cook if she'd had access to a wider variety of ingredients, and the money to pay for them, than she actually had.

 

This makes me laugh though because it reminded me of talking about Thanksgiving with my older sister.  She has made Thanksgiving exactly the way my mom did all her adult life, so 40+ years.  She will not vary anything.  She thinks I am nuts because I make my own cranberry sauce rather than use the can.  I add sausage and fennel to my dressing recipe, and don't use celery because my husband can't stand the stuff.  That last really scandalized her.  She's offended on behalf of our mother, who actually liked my Thanksgiving dishes better than her own.  LOL.  (She probably never tasted or even heard of fresh fennel before I made it for her.) 

 

I have some favorite recipes that my kids are welcome to.  I don't care if they end up never cooking them. 

[Happy]

I have heard other people say something similar about a family member not wanting to share recipes.  I find that very bizarre.  What's the big secret? 

 

I share recipes with anyone who asks.

 

I've personally known people who would share a recipe if you asked, but it would be different from what they made that you enjoyed so much. Deliberately not wanting you to be as good a cook as they obviously are. Weird.

 

[Dory]

I've personally known people who would share a recipe if you asked, but it would be different from what they made that you enjoyed so much. Deliberately not wanting you to be as good a cook as they obviously are. Weird.

 

 

I find that so petty and mean. If someone enjoys something and I say I'm willing to share it, then I need to honestly share it. It's just food people! I don't care if it's a salad that I make, my soft pretzels, cheese, or a fried chicken recipe, if someone asks me how to cook something they'll get the recipe. For some things that are a little more complicated I usually offer to make it with them once. I LOVE sharing information, of any kind.

[BarbecueMom]

I think it's wonderful to have family recipes to pass on….and to make them from time to time to build a sense of history (not sure if that's the word I want).

 

BUT, it's also perfectly fine to want to do your own thing…to realize that people have different tastes….and that tastes change over time.

 

If it were me, I'd probably want to continue the tradition of the sauce on Christmas Eve…and maybe make it on my Mom's birthday or one of her other signature dishes. Of course, you can also create your own family recipes as well.

 

Maybe do a spaghetti cook off? :)

Yes. We still do spaghetti on Christmas Eve. But in her mind, everyone eats at least two large plates of pasta and raves about it, and when she notices that DH only eats a tiny serving (because he doesn't like it) and I don't eat but a spoonful of sauce (because of GERD), it's upsetting to her. I think she wants things to happen exactly like they did when she was a kid. Change isn't one of her favorite things, you know?

 

I know she misses her parents, but I can't waste money on food that won't be eaten just to be sentimental about it.

[mommymonster]

My grandmother will give *me* recipes, but she won't give them to her children. I think it's because we live 2,000 miles away, or she just likes me better.  :lol:

 

My mom was a creative cook (and not necessarily in the good way). For example, she had heard of corned beef hash, and thought she would make it. Well, she actually heard "corn, beef, hash," and wasn't about to read a recipe, so she put canned corn, potatoes, and ground beef in a pan and called it dinner. Growing up was funny like that. 

[Laurie4b]

I have the recipe for my grandmother's cinnamon buns, which I make on Christmas Eve and sometimes on another special occasion. Each person in my family adores the recipe so it's not an issue here. They beg for them.

 

I think in your case, making sure that you have the actual recipe and passing that recipe down to your dc would be kind. You may not like the recipe but one of your kids might some day have an interest in it. It may be like a memorial thing to your mom: something of her that lives on to the next generation (or something of her grandmother.)

 

I have plants from my grandmother's grandmother's garden, which were given to me by my grandmother. I also have some of my grandmother's plants. My cousin, who inherited her house, mowed down her extensive gardens. That broke my heart. I also have plants from dh's grandmother's garden and keep giving clumps of them to his mother and sisters. I hope that those plants would mean something to my kids, but you never know.

[marbel]

Yes. We still do spaghetti on Christmas Eve. But in her mind, everyone eats at least two large plates of pasta and raves about it, and when she notices that DH only eats a tiny serving (because he doesn't like it) and I don't eat but a spoonful of sauce (because of GERD), it's upsetting to her. I think she wants things to happen exactly like they did when she was a kid. Change isn't one of her favorite things, you know?

 

I know she misses her parents, but I can't waste money on food that won't be eaten just to be sentimental about it.

 

My MIL is kind of like this.  Well, she has a lot of food weirdness.  But among them... she seems to think if someone like a dish called x, they will like any dish with that name, no matter how different recipes may be.

 

She knows that one of my kids like a particular corn casserole at Thanksgiving. When we went to see them I asked if I could bring the ingredients and make it.  Nope, she said, she would take care of it.  I sent her the recipe.  But instead of making it, bought something with the same name at the grocery store deli counter.  It was nothing like my recipe.  I mean, nothing.  None of us could choke it down.  As soon as we got home from that trip, I  made my son his favorite.  Oddly enough, he wasn't as mad as my husband who was disgusted with his mother over that.  But like I said, she has a lot of food weirdness and I guess it goes way back.  

 

My FIL can't understand that people don't like foods that he likes.  And, conversely, that people might like things he doesn't.  When we were visiting (maybe it was that same trip!) I brought my own breakfast stuff, which was muesli and yogurt.  I would mix the two together ahead of time and let it sit a while before eating.  He saw the bowl and asked "What is that?  And who would eat it?"   I just said "It's my daily breakfast and it's delicious - want some?"  He declined.

 

Good times.  :lol:   Food weirdness, constant source of irritation and amusement.

 

[BarbecueMom]

But now I'm curious. How does she make it?

Undrained ground beef, tomato sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, water, salt, sugar, and a couple spices.

 

When I make it, I use mashed whole stewed tomatoes, a bit of lemon juice, salt, water, garlic. Hers is sweet, mine is savory, I guess.

[Ali in OR]

I made my daughters recipe binders for Christmas the Christmas before last and will keep adding to them. While I do have a couple of "heirloom" family recipes in there--cardamom cake from my mom's Norwegian grandmother, Swedish pancakes from my Dad's Swedish grandmother--most of the recipes are the foods we enjoy as a family, like our Saturday morning pancake recipes. One dd is an extremely picky eater and has no interest in most of the dinner type recipes, but I'll still put some in her binder in case she matures out of the pickiness and someday wants to make Mom's chili!

 

I think my mom enjoyed passing down the few recipes I asked for, and I do make spaghetti and tacos just like she did, but she wouldn't have cared that I mostly cook differently than she did. Things change. American society is not so "meat and potatoes" anymore, and many of the ethnic dishes we enjoy just weren't on the radar in 1970's America.

[JustEm]

My dad would never be offended if we didn't/don't use his recipe for the awesome things he makes. But they are so awesome that I want to learn before its too late because our family occasions all revolve around my dad's cooking.

 

Funny story... My dad make the best pizza I've ever had and has been making it and improving it since I was little. He makes his own sauce which we all think is better than any pizza sauce we've ever had (its really what makes the pizza so awesome.)  Well he wanted to make some pizza with the sauce his dad used to use so when his brother came to visit from Chicago he brought my dad a bunch.  We all hated it, including my dad and his brother. They couldn't believe that they thought their dad's pizza was so good when they were younger.  Now my dad has a bunch of this sauce that he wants nothing to do with.

[BarbecueMom]

My MIL is kind of like this. Well, she has a lot of food weirdness. But among them... she seems to think if someone like a dish called x, they will like any dish with that name, no matter how different recipes may be.

 

She knows that one of my kids like a particular corn casserole at Thanksgiving. When we went to see them I asked if I could bring the ingredients and make it. Nope, she said, she would take care of it. I sent her the recipe. But instead of making it, bought something with the same name at the grocery store deli counter. It was nothing like my recipe. I mean, nothing. None of us could choke it down. As soon as we got home from that trip, I made my son his favorite. Oddly enough, he wasn't as mad as my husband who was disgusted with his mother over that. But like I said, she has a lot of food weirdness and I guess it goes way back.

 

My FIL can't understand that people don't like foods that he likes. And, conversely, that people might like things he doesn't. When we were visiting (maybe it was that same trip!) I brought my own breakfast stuff, which was muesli and yogurt. I would mix the two together ahead of time and let it sit a while before eating. He saw the bowl and asked "What is that? And who would eat it?" I just said "It's my daily breakfast and it's delicious - want some?" He declined.

 

Good times. :lol: Food weirdness, constant source of irritation and amusement.

 

Goulash! My mom gets so excited to see other people making goulash, and very confused when it's not macaroni and cheese with beef and tomato soup poured in.

 

My uncle (mom's brother) is a lot like your FIL. We went through all of his ever-changing special diet considerations for YEARS, and now all I hear is how can I be gluten free, because gluten doesn't even exist? Never mind the fact that I'm 90% sure his GI issues are the same as mine, as were his mother's.

 

He also doesn't believe in using ATMs or bank drive-thru windows because you aren't able to see and touch a live teller. I told him they probably invented ATMs and drive-thru windows to keep the tellers from being groped by stubborn old men.

[Carol in Cal.]

There is a family recipe for turkey stuffing that I absolutely hate.  In fact, I thought I hated stuffing in general for decades because of this gummy, grey horror. 

My mother, OTOH, loves it, but she hates to cook and it's a lot of work.  It was her beloved grandmother's recipe.

So it kills her if she makes it and everyone doesn't fall down in ecstasy.  I don't do that.  I just take a little dab, eat it politely, and keep my mouth shut.  She hates that, but it's the best I can do, and I think it's actually pretty polite.

 

However, I would still like to have the recipe, because it is so historic.  But she won't give it to me.  I think that is weird.

[Amira]

I cook completely differently from the way I ate growing up.  So does my mother (both from the way she grew up and what we ate when I was a child).  Neither of us eat 1970s food anymore. Now a lot of what she cooks is from me or cookbooks I've suggested to her.  I do still make her whole wheat waffles though.

 

I don't believe in perfect family recipes that work for generations. :) Eating habits, available ingredients, and so much more can change.  I do enjoy making old family recipes once in a while, but never on a regular basis.

 

I make nothing my MIL makes.  Dh would love it if I did. ;)

[Dory]

This thread had me thinking through my recipes and I realized that I might not cook much like my mom or grandma's did, but I do all my canning off of their recipes. My Grandma made honeyed peaches instead of using sugar and I LOVE that recipe. She taught me how to make my pickles (which are popular with all my neighbours) as well as a lot of my veggies. She did it that way, my mom did it that way and I still do it. Although that Grandma is not my moms mom. Her mom doesn't pass down recipes. My dad's mom did.

[gardenmom5]

my mother didn't cook.  I do a few recipes from my grandmother and great-aunt that I actually use.  occasionally.  very occasionally.

 

It wouldn't bother me if my kids never used any of my recipes.  (unless they made a big stink about how horrible it was and that was why they don't use it.  that is just rude.)

 

1dd (moved out) is now making chocolate cheesecake from dh's recipe more than he does.

[LostSurprise]

Since my mother doesn't consider herself much of a cook, she would never be insulted that I didn't use 'her' (usually Betty Crocker) recipes. 

 

Cooking has been an interesting journey for me, so I like to think that I would be happy that my children had their own cooking journeys. 

[LucyStoner]

I use my mom's recipe for some things. She was a terrible cook so these are not complicated. I don't tend to make these things often- fudge, rice balls, fry bread, PB cookies, chili, grits are the only things that spring to mind. But when I do I recreate what she did a least to the extent possible. Sometimes I wish I could get my hands on government butter and this chili seasoning packet that was sold everywhere in the 1980s and 1990s she used for her (with bean) chili. Sometimes when I am feeling nostalgic, I fix scrambled eggs with store brand baloney.

 

One of the only things she made all the time was spaghetti sauce. But she never followed a recipe. I do tend to make it about the same way she did but mine has a heck of a lot more veggies. The sauce she and my dad made might have onions. Mine usually has mushrooms, onions and peppers. I also tend to have a chunkier approach with my tomato sauce. I do make meatballs pretty much the exact same way as her- ground beef with ground Italian sausage and about the same flavor and seasonings.

 

I rarely use my dad's recipes for anything because he rarely cooked strictly from a recipe. I learned a lot of basic proportions and techniques from him. My main departure from his cooking is that we eat more veggies and I roast chicken and turkey different than he did. My dad is why I don't need to follow recipes to cook pretty well and why I can make things like pie crust and such so easily. I have adjusted my pie crust approach a touch but I would never in a million years tell him that. Shhhh.

[ocelotmom]

I was shocked when I, as a young adult, asked my mom for her chicken recipe and found that it was "Oil, sprinkle on garlic and dill, bake."

 

It was a little disillusioning to discover that the "special dinner" I always requested for my birthday was also about as simple as it gets. But good, because that meant I could cook it.

[BarbecueMom]

I use my mom's recipe for some things. She was a terrible cook so these are not complicated. I don't tend to make these things often- fudge, rice balls, fry bread. But when I do I recreate what she did.

 

One of the only things she made all the time was spaghetti sauce. But she never followed a recipe. I do tend to make it about the same way she did but mine has a heck of a lot more veggies. The sauce she and my dad made might have onions. Mine usually has mushrooms, onions and peppers. I also tend to have a chunkier approach with my tomato sauce. I do make meatballs pretty much the exact same way as her- ground beef with ground Italian sausage and about the same flavor and seasonings.

 

I rarely use my dad's recipes for anything because he rarely cooked strictly from a recipe. I learned a lot of basic proportions and techniques from him. My main departure from his cooking is that we eat more veggies and I roast chicken and turkey different than he did. My dad is why I don't need to follow recipes to cook pretty well and why I can make things like pie crust and such so easily. I have adjusted my pie crust approach a touch but I would never in a million years tell him that. Shhhh.

 

I think she'd cry if I sullied her sauce with vegetables. I, on the other hand, could eat mushrooms and peppers with a side of noodles and sauce.

 

She did teach me how to cook by eyeballing things rather than being glued to the recipe, and I'm grateful for that.  That's the skill you need to really cook well.

[bettyandbob]

My mom isn't a great cook. She got married not knowing how to cook.her mother didn't want anyone messing up the kitchen. My dad learned to make apple pie from his mom after he got married. My siblings and I make apple pie, but there's no special recipe. We all vary it at times (add cranberries? Top layer of pecans? Cheddar cheese in the crust? All different kinds of things happen when apples are in season).

 

My mom worked full time from the time I was in second grade (siblings in 5th and 6th). We made dinner for my parents. It had to be on the table when they walked in the door at 7pm. All three of us are decent cooks.

[Joker]

My mom is a good cook and gave me a recipe binder when I married. Many of the recipes weren't turning out how I remembered them. So, when she would visit I would have her cook a few of my favorites so I could watch. She loves cooking and always wants to cook when she visits so I just asked her to cook specific things. I noticed she had left a few steps out of each. She didn't do it on purpose but she's been cooking these things for so long she just goes through the motions and she forgot to write down a few steps for me. Over the years I've tweaked a few things to suit our tastes better but she doesn't mind at all.

 

My grandmother made an amazing spaghetti sauce and it took her all darn day to do it. Since she's passed no one has been able to replicate it because she didn't keep a recipe of it and she just knew what she was doing. Many of us watched her do it but we've never been able to figure it all out. I really wished we had that recipe to pass down.

[Jennifer132]

That wouldn't bother me at all, nor would it bother my mom, I don't think. That being said, I have some great memories of her meals from childhood, and the ones I do know how to make, I make like hers. When I visit her, I ask her to make them for us! :) yum!

[LucyStoner]

I think she'd cry if I sullied her sauce with vegetables. I, on the other hand, could eat mushrooms and peppers with a side of noodles and sauce.

 

She did teach me how to cook by eyeballing things rather than being glued to the recipe, and I'm grateful for that. That's the skill you need to really cook well.

Ah, well. My mom's dead. My changing her sauce can't kill her twice. :P

[BarbecueMom]

Ah, well. My mom's dead. My changing her sauce can't kill her twice. :P

I'm sorry about your mom. Maybe I'll feel different someday when I inevitably go through that.

 

Except the mushrooms. I'll always use mushrooms.

[LucyStoner]

I'm sorry about your mom. Maybe I'll feel different someday when I inevitably go through that.

 

Except the mushrooms. I'll always use mushrooms.

That's because the mushrooms are the best part.

[T'smom]

This topic reminds me of a funny story. I asked my mom for her "famous" lasagna recipe one time and she said "oh honey, that's too complicated....just buy a frozen one at the store." She used to make it for church dinners all the time, but she's given it up and she buys frozen ones now.

[plansrme]

One of my daughters (now 14) has requested my recipe binder when I die. She repeats this request regularly, and I have to say, I love that she considers my cooking to be one of the things she wants to remember about me. I do not, however, expect to be offended if she never actually uses any of the recipes.

[ocelotmom]

One of my daughters (now 14) has requested my recipe binder when I die. She repeats this request regularly, and I have to say, I love that she considers my cooking to be one of the things she wants to remember about me. I do not, however, expect to be offended if she never actually uses any of the recipes.

 

Unless I expected to die in short order, I would make her a copy as a moving-out present :)

[mom2jjka]

It's funny, because my grandma cooked mostly by memory, and she rarely wrote down recipes (and if she did it was only ingredients - not instructions.)

She had a killer sugar cookie recipe, but when she died none of her grown kids knew how to make them.  Her ingredient list for them called for 'Oleo', and before Google, no one could figure out what that meant, (later found out it's just margarine, LOL.)    Anyways, because she was my babysitter when I was growing up, I watched her make those cookies a million times, so I knew just how to replicate them -  her secret was to 'cut' the margarine into the flour like you're making pie crust.  I've since shared this with my aunt, and she was amazed I knew how to make them like Gram.   And I'll teach it to my kiddos, because this is an heirloom worth passing down. ;)

[Muttichen]

This spring I made my new daughter-in-law a binder of my recipes for a shower gift and my girls were going crazy.  I said they'd get one when they got married and they said I loved my son's fiancee more than them.  They threw such a fit that I emailed them the file.  So all summer, my two older dds and my son and his new wife have been making my recipes (many handed down from my mom, grandmother, MIL, etc.) and telling me how they've tweaked things, added this or that, etc.  I think it's great, but I wouldn't be upset if they came up with their own favorite recipes!

[klmama]

Both my mom and my grandmother were amazing cooks.  They did it all from memory, except for a couple of special holiday dishes.  So, even though I have all of their recipe cards, the majority are for recipes they rarely made.  The really good ones are lost.  I realized recently that the same thing is true for me.  I know how to cook, so I don't use my written recipes or cookbooks very often.  My card file is full of items I made when I was single and didn't know what I was doing.  I'd like to make up recipe binders for the dc so they know where to start when trying to make my recipes.  I fully expect them to change how I make things, though.  No problem.  I want them to like the food they eat!

[Happy]

In the posts above I said my mom didn't have recipes to pass on....but really that's not quite true. Big holidays were always at my mom's...for years my Grandmother and mom did all the traditional holiday meals from scratch. When my Grandmother got too infirm to help cook, my mom decided to make some changes. She went to a local turkey farm to purchase a tasty smoked turkey. THAT she told everyone. What she told almost no one was that the turkey farm had yummy packages of frozen dressing and sweet potato casserole. She also ordered yummy frozen rolls from Grandy's. (this was many years ago...)

 

My grandmother and my mom's brothers all raved about her cooking....only my husband, my brother, and I knew that all that food had come from packages and transferred to casserole dishes. We even took all the packaging out of the house straight to the dumpster because my Grandmother would have had a stroke if she saw it in the house trash can. :) We did this for years--until I forgot that everyone else in the family didn't know.

 

When my mom died, we all sat around the night before the funeral sharing funny stories about her. One of my uncles started talking about what a great cook she had been. After much laughter we confessed. My uncles were stunned they had not known. The very sharp minister went out to the turkey farm before the funeral...and gave each of her brothers a package of frozen dressing at the service. Everyone loved it.

 

When we talk about Peggy's secret recipes, we are talking about Prater's Frozen Dressing...and Grandy's rolls.

 

She's been gone 20 years almost...these memories still make me smile. We love to cook here--but the important thing is the fun and fellowship of food and family. Not just the recipe. She got that right.

[Seasider]

Wonderful post above, Happy, thanks for sharing.

 

I come from a large family of historically great cooks and have many delicious recipes. [ETA I think many are fooled into thinking I am a great cook when I truly believe I am just a great recipe collector!] I share when asked. I always think it funny when someone goes on to not just tweak it, but totally rearrange it, and then tells everyone, "oh, that's seasider's recipe!"

 

No dear, now it's *yours*!

[Arcadia]

My MIL has a sweet and sour pork recipe that my hubby used to like. It's no longer his favorite dish. I think taste change. My hubby's current favorite is fried rice. Before that was something else.

 

My mom has a recipe book of recipes cut out from magazines or copied from the newspaper. If she still have it, I'll want it as a keepsake. I loved flipping through that book as a child. My mom has lovely handwriting :)

[Lara in Colo]

It 's my mother that has changed.  Her recipes (she really only had a couple of good ones) were too much trouble I guess.  So instead of making potato salad and chopping everything-- she just buys the store stuff and adds pickle relish (Ick)-- on the other hand I make it from scratch.  The same with her dips, and she cannot even find/remember some other favorite recipes from  my childhood.

 

[Rosie_0801]

My mother didn't have signature dishes. She made *trying to cook to feed kids with hollow legs on a small budget* meals. My paternal grandmother was a dreadful cook, but could always be relied on to have ice cream in the freezer and a Sara Lee apple pie in the fridge, so I eat apple pie and ice cream for dinner on Samhain. :) My maternal grandmother made the best ever Christmas puddings and I'm trying to see if I can wheedle precise instructions out of her so I can begin making it for Yule next year. No one except my grandfather ever wanted to eat Christmas pudding in the middle of summer, even though it was really, really good Christmas pudding and we knew for a fact it didn't come out of a packet because it was hanging in the hallway from October every year. :)

[J-rap]

My mother was and still is a great cook.  (at 87)  She still makes everything from scratch.  Thing is, she is more of a meat and potatoes cook, while we eat quite differently:  lots of vegetarian, legumes, etc.  So, we really don't use too many of her recipes, although I love keeping them in the family.  Her pie and potato salad recipes are so good, I can barely eat another's!  A lot of her recipes are passed down from her own mother or even her grandmother.  They often handwrote little notes beside the recipe (how they changed it, who they cooked it for, how they liked it).  I love those little notes.  My mother doesn't care at all if we don't actually use her recipes much.

[kewb]

My mother does not care that we do not use the majority of recipes of my youth.  Back then it was fried food 2-3 times a week and slab of meat the other days.  Always with a salad.  My mother missed the 70's everything processed revolution (even though my sister and I begged for that stuff). 

 

I won't be insulted if my children find their own favorites.  

 

There are a couple of family recipes that come out at holiday time.