Article by Wendy McCance
Just like any kid, growing up I had some favorite meals that my mom would make. As I got older, I wanted to recreate those meals along with several of her baking recipes. My mom decided to compile all of the recipes I enjoyed into a cookbook for me. It has been a cherished book that is used quite frequently. It brings back wonderful memories.
To this day, I have memories of waking up in the morning to the smell of bread baking. There was nothing like going downstairs first thing in the morning and having a roll right out of the oven. There were many times when my mom would spend a full day baking pan after pan of chocolate chip cookies because we would be travelling and her cookies were famous among the relatives. She would bring enough bags of cookies for each family we visited to have a few dozen.
As a parent, I think about what meals my family enjoys and have documented recipes for them. Years ago I called my mother-in-law for recipes that I could put into a book for my husband. At the time, he had reminisced about favorite dishes from his own childhood and I wanted him to have access to those recipes. We have since made a few of his favorites, but I need to remember to look through that book more often for him.
Each week I plan out a week’s worth of meals. Many of them are new recipes, but I always throw in a couple of tried and true favorites. I created a great easy way to hold onto recipes that the kids might love and want to use when they are grown. I have a fancy notebook. The kind of book that has a hard cover and looks impressive (even though it’s just an ordinary notebook) and I jot down my weekly dinner menu in it. Next to the recipe it says what cookbook it came from and the page number. After we have eaten that week’s meals and I open the book go back and write notes. If the family loves a meal and it is fairly simple to make, I mention it so I can remember to use it again.
What makes this such a terrific way of recording what I am cooking is that I know what the family enjoys, where to find the recipe and it is easy to find if the kids want me to write the recipe down for them. It’s a nice way to save some memories.
Do you have special ways that you save family memories? Let me know in the comment section below.
Wendy McCance
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Hi Wendy, boy can I relate to this. 🙂 Favorite family recipes, both from my side and my husband’s, are shared regularly on my blog. There is just something about sharing a meal together that brings back fond memories of family, food and time together. It would be a shame if all those recipes and traditions were lost. I like the way you are documenting yours.
Thanks Susan. It’s amazing how something as simple as food can become such a meaningful part of your life when it comes to what your happiest memories are.
I remember my grandmother’s macaroni and cheese. She made it with a block of extra sharp cheddar cheese that she cut up and melted in the cooked macaroni. I’ve tried and tried to make it from scratch like that but it’s still missing the taste (the closest I found to the taste is KFC’s mac and cheese).
Probably the reason I can’t match the taste cooking it the same way is because foods are processed so differently today than they were back then.
I love memories like that. My grandmother made a meatloaf and an aunt made cookies that our family hasn’t been able to recreate either. Such good memories though.
No I don’t I often think we should make some kind of note about many different things that happen in our family’s life
Joanne, I wish I had kept a diary with notes about the kids growing up. I know there are so many special things that have happened that I no longer remember.
I like the notebook idea! Just may have to try that!!
Lynne, it’s been so handy when I have a week where I feel uninspired. I can look up what recipes I’ve used in the past and put a grocery list together fairly quickly.