By Mike Clark

I am sure that you remember walking into your mom or grandmother’s house and the smell of her cooking that one family-famous recipe hitting your nostrils and instantly making your mouth water in excitement. I know I sure do. I can still close my eyes today and imagine those smells and it almost feels like I could travel back in time on the wave of those imaginary scents. Unfortunately, neither of my grandmothers recorded many of their recipes, so those that were not taught have now been lost forever. We can try our best to imitate them, but no one will ever be able to get them just right. 

My wonderful wife has mastered quite a few of them that were passed on to her before my grandmother passed. One of those mastered recipes was my grandmother’s famous homemade jams and jellies. My grandmother had a special recipe that made her jams stand out from all the rest and people went crazy for them. Now that my wife and I are grandparents ourselves we get to see the joy that those jams bring on our own grandchildren’s faces and will one day get to pass the recipe down to them. 

Another famous family recipe that was tweaked and perfected by my grandmother was her famous sweet potato fried pie. Just thinking about it makes my stomach growl. We made so many memories that centered around that delicious pie. It was one of my son’s favorites growing up, and grandmother would always make sure she had a fresh one made for when they came over to visit. 

Recipes weren’t how a lot of people cooked back in my grandma’s day, they knew their recipes by heart and just knew how to make it perfect without ever glazing at a cookbook. This took a lot of talent but unfortunately, since her recipes were never recorded, no one is able to duplicate most of them that weren’t taught before she passed away. 

I have spent the majority of this blog thus far ranting about my own personal experiences with family recipes… and you are probably wondering when I am going to get to the point. Well, the point is that, although my family has no expensive jewels to pass down to me, those recipes that were memorized by heart act as our family heirlooms in a sense. They are heirlooms that will have more happiness, laughs, and memories tied to them than any jewel ever could. Cooking is something that brings generations together, promotes laughter and conversation, and simply brings families closer together. My family’s recipes are treasures and yours could be also. It is never too late to start new traditions to pass on to your children and grandchildren. 

Cooking Together Brings Families Closer

Cooking for your family and friends is one of the greatest gifts you can give them.  It is a time-honored tradition of love and time. Sitting down to enjoy a delicious dinner or scrumptious dessert makes all the work that went into the meal worth it. The stories you can tell about how you and your mother or grandmother would prepare those special meals back when you were growing up go far beyond today’s meal preparation. The memories you make today last far beyond the little time you spent preparing the meal. Your kids will tell these stories to their grandchildren one day about how their great great grandmother would prepare these special dishes.

The kitchen is the heart of every home, so make mealtime special for your family. Like the title says this is the heirloom jewel that does not cost anything and will bring joy for generations to come.