It is vague, but I can almost see it... my recipe box last January with recipe cards stacked atop and in little piles all around. My favorite recipes all cluttered near the stove/oven after being put to use for the holidays. I also remember sweeping all of them up and tucking them in the back of the box thinking "I'll sort these later." Memory is fickle. I've spent much of the past year calling my sisters frantically asking for family recipes that I had misplaced. Mom's Pie Crust! Sweet & Sour Meatballs! Garlic Bread! All forgotten in the back of that little box. Until today. I came across them and breathed a big sigh of relief... precious recipes written in my mother's handwriting, my Aunt's, my grandmother's. Family heirlooms. There are many, and each recipe brings to mind that special person who shared it with me, that holiday, event, or family dinner where it was enjoyed.
I was a reluctant cook. When we were first married, my husband did much of the cooking for us. Now, as a stay at home mom the cooking duties have fallen to me. I am rapidly coming to love it. Though my abilities don't come close to my mother's, I am learning and becoming more confident.
Growing up, my family's table sometimes seemed a little different than the meals shared at other homes. As a young girl, I couldn't put my finger on how it was different, it was just different. Later, it became clear. My mother, born in Nebraska, learned to cook at the side of my grandmother. Good German Lutherans from Russia whose cooking had a delicious but decidedly midwest appeal. When my mom married my father, born in Manila, raised in California amidst a large filipino community she had to learn to walk a strange line in the kitchen. Rice with every meal. Soy sauce based marinades. Asian cooking meets American cooking. She became a master at keeping both palettes happy.
My household is a little like the one where I grew up. Not quite as extreme in cultural differences, my dutch/german husband is happy to eat anything I set in front of him. I've learned to put potatoes on the table as often as I put rice on the table. He puts up with my learning curve as I experiment with roasts. I deal with his habit of saying everything is "good" without much positive or negative feedback.
Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of these recipes, family favorites from my own family and the kitchens of my friends. Meals for family dinners, holidays, casual, or formal. Snacks, appetizers, dips, desserts, and everything in between. The birth of this blog is an effort to share our favorite recipes with the same enthusiasm my mom, aunts, cousins, sisters, and friends have. Enjoy!
