Mom's Recipes

I am not sure if it is a tradition. My late mother in law (may she rest in peace) had everyone contribute a recipe to a cookbook she had created for me as a bridal shower gift. This is one of the gifts from her I cherish. I am glad that my mother in law trusted me with all her family recipes. I rarely use ready made boxes to make meals. A lot of them are full of sugar and my husband is diabetic.

In many aspects that we don't realize are there, traditions are still being carried forward, it just seems to be way different in today's society. Being a part of an older generation now, we don't see things in the same way and think about all the electronics that the younger generations are now used to using all the time. For me, growing up the cooking was always left up to my father, my mother would cook on occasion, but, my dad was always the one to spend time in the kitchen. My grandparents were huge in the kitchen. In their little town, many people would get excited to see what they would bring to the next pot luck or any other event that was going on. We as the more mature and older generation need to try and remember to pass down the recipes and other memorabilia to our children. Make sure they know where they come from and their heritage. It is still highly important.

Cooking forgotten?? No, certainly not. Cooking is a huge part of the family life, whether its a passed down recipe or a microwave dinner. Food is what brings people together I think, and when i was growing up, there was no valid excuse for not being home for dinner or missing the big dinner on Sunday afternoon. We always had 10-12 people at the table on Sundays and that is when my interjusest in cooking started. I loved to watch my Grandmother cook..she made it look so simple..and she taught me how to cook the same way her mother taught her to cook. I think that many families of all cultures pass down recipes and if you are lucky enough to get those recipes of the food your ancestors cooked than you are very fortunate because typically these treasures are not found in cookbooks. I am so sorry that I didn't get hard copies of many of the things my Grandmother cooked although I never once saw her refer to a cookbook. She just knew what to do and her hands and her eyes were her measures!! Still and all if I knew then that I was going to end up being a chef as I am, i would have made lots of notes!! Who Knew?? Cooking and sharing recipes is something that I believe will never die..I hope not anyway..

This happened to my family especially when my sister got married. She was taught by my mom about all the different kinds of food that my mom knows how to cook and also taught her the different techniques in cooking. I consider my sister lucky because she was taught but when I got married my mom was already busy so she didnt have enough time to teach me. Sometimes if I need to know how to cook something, I just ask her and send her a text message. That way, I am still able to learn and get to have trial and error in my experimentation but I like it because I can also discover so many things.

I think that the tradition of that the daughter should take long mom's recipes to her new home is still followed. But the another is also followed by some. Most of them learn cooking early in their age. In India it is the responsibility of daughter to learn who to cook from her mother. And it still followed.