Do you remember a special event or holiday when someone in your family always cooked a wonderful meal? Was there a favorite dish you think about now and your mouth begins to water? Close your eyes and imagine what it looked like and smelled like and tasted like. Recipes tell the stories of family and home and the way of life in a particular time.
When I was growing up, my family often went for Thanksgiving to my grandparents’ home in the Texas hill country. I still remember waking up on frosty mornings when it was still dark and hearing my grandmother working in the kitchen. Delicious cornbread dressing was her specialty to serve at the feast. I still use her recipe for my turkey dinners.
Recipes remind us of happy places now and in past years. American colonists used meat from animals that they hunted and vegetables and fruits from gardens for recipes. In 1894, a Virginia gentleman who came home from a long trip might have delighted in a meal of fried chicken, sausages, or maybe deer or bear meat with gravy, warm bread, and a beverage. Cake was a popular dessert.
Ask your family members who cook to tell you about their recipes. Write down questions about a dish which makes you curious and interview its cook. Create and illustrate the story of this dish. Write down recipes you like in a blank book and draw pictures to make a cookbook.
