As we approach the weekend, many people are turning their thoughts to their dear mothers, either visiting them, having them over, taking them out for a special meal, or if none of those are feasible, calling them on the phone. This weekend is the weekend that typically sees the highest call volumes of the year, which is not to mean many of us don’t pick up the phone to call mom all those other times we need help with something, asking her how she makes her pie crust so flaky, telling her about what that mean person said to us this morning, or calling just to hear her voice and see how she’s doing.
I thought that for this week’s theme, we’d do something special and personal. We could have done a post about brunch ideas, and that would have been great too. We have tons of breakfast and brunch recipes here at Tasty Kitchen, and some of the suggestions we had in our recent Bridal Showers and Spring theme posts work beautifully for Sunday brunch as well. But today, let’s get all nostalgic and talk about the foods that remind us of our Mamas (and Nanas too!). And because there are as many possible answers to that as there are mothers and grandmothers, we’ll make it personal and poll the throngs of people behind the scenes here at Tasty Kitchen. (And by “throngs,” I mean all three of us.)
Let’s start with Ree. I asked her what foods remind her most of her mom and grandmother, and she quickly answered that for her grandmother, it’s biscuits and homemade jam. “Oh, dear. Best drop biscuits ever, and I’ll never be able to replicate them.” If it’s any consolation to you, Ree, Alton Brown said the same thing about his grandmother’s biscuits.
Clockwise from top left: Basic Buttermilk Biscuits from loveandbutter (Jamie), Grape Harvest Jam from italianfoodforever, Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits from madisonmayberry, Cinnamon Peach Jam from bertscannery, Easy Drop Biscuits from cookingfromscratch, Apple Pie Jam – Jelly from Mommy’s Kitchen, Biscuits, The Cheater Way from sarahhope, and Easy Homemade Plum Jam from nicoled.
For her mom, Ree’s reply was just as quick: Cinnamon Rolls. I’m sure many of you have become quite intimate with those luscious Cinnamon Rolls that Ree shared with us in one of her earliest cooking posts. It’s that sinful-looking dish you see in the top photo, and just for kicks, I thought I’d show you a couple of variations that we have here, including a gluten-free version.
Clockwise from left: Gluten-free Cinnamon Rolls from glutenfreegirl, Amazing Short Cut Cinnamon Rolls from sprucehill, Caramel Sticky Buns from Heather.
As for me, I seem to be an anomaly, because the dishes that remind me most of my mom are savory, main dish offerings. My all-time favorite is my mom’s spaghetti meat sauce, and it was always a treat when she made it. And the one, ultra-special once-in-a-while fancy meal that’s so memorable that I can clearly picture in my mind our old dining room and where I sat as my mom brought out the food was a steak dinner served with cream of mushroom soup and buttered corn. To this day, that combination always instantly brings me back to my childhood.
Clockwise from top left: Pepper Encrusted Steak from bell’alimento, Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup from steamykitchen, Corn with Bacon and Green Onions, Oh My from Karly Campbell, and Pastor Ryan’s Bolognese Sauce.
As for Nanci, the lovely lady who answers your support questions and helps you with anything and everything, she says that her mom makes the greatest cobblers ever, using her great-grandmother’s crust. And her paternal grandmother? She was a master candy maker, and people would travel far and wide to purchase little bags of her peanut brittle every time she would make them for church bake sales.
Clockwise from top left: Old-Fashioned Microwave Peanut Brittle from bitesizebaker, Nectarine and Cream Cobbler from joythebaker, Spicy Peanut Brittle from uwharrie, Blackberry Cobbler from Karly Campbell, The McNally Pie Crust from Courtney.
She also shared that her grandmother always made a roast when they came over, and that for both her mom and grandmother, pie was a big thing. A really big thing. And as I looked through the pie recipes here, I realized something: pie is a big thing for many, many people. So many of you have shared family favorite pies that have been passed on from mom, or grandma. And it’s so lovely that many of you are determined to continue the tradition, or start one of your own.
Top row, from left to right: Cherry Cream Crumble Pie from sugarnspice, Southern Sweet Potato Pie from bsherrill, and MaMaw Burkett’s Chess Pie from ace75. Center row, from left to right: Old Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie from Mommy’s Kitchen, Super Healthy Banana Pie from rawmazing, and Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie from A Cozy Kitchen. Bottom row, from left to right: “Just In Case” Pie from jaymielo, Grandma Inez’s Pineapple Pie from Natalie (Perry’s Plate), Blackberry Wine Glaze Pie with Ginger Crust from gastronomicgold.
And those are all the special Mama and Nana dishes for us here at Tasty Kitchen!
We want to hear from you, too. Is there something that your mom makes that you think no one else in the world can replicate? Something special and soothing that she’d make for you when you were sick that made you feel all better? What did Nana make for you every time you came over for a visit? We’ve love to hear it all!
And now, if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I think I’ll go look at old photos and find some Jean Nate to sniff.
48 Comments
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Steffii on 5.16.2010
Coming from an Irish family food has always revolved around us.
My mother made the best cabbage rolls ever hands down! My paternal granny and great granny made the worlds best potato candy,wilted lettece,apple dumplings and lemon merginue pies! as for my maternal grandma and her sisters I remember most canning veggies and fruits,also grandma made the best baked liver and onions.I haven’t had liver and onions since she passed 25 years ago.
mannadonn on 5.11.2010
I don’t really remember my mother ever cooking. But I would spend every summer with my grandma in Lawton, Oklahoma and she made some of the best food ever! I specifically remember her garden and these little fried apricot hand pies she used to make. Everything was homemade, down to the apricots she grew in her garden. I recently rand across her pie crust recipe and am going to try to recreate these soon.
LeAnn on 5.10.2010
My mother used to make potato soup for me whenever I was sick. I don’t know if it had any real healing power, but it was delicious!
Brooke S on 5.9.2010
My mom is Mexican and Greek… but has this really good mix of foods she makes. My favorite is her Chicken Soup. It was and still is the bowl of something good that silences our family at dinner. She also makes these chicken tacos… heaven!!!! Those are two foods I have learned to replicate, and always, always, always… make me feel good. My Grandma made the BEST chile rellanos, tamales, and Greek cookies. Nobody can shake a stick at them. The smell of steaming tamales brings me instantly to my grandma’s kitchen, when my grandfather was still alive. And he would sneak me olives I would put on my fingers.
shari on 5.9.2010
My grandmother was one of the best cooks in the universe. This is gross, but we always joked that she could make a turd taste good! Hahaha! Her fried chicken and biscuits, homemade soups, and plain old beans were a treat to all of us hungry grand kids. My mother is a wonderful cook also, but her pie crust stands out above all others. She used only shortening (she used to buy a brand called Fluffo, that isn’t made anymore to my knowledge), and her pie crusts even now without the Fluffo (she uses Crisco now), are the most tender and flakey crusts I’ve ever had. And believe me, it’s not easy to make a crust that’s tender AND flakey. I’ve tried. And tried. And tried. And obviously, it’s just not in me to make a crust as good as hers. I don’t feel too bad, because no one else can do it either, -even my perfect cook of a grandmother could never make pie crust as good as Mom’s. Happy Mother’s day Mom!
BB Tyree on 5.9.2010
Beef Stew. Simple, very few ingredients, but to die for. It’s my ultimate comfort food.
Courtney on 5.9.2010
Oh how I miss my mother.. But one thing I don’t really miss is her cooking.. Is that bad to say?? When she WANTED to cook she was great but she didn’t have a passion for cooking.. She had a passion for jewelry so that took most of her time. All those pictures are making me hungry!! Yum!
Stephanie on 5.8.2010
My mother is a tapioca pudding genius. Allegedly, we use the same recipe, but mine never turns out like hers.
She also makes the best chicken soup in the whole world. I think it could cure cancer. I think she puts sunshine in it. I know that I’d love a bowl right now.
karalie on 5.8.2010
Sweet Sourdough bread!! My mom kept a sourdough starter from as far back as I can remember. She used to make bread every few days, and it got to the point she started delivering loaves to people in our little town. Needless to say, many kids grew up referring to my mom as the bread lady! :O)
michellemch on 5.8.2010
My mother was a great baker and her pie crusts and breads were the best. I don’t have her knack so I miss her Pumpkin Pie at Thanksgiving, her Cherry and Pecan Pie at Christmas and her Hot Cross Buns at Easter. She grew up on a farm in Kansas and learned basic skills that kept us well fed. She also made Salisbury Steak that would melt in your mouth.
My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook and southern casseroles are her forte such as sweet potato casserole. She also makes wonderful Caramel Icing using her cast iron skillet! Caramel Cake is probably her most requested recipe for family get togethers.
mrshamlet on 5.8.2010
My mom was sick for most of my life and died when I was very young, so I had to really think about this one. Corn makes me think of her, because she hated it, and at 6, I couldn’t understand why an adult didn’t like something I found delicious.
And she made blackberry cobbler, a dessert I still can’t eat because it makes me cry. For that matter, blackberry jam makes me cry, too.
My mother-in-law, on the other hand, is a dear, sweet lady and makes excellent meals. I wish I could say I was looking forward to eating her cooking this weekend, but since it’s Mother’s Day, I’m doing the cooking for dinner tonight, and my father-in-law will do breakfast in the morning. I’m making Boeuf Bourguignon!
Holly in FL on 5.8.2010
The two food items I always looked forward to at Christmas time was my Grandma’s “Rosy Glow Jello Salad”…and, her “Buttercream Cake.” The jello dish is quite unique and I’ve never seen a recipe even close to it. I’ve never tasted any cake that even comes close to those 13 layers of sponge cake with a thin layer of her secret recipe buttercream betweem each layer! Toasted almond slices cover the outside of this beauty!
I’ve made both recipes for certain church and party functions! I can truthfully say…if I wasn’t already married…I would have walked out of those places with a few proposals after those men tasted that cake!
Note: I’m not skilled enough to cut 13 layers…yet! Practice, practice, practice!!
Smiles!
~Holly
mangiodasola on 5.8.2010
My mom doesn’t know how to cook and doesn’t even like to be in the kitchen for more than a minute. With that said, there is one, and only one, dish she knows how to make well: potato salad. I’m so glad my mom and aunts don’t match the pervasive gender stereotypes out there.
Emily D. on 5.7.2010
ew. I’m not an oyster fan, but I do love scallops! pan seared or broiled, oh so yummy!
Ann Sheppard on 5.7.2010
This post brought back lots of memories for me and the “specialties” of my mom and great aunt. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes & gravy, home-made biscuits, green beans and sweet tea….they are the epitome of comfort food for me because Mama’s was the best ever . But oh, the mention of perfume….every time I get a whiff of Shalimar, I’m transported back in time. It was her absolute favorite perfume.
keeperrox on 5.7.2010
My mom: cookies of all sorts and corned beef and cabbage.
My maternal Gram: Galumpkies, potato pancakes, and homemade strawberry jam thumbprint cookies.
My paternal Granny: Lemon Meringue Pie, burnt-bottom-from-the-can-flaky biscuits, and black olives eaten off our fingers (okay, these last two are weird, but each happened weekly, and they definitely bring fond memories of all the aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered together for Sunday dinner).
Now, if there were an Aunt day, this would be a much different list!
Lynette on 5.7.2010
My link didn’t go through…….
Lynette on 5.7.2010
My grandma used to make your chocolate sheet cake w/ nuts. YUM.
My mom was a great cook and I can’t even begin to tell you all the stuff I like and remember. She was a Comfy food person….dinners.
Mashed potatoes, fired chicken, chicken fried steak…..no wonder she died of a heart attack at age 59! That’s why I cook HEALTHIER these days! But I loved her cooking!!
Rhonda on 5.7.2010
My mom wasn’t much for cooking especially after I got grown enough but she made great apple pies, most memorable was with red hots. My grandmothers, I really miss them. My paternal grandmother – chocolate meringue pie (calf’s slobber pie and my older brother still refuses to eat meringue-she was so funny in a quiet way. She didn’t do much cooking by the time we arrived but she did do her pies. My dad was youngest of 13 kids and his oldest sister was my maternal grandmother’s age) and my maternal grandmother – chicken fried steak and gravy and coconut pie.
Heather on 5.7.2010
For some strange reason, my favourite thing my mom made was kitchen sink soup. When she’d clean out the fridge, and use up all the leftovers, (everything but the proverbial kitchen sink) the soup would turn out WONDERFULLY every time – but it could never, ever be replicated
Vicki B on 5.7.2010
Even though I’ve been a vegetarian for years and years, my late mother’s beef stroganoff with rice pilaf was incredible. I’ve never tasted any other like it. Her Almond Cream Pie out of the old Betty Crocker Cookbook was out of this world.
Patti Linder on 5.7.2010
My comfort food that Mom always made when we were sick was a simple little “soup” made with elbow macaroni, tomato juice, a dab of butter, pepper, and salt (I prefer to use celery salt in mine). This is the only “soup” my son will eat!
Lynnette on 5.7.2010
My mom’s best was krepla. This is the first Mother’s Day without her. I miss her terribly.
barbara in Texas on 5.7.2010
My Mom has been gone for twenty years, but I always think of her when I make fried chicken. Hers was and always will be the best.
pvfrompv on 5.7.2010
Nothing, I mean nothing, beats my mom’s Rhubarb Pie – The crust was the best too but I think that’s because she used her mother’s rolling pin – a wedding gift carved from a single piece of maple. It even has a scorch mark on it from a kitchen fire. After she retired mom also “had the gift” for making jams and jellies: pomegranate, strawberry and the ultimate jelly: mesquite bean! Wish you were here mom.
mowsquaz on 5.7.2010
Stephanie, your comment could have been mine. My grandma made graham cracker pie and banana bread, too! So delicious! I’ve never met anyone else who has heard of graham cracker pie, though.
My grandma also made incredible brownies, and whenever I try to make them, they just don’t taste the same. When she was still alive, I made them with her so I could learn how, but I never can get them quite right. The graham cracker pie and banana bread, though, I’ve mastered, thank goodness! And I make her sugar cookie recipe at Christmastime. It’s not Christmas without it.
I also have memories of her making pork chops, which I never really liked, but she also would make gravy with the pan drippings when she made those, and THAT was divine.
Natalie | Perry's Plate on 5.7.2010
Thanks for featuring my grandma’s pineapple pie! Eating at grandma’s house always made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm fleece blanket. It also made me sick to my stomach sometimes (I have little self-control at grandma’s house), but that’s my own fault.
Kari on 5.7.2010
When I think of my paternal grandma, I think of her open-face apple cream pies (the only kind of apple pie my dad will eat!), homemade bread and wonderful strawberry jam. In fact, I once ate an ENTIRE jar of that jam myself when I was about 2, and my parents have the pictures to prove it!
When I think of my mom, I think of her meatballs. Served in a cream sauce with white wine, they were a special treat growing up, and I love them to this day.
I can thank both those lovely women (and my maternal grandma) for encouraging me to explore and experiment with my own love of cooking and baking.
Stephanie on 5.7.2010
My grandma made the best desserts. She had two of our favorites: Graham Cracker Pie and Banana Bread. Oh… I miss her. I think for this Mother’s Day I will have to make her recipes and post them on here.
Jazzy on 5.7.2010
My mom and her twin sister were an accident, so my Mamaw was quite a bit older when I was growing up. When I was really young, she always had dinner ready when we came home from church on Sunday mornings. Nobody, but nobody, can make greenbeans like her. I’m not a huge gb fan, but I liked hers. Her mac-n-cheese, always homemade was awesome, as well as her fried cornbread. Seems I’ve always known how to make the mac-n-cheese, since my mom makes it too, but it took awhile, and a lot of direction from my aunt before I perfected the cornbread. Oh, I almost forgot the dressing and gravy she always made at Thanksgiving, be still my heart! MY FAV!!!
AshleyC on 5.7.2010
My mom can make country fried steak like no ones business! I dont know what it is but every time we are in the same house she knows she must make it for me. As for my grandma its her biscuits and gravy. I ate it everyday growing up and it never got old.
Morgawse on 5.7.2010
Mly grandmother makes the best curly kale mash in the world. Mine is nice, my mum’s is excellent, but neither of them even come close to my grandmother’s. Curly kale mash is the ultimate comfort food to me, both because it’s so warm and filling but also because it makes me feel like I’m in my grandmother’s kitchen eating dinner.
My mother is an amazing cook and it’s hard to choose – I think I’d have to go for her baking. Strawberry sponge cake was always my request on my birthday, but anything she bakes is fantastic.
Spruce Hill on 5.7.2010
Oh Look there! My short cut cinnamon rolls!
http://sprucehill.typepad.com/
cookincanuck on 5.7.2010
Plenty of wonderful ideas to honor and treat mothers. For our family, we love to have a big brunch, usually involving some sort of egg dish and the requisite fried meat (bacon, sausage – I’ll take whatever you’ve got). My mum loves this easy down-home type of breakfast, too. However, if you stuck a big platter of smoked salmon in front of here too, there certainly wouldn’t be any complaints.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you dedicated mums out there. I hope you receive lots of hugs from your kids (I know that’s what I’m looking forward to).
MS Hospitality on 5.7.2010
Thanks for this topic… bringing back memories of Sunday pot roast with rice and gray. This mid-day meal turned into tiny roast beef, sweet pickles, mayo and soft white bread sandwiches on Sunday evening at the dollar night drive-in…. sweet memories.
Mary B. on 5.7.2010
My Mimi was a tremendous cook – the things I remember the most – her pecan pie, her spicy shrimp sauce (still can’t get it perfect to this day!) and her cornflake potato casserole.
My mom is amazing in the kitchen as well! Her popovers with strawberry butter are to die for, and every time I came home from college I requested roast and dirty rice (basically rice with french onion soup and lots of butter make it “dirty”, but delightful!)
Now I get to turn the tables and cook dinner tomorrow for 2 very special Mothers – my Mommy and my sister, who is expecting her third! Happy Mother’s Day to all of the amazing Moms out there!
Billie on 5.7.2010
My Gma made the most delicious baked custard. My mom cooked a lot of delicious turkeys and made goulash in the little kitchen of our cabin cruiser. You could smell it all over the lake! Those were the days. I remember them fondly.
penguin on 5.7.2010
My mother (who turns 96 on the 17th!) was a wonderful cook. The dishes our family remembers most is her chicken soup and carrot mold (no, not moldy carrots, but a carrot kugel cooked in a round mold). My sister makes both of them now; the highest compliment in our family is “It tastes just like Mom’s!” We both still ask Mom for cooking advice. She got her abilities from her mother (my grandmother), who made delicious blintzes.
Jackie Van Zanten Richardson on 5.7.2010
I have to admit that my mother was a really terrible cook. My father, on the other hand, inherited cooking abilities from both of his parents (professional chefs in railroad camps). The favorite thing I remember him making was called fettucine and meatballs. I got the recipe from him and it is a lot of work but really worth every bit of effort.
carolinagirl on 5.7.2010
My mom always made the best fried chicken for Sunday dinners, unfortunately she passed away several years ago and she never told me how to do it, but I did finally master her milk gravy after about 25 years!! One of my grandmother’s made the best biscuits and the other one makes the most awesome cinnamon rolls!
Karen on 5.7.2010
Oh, I wish I had a palatable answer! The dish I remember most clearly from my childhood was chicken ala king, from a can, with fresh-from-the-frozen-food-section apple turnovers! My maternal grandmother — I think the only thing she ever fed me was orange marshmallow circus peanuts, and my paternal grandmother… well, let’s just say that she once famously couldn’t find sausage to use for her spaghetti sauce, and instead used hot dogs. Those hot dogs with the processed cheese stuff injected down the middle.
It may or may not surprise you that I have grown up to be a really whole-foods, healthy vegetarian cook! I don’t miss those foods from childhood because they are probably still making their way through my colon, hahah!
bridget350 on 5.7.2010
My Nana always made “Macaroni & Meat”….ground beef, tomato sauce and macaroni. Somehow, when she made it, it tasted like the best thing in the world!
My mom was a cinnamon roll maker also. I also think of her whenever I make Cabbage Rolls and Coconut Cake.
Barbara @ VinoLuciStyle on 5.7.2010
My mother fed 6 kids at dinner; so she had an army of staples but we had a home cooked meal every night. My favorite to this day is her Chicken Soup with Dumplings…still my go to dish for myself or friends who are ‘coming down with something’ – it’s just got that warm homey feel good thing going on.
My grandmother had me cooking with her from such a young age I could barely see above the counter and the one thing I loved were her Pecan Butter Balls; a cookie from her Scandanavian heritage. I still make them every Christmas and they are still my favorite; they’re really good but it’s the memory that makes them so special.
Food for My Family on 5.7.2010
My grandma was my cooking muse. I loved to follow her around as she mixed and stirred. Chicken wings and roasts, buttered noodles, jello molds and piles of homemade buns on Sunday were an always, but it was the salad that lingers. A simple vinaigrette with romaine and thinly sliced cucumbers, green peppers and onions. Simple, understated and perfect.
On the baking front, it’d be hard to choose there were so many. Kugelhopf, apfelradln, zwetschgenkuchen and cheesecake were some of my favorites. And the cookies. Oh the cookies. I miss her so.
gingela5 on 5.7.2010
I would say my mom’s chicken fried steak/gravy reminds me of her. And chocolate chip cookies. Maybe I should let her make that for me for Mother’s Day.
Just joking!
Aryannasmama on 5.7.2010
My mom makes the best fried rice ever! (hubby’s a VERY close second!) It used to be my birthday dish before I moved 3000 miles away( what was I thinking?) so now she makes it when she comes to visit.
The dish that will now and always remind me of my maternal grandmother was her rice pudding. No one makes it like she did. I think a big part of it was the love she put into it.
Liz Duplat on 5.7.2010
My mother is immortalized with her lentil soup and my favorite snack of all time: baked sweet potatoes with honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter….
I love you, Mom, and I miss you…
Jessica @ How Sweet on 5.7.2010
My mom (and grandmothers) have all been INCREDIBLE cooks. My mom makes an amazing potato casserole and crab bites like no one else. My grandmothers made delicious sheet cake and pies. I miss those so much.
Happy Mothers Day to all the Mama’s!