“Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” Proverbs 31:31

When I think of home, I think of food. I love a good, home cooked meal. Now that there are just two of us, I don’t cook as much. I remember going through cookbooks and figuring out something new to try. I don’t have as many cookbooks anymore. I find it easier to google a recipe and look at the choices that come up. Those recipes are generally very good and easy enough to prepare. But sometimes, getting a recipe off the internet just doesn’t seem good enough.

That’s when I go back to the little brown box with the decoupage rose on top with my mother’s recipes. Some are in her handwriting and some are in mine. Some recipes are on 3×5 note cards and some are on little pieces of paper. Others are typed. I know the typed ones are the ones she shared with others. People always wanted her recipe for Sour Cream Pound Cake, Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, and her Chocolate Pound Cake with Never Fail Chocolate Fudge Icing. I have enjoyed making her recipes and these are some of my family’s favorites. I don’t have to ask what kind of cake my two adult children want for their birthday.

There are other recipes that are special to me too. I want to be sure that even with the convenience of internet recipes, these recipes get saved through the years. I have begun to digitize the recipes in my Mother’s handwriting even with the places that have cake batter and splatters on the recipes. My Mother’s favorite punch recipe and her favorite Date Nut Loaf that she made at Christmas are still favorites of mine. I can smell the smells of these favorite foods in my memories of long ago, or I can make it myself and remember all over again. These special recipes bring my memories of home to life and make me remember what it was like to be a child helping my mother cook and then as a mother myself, to cook with my children. The love shared in the kitchen and the smells of delicious food is a wonderful memory of home to be passed through the generations. 

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