Kitchen memories

I do not consider myself a great cook.

I do not consider myself a bad cook.

I just consider myself... a cook. I have failures and successes. My family still wants me to feed them at least 3x's a day, so I must be doing something right.

But I do have a wee bit of a cookbook obsession. I don't know what it is about them, but I really do love them.

I love recipes. I love the stories behind them. So because of that, these are 4 of my favorites.

My Kennedy family cookbook where I share a recipe (I was a teenager) that I copied out of one of my Moms cookbooks, lol. But there are others that I have made time and time again. Recipes from aunts, cousins, friends, my Mom and my Grandma. I love seeing the "submitted by" names next to the recipes.

The next is a recent one. A gift from my Mom at Christmas time. While I love the recipes recorded...I think I love the history more! Reading about my parents & grandparents. Reading about their lives leaves me smiling. Knowing them just a little better. My Mom was careful to, as much as possible, include the original copy of the recipe. With the smudges and tears. That is my favorite part. They are real.


For my wedding, I was given a crockpot. I took it from home to home. But I never knew what or how to use it. During one of my weekly chats with my sister Susan, I mentioned this to her. She gave me my "Fix it and Forget it" cookbook and I still use it constantly!

Last but not least, is my Seabee cookbook. I actually have more than one. Once again, it is not about the recipes, but the names that I see. Memories of times spent with friends.

I started a binder for recipes that I have printed or torn out of magazines. I love this recipe for banana cookies, but I also love the fact that, Ethan found it, printed it and that his messy handwriting wrote the title. It too is covered in smudges.

So I guess maybe it isn't the cookbooks that I love. Maybe it is the stories...and the people behind them. A legacy of love handed down from generation to generation.