Recipes passed on from generation to generation?

Question

I am a good cook but my grandma is a FANTASTIC cook. She used to always prepare huge holiday dinners every year but now she has gotten a little too old to do the cooking at gatherings. The problem is, for years we've come to expect certain dishes to taste a certain way and it's just not the same anymore. I have been trying for years to get recipes from my grand but she never uses recipes. She knows if something is not right "by eye". She never measures, just adds a pinch here or a dash there and it always comes out PERFECT!! I am afraid that when she passes on family get togethers will never be the same. Last year I had Thanksgiving at my house and my big brother made the comment, "The macaroni and cheese is good but it certainly doesn't taste like grands (grandma). Not that me and my sisters can't cook but it's not the same and it's kinda sad knowing that we will no longer be able to eat her sweet potato pies, buttermilk biscuits, collards etc. Anyone else having this problem?

Answer 1

WOW, you just dug up memories 4 me. THE only thing i have mastered is grannies pot roast+gravy+mashed potatoes +her green beans. TRUST me JUST that one is a awson dinner. BUT HER PIES are another one i am tring to master. I HAVE the coconut cream pie down. THE banana Cream cake. CARROT cake, APPLE PIE. I AM working on the rest. SHE died with her recipes a few months ago. EVERY TIME i go to the kitchen i think of her. I GUESS i am having this problem too. Hug tears +_ kisses star

Answer 2

ASK her !!!!!
Tell her you would like these recipes to remain in your family, that you would like to write a family cookbook and your need her assistance. There is most likely some spices that she has a preference and uses often, this maybe the "something is missing" feeling you are tasting....

Or, you can assiste her with the cooking, buy the items, watch her cook, write notes....or use a camcorder. Does she has an ethnic background that could give you a hint of spices or recipes? Was her mom or grandma german, or hungarian, or french, or mexican? Look into it!

Answer 3

I am so agreeing. It's hard to extract those old recipes, either because they're a secret or that they just don't know the measurements! My grandma died when I was only 19, but I just found a cousin who knows how to make her bread! I asked for the recipe which she had watched grandma bake. She wasn't sure. Grandma had just said some of this and some of that. :(
I'd love to continue the tradition. That bread, and her casserole recipe. Oooh, yes.

Answer 4

I have this problem with my mom. She is gone now, and I never took the time to learn from her what some of her things were. I never expected her to be gone at the age of 50 either though, so let this be a lesson, watch and learn from them.. write down what you see them make, and if they add a pinch of this, see if you can figure out what their pinches are, and write it all down, you won't be sorry for all the trouble that you go through, but will be if you don't. You are lucky that she is still here, so that she might beable to at least help some.. Good luck, and I know what you are going through

Answer 5

You might want to try to see if you can get a copy of the pioneers cookbook. I cant remember the the publisher. But I remember my mothers copy was a little old ratty paged one. When I got married my mother in law had one too but it had different recipes but some the same.
Seems like maybe they were string written early 1900s. worth a try. I hand copied most of mine.

Answer 6

If your Grandma is still able to cook. Offer to help her and watch how she does things. Then practice. LOVE is the main ingredient. If you can't get it still. develop your own recipes. for new traditions

Answer 7

No, because I guess I just inherited my Grandmothers knack. You have to remember what it is supposed to taste like, and go from there. The only problem I have had is in duplicating my Grandmother's doughnuts...:(