11 October 2011 - 0:00Sharing Secret Recipes

LaVena-s fried chicken or Mom-s cottage cheese cookies. Secret recipes passed from one cook to another. We are not talking about a copyrighted recipe for a food manufacturer or swank restaurant. These are the recipes of our heritage. These recipes that are linked to our past, our memories, our childhoods. We treasure these as we do Grandma-s good silver.

Did you mother carry copies of her special recipes in her handbag to share when folks clamored over them and begged for her secret recipe? They were not really secret, but cherished. And a way of showing that someone was dear to her would be to share her recipe.

We cling to our friends and relatives who are gone by keeping their memories alive. One way we do this is to pay them tribute by continuing to use their secret recipes. We keep them close to us as we measure out the flour and remember to add just a pinch of this or that, and use the clean tea towel to cover the bowl when plastic wrap would work just as well.

Secret recipes are not made to be kept secret, but to be passed on with the love that was given to us.