Some of my most treasured family memories center around the foods we would share together during the holidays and special events. I would look forward to eating these favorite dishes every year. These foods played an important part of my childhood.
As I grew-up and got married the baton was passed and these cherished recipes were handed down to me to share with my new family. We shared our special recipes with each other and our families. Many soon became family favorites for each others families too.
Once we welcomed our children to the world I found that I couldn’t wait to share these foods with them. And as I saw how their faces would light up after trying that first bite I realized that these recipes not only would share our family history with them, but would also be joyous memories from their childhood.
Then one day, at a garage sale, I found a small wooden box that was overfilled and bursting with hand written and newspaper recipes. I felt like I had been let in on some family secret. As I thumbed through the recipes I saw that they had splatters of sauce and taped tears. They had been used often. They had been loved. But why were they here and not in Grandma’s kitchen waiting to be pulled out and used again. They had been lost and forgotten. Maybe they were just a happy memory from someones past?
I felt a need to save them. To use these recipes and help them find their way back from begin forgotten to being family favorites once again. Which is how Forgotten Family Recipes came to be. I began to collect old recipe collections whenever I found them and started cooking. We have had many successes and a few failures, but it has been a journey that has enriched our family.
We hope that you enjoy these rediscovered recipes and are making happy memories in the kitchen with your family.