The biggest cooking influence in my life was my maternal grandmother. I spent countless hours with her in the kitchen, watching her make traditional Italian and Polish meals for our family. Some of my most cherished memories are spun from those cooking sessions. I can still remember the way the kitchen would fill with aromatics as she was preparing red sauce with meatballs and spaghetti. One of my favorite ways to remember her and celebrate her life is by recreating her recipes. Some are written down, others passed along by story, but they help bring her essence back to life in my very own kitchen.
Recipes handed down from generation to generation preserve not only our heritage, but also food history. Some of my family heirloom dishes if you will would be considered outdated elsewhere, but in my home they are current and loved by all. My Nana (my step-dad’s mother) made the most amazing liver pate’. We all begged her to make it at every family occasion. In current times, pate’ is not something that a 10 year old child would request unless it was commonplace at the table. She taught me how to make traditional Jewish from her on overnight weekend stays. Although I’m not Jewish, she passed her heritage right along and I am forever grateful for the exposure it gave me to traditional world cuisine.
Other recipes remind us of a time long past, when cooking with lots of fat was not considered to be unhealthy. Case in point was my maternal grandmother’s mashed potatoes. I’m pretty sure there was always more butter and cream cheese than potatoes! My sister loves to make her mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. It’s an indulgence we both look forward to every year. She also likes to make our paternal grandmother’s green beans with bacon. Once again, this recipe comes from the farming days in Ohio where she grew up . Laden with bacon fat, butter and salt, this side dish brings us back to sitting at the dinner table with our grandparents and cousins as children.
One of my favorite recipes to recreate for friends is my grandmother’s red sauce and meatballs. It is always a hit and is requested often. The meatballs are made with a mixture of beef, pork,veal, breadcrumbs and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Decadent, rich, and filled with her memories, these meatballs are the special component to the red sauce. Once the base of the sauce is made, the meatballs are delicately placed in to simmer to perfection. With the first bite, I’m taken back to sneaking a taste test with my grandma before anyone else.
Not all food memories come from a homemade recipe. There are some that come pre-packaged and ready for immediate consumption! One of my favorite memories of my maternal grandfather was eating cherry nut ice cream on a hot summer’s evening. Luckily for me I can still find this amazing flavor at the grocery store to this day. Typically I will buy one container a year during the summer and celebrate our time together by indulging in the creamy dessert. My paternal grandfather was a fan of Pepperidge Farm’s Ice box cookies. They are still available for purchase and take me back to eating cookies and listening to his stories of WWII.
Food not only nourishes our bodies, but our souls too. On this All Souls Day or Dia de Los Muertos, it’s fun to bring back my rich cooking heritage and remember my grandparents. They worked hard to create a good life for their children and in turn their children. Without them, this foodie blog of mine may not be quite so interesting. So to my beloved grandparents, thank you for all the delicious treats, cooking lessons, and love!
Xo-
Julez
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