I’ve been blessed with a family of great cooks, starting with my Grandma Anderson.

Everything my grandma made was yummy, especially her made-from-scratch pancakes and her homemade pies. Her pie crust was flaky and always turned out perfect! Sometimes when she had a little pie dough left over she’d make me a special treat with the leftover dough with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. She’d roll it up and pop it into the oven; it tasted so good! She made all sorts of pies but my favorite was her rhubarb pie.

My childhood memories of visiting my grandma include the smell of food cooking in her kitchen, the love that she had for each one of us, and all of the family gatherings there in Frankfort, Indiana.

My mom was also a great cook. She made everything taste good and especially knew how to put dinners together on a budget. She made hamburger casserole dishes out of slightly expired frozen White Castle hamburger patties that my dad brought home from work. He worked in the Indianapolis White Castle office for much of my childhood. My mom also made good use of leftovers, which I initially didn’t like, but but eventually came to appreciate. I also remember how my mom would stretch a gallon of whole milk into two gallons by mixing it with low-fat powdered milk. My mom inspired me in so many ways in her lifetime, including in the seemingly insignificant, yet very practical ways that she taught me that we should never waste food and to always make good use of whatever resources God has so graciously given us.

And, honorable mention goes to my sister Joyce for her 1977 Thanksgiving Dressing recipe.

As for me, some of my first memories of cooking include making Jell-O and chocolate chip cookies. I also remember making a sweet pickle, cheddar cheese, and lunch meat hors d’oeuvres that were especially yummy. Of course, making Jell-O is super easy and has long been one of my favorite things to teach my girls when they were young. The chocolate chip cookies I made were from a recipe I got from my 4-H Handbook. I remember I used to walk to weekly 4-H meetings when I was around age 9 or 10. The meetings were held in our neighborhood, a short walking distance from our house. After my mom helped me make my first batch of cookies, I made them as often as I could!

So I guess I’m a pretty good cook on an as-needed basis, which is pretty much daily. Ha! I enjoy cooking new recipes occasionally as long as I’m familiar with all of the ingredients. I especially like dishes that are low calorie and healthy. I dislike making new recipes if they don’t turn out good, as I don’t like wasting food, but I do love it when I try a new recipe and it turns out good.

Next, our three daughters, Michelle, Megan, and Mackenzie.

Michelle is a great cook but figured out early on in her marriage with Marty that he was a really good cook too, so he does a lot of the cooking in their home. Michelle’s favorite meal to cook is Spaghetti and Zuppa Toscana.

Megan started baking and putting yummy dishes together when she was a young teenager. She enjoyed cooking and was good at making new recipes. I remember her making yummy cheese nachos that looked and tasted like they were made in a restaurant.  When we lived in Krum, she perfectly duplicated a dessert made by one of our neighbors who would not give out her secret recipe! As an adult she still loves cooking but it’s difficult being in a wheelchair so she doesn’t cook as often as she would like to.  So, John cooks dinner often and she has taught both Landon and Livia how to cook. Like her mom, Livia is enjoying cooking at a young age.  Megan’s favorite holiday dish is sweet potato casserole, and it’s really good!

Mackenzie enjoyed making cookies and helping with dinner when she was young but I think she didn’t really start taking cooking seriously until she moved into her first home in September of 2019. It was there that she got an air fryer and later subscribed to a meal delivery service that delivered all of the ingredients along with the instructions. Eventually she stopped the subscription service and started buying the ingredients at the grocery. Her favorite meal to cook is chicken spaghetti, which is the first meal I taught her how to make when she was a teenager.

Next, some of our grandchildren!

Finally, this story would not be complete without including my mother-in-law, Mildred. She poured her life into cooking! Whenever she visited and back when she was in good health, the first thing she wanted to do was to find out what we were making for dinner. As soon as we figured out the menu she’d start the preparations for dinner early in the day. She also had a special talent of making a variety of pies. My only complaint was that she put too much sugar in some of her recipes – even in recipes that didn’t call for sugar! Ha! Other than that she was an excellent cook!

I’ll close with two prayers.

The first one is old prayer that our family prayed together at our dinner table when I was growing up in Indianapolis in the 50s, 60s, and early 1970s:

“God is gracious, God is good,

And we thank Him for our food.

By His tender loving care,

By His presence everywhere.” Amen

And,

“Lord, bless my little kitchen,

And all who enter in,

May You be glorified every day,

In our work, meals, and play.” Amen.