Secret Recipes (A Rant)

[shellbellc]

Shell, My other grandmother always gets on me cause I don't measure recipes out either. I add what I feel is needed.
I do kick myself sometimes though since I have made some great food and now can't remember how I did it since I didn't at least write down the ingredients and technique. Therefore I may never taste it again.

And then there are the times I'm cooking while drinking my giggle juice, I get really adventurous, I've turned out some great things, but alas, those are gone forever!

 

[vlap]

giggle juice... I like that..

There are some things that I wish were gone forever while on that giggle juice ;)

 

[richtee]

I do agree with most of this. But like Cowgirl said, there are some things that are considered "Proprietary".

But yer Ma's stuffed cabbage filling IS NOT it. Sheesh!

On the other hand...like you, I "feel" alot in my cooking, and there sometimes is not a recipe verbatim.

 

[vlap]

I addressed that in my original post Rich

. In it I said I understand why some people do but for the most part when its just a recipe people use for non profit or non competitive reasons I do not. I really don't understand taking it to the grave with you at all.

The legacy a chef leaves behind (this applies to many cooks at home as well) are the people you inspire, teach, and the recipes you share along the way.
How often does a meal cause you to recall a memory of grandma? Eating that special meal brings back fond memories of family who are no longer with us. Letting those recipes die is like letting thier memory slip away forever. I will cook meals for my kids someday and tell them where they came from. The fun I had eating this food as a child... You get my drift

 

[flattop]

You are so right Vlap. What I'm finding nowadays is folks post stuff in alot of the cooking forums/websites and claim the recipe is theirs.

Last nite while looking for a good seared tuna recipe I found 17 identical recipes all claiming to be their own.

That's what makes this site great.... folks share with each other.

 

[richtee]

Completely :{)

 

[camp_cookie]

Fried chicken was one of her other specialties along with biscuits and apple pie. My other grandmother was known for her cornbread, Irish stew, and dressing.

 

[dionysus]

Cmon Vlap, we're all friends here, don't hold back, tell us how you REALLY feel.

Seriously though, I agree, and most of the Secret Family Recipes I've come across are just OK, certainly not worth "having to kill you" over.

 

[longshot]

My wife is creating a cookbook for both daughters with all of the recipes that we actually use around the house, written in to the recipes are the family legends surrounding the recipe or maybe a funny family anecdote. Printed on good quality paper and in page protectors almost scrapbook style. Something tells me that when we are gone those will be read for more than just cooking. Just something to think about. I may do a smoking/que one for the future sons-in-law or grandsons.

The bad part about trying to replicate old meals even if you have the recipe it can be chemically identical but your tastebuds have changed and there is also those unquantifieable ingredients love-experience-youth. Kinda like trying to go sit on santa's lap now, we'd just get arrested!!!
You just never know
LS

 

[linbru]

Do you out of the blue just get a want for a taste you had long ago:

Back in the 60's (high school soph.) I worked as a short order cook at a drive-in. We made a chicken Q sandwich that was soooooo good that it outsold burgers or beef Q sandwiches. The recipe had to be followed to the letter and all of us who worked there new it. The owners in their later years closed the joint and became the chiefs for a Elks club and had the same success there with that recipe. They are long gone now and I have contacted all 12 of their children if they remember the recipe. No one could remember and wish they could. It was printed on an old piece of notebook paper and taped to the wall at both the drive-in and the kitchen of the Elks club but none of us thought to write it down.

Long gone and it wasn't a secret - to bad someone didn't write it down.

 

[walking dude]

xactly LS.......alot of my fav foods back then, is ho hum to me now.......myself, and my taste buds have moved on...........and budwieser has helped in that effort.......thank god i don't smoke cigs.......then THERE goes the tastes buds even more......

 

[lisacsco]

Even though my Mom and Grandma are still here, every recipie that I have from them that is handwritten is already priceless to me. The idea for the future sons in law and grandsons is a great idea!! I have never heard of anyone thinking about saving recipies for them :)

Great Idea!

 

[lisacsco]

P.S.

I hate secret recipies too!!


Most older people I know who bring something in for us at work says, "Oh I got in the newspaper (or the back of a box, or a neighbor) when I was first married, but my family thinks it is some big secret"

 

[cowgirl]

It is a great idea!

My Mom passed away a few years ago. I have all of her hand written recipes. They bring a smile to my face every time I look through them or make one of her special dishes.

 

[bigarm's smokin]

Same exact story for me. Nobody can fry chicken like my granma could. Also, I agree with Vlap, why take a recipe to your grave? What a selfish act .

 

[fla-gypsy]

I agree with the silliness about recipes, my wifes Grandmother made a Pecan cake that is killer, so I recorded the recipe and gave it a name to always remember where it came from. I swear it is the best cake I have ever eaten. So here it is

Nanny’s Pecan Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
Cake; 1 box yellow cake mix, 1 cup chopped pecans
Icing; 1 box powdered sugar, 1 stick softened butter, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla flavoring, 2 tablespoons evaporated milk (canned), 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Cake
Mix cake according to the directions on the box then add nuts until thoroughly mixed. Bake in two round pans or 3 loaf pans after spraying with Pam. Bake at the directed temperature but it may take slightly longer than indicated due to the addition of the nuts. Cool before frosting.
Icing
Mix sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk with mixer until you get a smooth creamy texture. Add more milk if it is too dry, a few drops at a time. Spread icing on bottom layer then sprinkle with nuts. Add top layer and spread icing on top and sides of entire cake. Press chopped nuts into the icing over the entire cake in handfuls until completely covered

ENJOY!

 

[buckeye smoker]

VLAP,
I have truly enjoyed this thread. A lot of my mother's recipes contain the ingredients list and a hint of directions. I made my first pie crust one day when Mom and Dad were out of town by pulling out Mom's recipe, dumping the ingredients into the bowl and stirring. Didn't say to cut in the shortening and wouldn't have known what it meant. Threw it away, called a neighbor lady and as soon as she quit laughing, she explained what I was supposed to do and on the next try I got something I could roll out and put in the bottom of a pie pan. She still laughs about that phone call. I love to make one of Mom's recipes and give her some and see if it tastes right to her. If a family doesn't share food, it ain't a family!!!

 

[vlap]

Thi thread has been enjoyable and I am glad to see I am not insane in my thoughts. I love the idea of making a cookbook from the families old recipes to pass on. May your grandparents memory live on forever with that effort. That sounds like a great idea! I need to call mom and get those recipes.

Every time my grandma would come down to visit she would make the best mashed potatoes and gravy with big ol chunksa meat. My sister would beg for that each and every time! Then there was the lemon merigune pie, rhubarb pie, peanut brittle and lefsa. Good stuff! Great memories!!!

 

[teacup13]

exactly..... what i liked 20 years ago is not what i would want to eat right now.... take my great grandmothers pie

when she died, she took her pumpkin pie recipe with her, the family has wanted her pie ever since... couple of years ago i made one(i hate the stuff), my grandmother came over for thanksgiving, ate a piece and asked."where did you get your greatgrammas recipe?"

our food tastes have alot to with the state of mind we are in at the moment we are eating, same goes when we are cooking it.

 

[flash]

OK Vlap, you talked me into it. My One-Eyed Grandma's Famous Louisiana Bayou Grilled Redfish coming soon to a grill near you.