Straight From Grandma's Kitchen

        On average, three times a day we sit down to eat. Whether it's in a five star restaurant, or a shabby little burger joint. A place where you can't understand a single title on the menu, or an all American diner in which you can get a heaping stack of pancakes at any time of the day and they seem to serve bacon with just about anything. Regardless, it doesn't seem like there is ever anything better than the meal that comes out of Grandma's kitchen. Why is it that Grandma's just seem to have it right when it comes to cooking and baking? Even if I take the exact same recipe that I've made with my Grandma a thousand times, if I ever attempt it alone, it never comes out the same. There's something about a Grandmother's touch. A touch I would compare only to the touch of Midas. A touch no one else seems to be able to replicate, that turns everything to gold.
        When a company, mass producing their canned goods, or a restaurant who wants to advertise their homestyle meals, they will use something like: "just like Grandma used to make". When we hear something about a Grandmother's cooking, our ears perk up. We're reminded of the special occasions, gathering around the table, eagerly awaiting the food that has been tantalizing our sense of smell since we walked in the door. What comes out of a Grandmother's kitchen just never seems to be flawed. Is it because they've had years and years of practice to perfect the recipes they guard with their lives? They've worked to change and tweak the ingredients until the end result is just right.
         Now is the time when I've had to begin thinking...what will happen when my wonderful Grandmothers are gone? It's an inevitability that is impossible to ignore. There are SO many things that I look forward to on their Thanksgiving tables that no one else in the family, much less in the world, knows how to replicate just right. It's time that someone learned the tricks of the trade, and I have been the one to step up. My Dad's mother must teach me how to make it so the blueberry pancakes brown just perfectly. My Mom's mother must teach me how to make the raisin bread rise just enough so it's fluffy and light. The recipes that I refuse to let become lost as a distant memory of my childhood. The recipes I will continue to work at until their perfect for Thanksgiving tables to come. My challenge to you, is to do the same. I don't care who your Grandmother is. She has at least one recipe up her sleeve that is worth preserving. Find it. Make it. Thank her.