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Mom Made It Best: Recipes To Live By

Mom's Fresh Apple Love Letter Cake

“What meal do you remember most from your Mom?”

That simple question came up at dinner with friends the other night, and without hesitation every single one of my friends had a dish that immediately came to mind! The comfort of our mothers’ cooking clearly remains with us to this very day.

The first to reply, Tami, spoke with love and admiration of her mom’s homemade chicken and dumplings. “Dad would make breakfast,” she said, “but dinner was all mom. And nothing could top her from-scratch chicken and dumplings… they were like no other. She would roll out the dumplings and make sure to get them just right. I wish I still had that recipe today.”

Upon hearing this, my mind immediately went to home cook Jewel Hall’s dumpling recipe. A longtime member of Just A Pinch, it was Jewel’s mother-in-law that taught her the way around perfectly prepared chicken and dumplings.

“I [originally] posted the recipe in honor of my wonderful mother-in-law, Lura Hall,” says Jewel. “We loved each other so much and we were best friends. Our last words on the phone the day before [she passed] was ‘I love you… I love you, too.’ Today I looked back at [the] website and there the recipe remained. So many fantastic reviews and ‘thank you’s’. I was simply overcome with joy. She would have been so happy to have shared this with so many grateful cooks. She took her dumplings to so many family reunions to have them quickly disappear. I continue to make them and I hope you will make them and think of her.”

Well, I surely do. Ms. Lura’s recipe is the epitome of comfort on a plate… which is just what a mother’s cooking should be. With only three ingredients – chicken, butter and flour – and a pinch of salt and pepper, the simple recipe transforms into a terrifically hearty meal that is beyond memorable.

It’s dessert that sets Tennessee’s Barbara Mayo to reminiscing, namely her Mom’s Fresh Apple Love Letter Cake.

“Since I can remember, every Thanksgiving, Christmas and family reunion my mom baked her fresh apple cake in a big old bundt pan,” recalls Barbara, who recently won a Blue Ribbon for the heirloom recipe. “Anyone who ever tasted it wanted the recipe, but mom would not give it out. My mom has been gone [now] for 3 years and I have all her cookbooks where she wrote her special recipes that she did not share with anyone. One day I started reading her cookbooks and found all of her secret recipes AND a love letter my dad had written while they were dating! What an inheritance.”

Every time we make this cake I feel a connection to Barbara’s mother… a woman I never had the opportunity to actually know. It’s so magical the way that family recipes like Barbara’s can transcend time and geography. Through sharing her recipes with eager strangers, Barbara really is nurturing a truly remarkable legacy.

From that small dinner with friends, to the pages of Facebook and other social media, ‘Pinchers from all corners are talking about the foods that mean the most to them: their mom’s. A recent Facebook post about Heavenly Hash Ambrosia Salad, for example, sparked a torrent of wonderful memories and reminiscences. “We have photos from the 40’s and 50’s and 60’s of my mom and aunt cutting up the fruit for the ambrosia… such good memories!!!!!” posted Pamela Gleaton Russell. Meanwhile, Lisa Broderick recalled her mom’s special ambrosia recipe with great love, stating that “It just makes you feel good.”

Sharing these memories has my heart spilling over with joy and my face plastered with a perma-grin. Whether it’s a cup of coffee or an age-old recipe, share something special with the ones you love this Mother’s Day. We may not all have our moms here with us to celebrate, but we live every day with the gifts they gave us. It’s time to give a little back.