Recipes That Taste Like Home
By Sarah Smith and Amanda Smith
One of the best childhood memories I have is my mom in the kitchen with her bright red apron on stirring a simmering pot and getting dinner ready for all four of us children. Being the only girl, I wanted to be just like my mom and would be her shadow in the kitchen making some of my favorite meals. Much of the time I was helping her make a homemade meat sauce that has been passed down through generations and has been a hit in our households for decades. I’ll always remember sprinkling the oregano in the large pot and climbing up on a stool to stir the delicious sauce with a wooden spoon the size of my arm. Additionally, on the weekends, I would wake up to the smell of banana bread in the morning and rush down the stairs to get a warm slice before my brothers devoured it all. By the time I was in middle school I had memorized the recipe and took over baking it on the weekends when my mom was busy. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, mash 3 ripened bananas, add a half cup of softened butter, and so on. The smell of banana bread makes me nostalgic and missing the Sunday mornings that my whole family would sit at the dining table before church and I would give them each a slice, making sure that I got the most. Lastly, I have fond memories of bonding with my mom in the kitchen making chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Whether it was a hot summer day or a cold winter night, you could find me and mom whipping up a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies for the family to enjoy. No matter where I may be in the world, these three recipes would taste like home and bring me back in time any day.