Secret Family Recipes!
Some family recipes are such a fiercely-guarded secret that only one person knows them and selectively passes them down to children and grandchildren. We don’t know about you, but as soon as we hear “secret family recipe” we HAVE to know what it is. Because if it’s been kept in the family for decades, generations even, it has to be good. Or great. And the saliva glands just start working overtime until we find out. If that’s you – you’ll appreciate the hunt we launched for secret family recipes — just in time for Thanksgiving!
Mama Knows Recipes
On Chowhound, one woman decides to share her mom’s meatloaf recipe. Mostly because she could never find one that was as good, and also because her daughters won a meatloaf contest with it (meatloaf contest? That’s a thing?). We think, after looking at the ingredients and instructions, that not only is the recipe a secret, so are two other things about it! There’s one ingredient we never would have thought to add, and a technique that made us scratch our heads. But who are we to question Mom?!
A woman named Ruthie shared a secret family recipe for “cake atop brown syrup” that her mother called Washday Pudding from back in the day — when you squeezed laundry through an old wringer washer. This yummy butter, sugar and flour confection must’ve been the reward for all that manual wash-day labor! And we found more than one version of the vintage recipe online.
Bayou Bakery chef David Guas shared his Nana’s Banana Bread recipe on Southern Living and offers a matter-of-fact tribute to his brilliant, whiskey-drinking, bread-baking grandma and shares her secret recipe. As he’s cutting and serving, David says Nana’s bread is best right out of the oven or reheated and slathered with butter, cream cheese or cane syrup.
More secret family recipes on this Chowhound page are perfect for Thanksgiving dinner and include Mayme’s Beans, Oma’s Celery Salad (that you can serve anywhere but Brooklyn!) and Georgia Faye’s Sauerkraut and Porcupine Meatballs. And don’t skip the meatball commentary by “alkapal” – it’s a treat.
Grandma Knows Better!
Here’s one way to get more legumes in your diet, Grandma Barrett’s Sour Cream Beans (scroll half-way down the page). Apparently, they were quite the popular potluck dish back in the 60s. And although we couldn’t find any big fans of baby lima beans, the fact that the secret recipe calls for brown sugar, molasses and sour cream makes us wonder what we’re missing!
Grandma’s Chicken ‘n’ Dumpling soup has been in the Balda family for over 40 years. The homemade dumplings make the difference says the granddaughter who remembers her grandma every time she serves it!
Authentically Italian, Jason’s Great-Grandma’s Pasta Sauce has been passed down through the generations and originated in Italy. Table for Two blogger Julie, Jason’s wife, says it’s “the most delicious, rich, flavorful pasta sauce ever,” and given her penchant for tasty, wholesome ingredients, we totally trust her taste buds!
Grandma’s Collard Greens, served with a slice of buttermilk cornbread, is a Thanksgiving recipe that can’t be beat, says a contributor to the Taste of Home collection of 55 Secret Family Recipes.
From Aunt Marion’s fruit salad dessert to Mom’s Cinnamon Bread and Sausage Casserole, we bet you’ll find at least one mouth-watering throw-back recipe to make the hungry eaters in your household happy this Thanksgiving!
Family-Favorites in Colliers Hill!
The master-planned community of Colliers Hill is a family-favorite, with its 6500 square foot rec center, proximity to the small town of Erie, as well as Boulder and Denver – plus recreation and entertainment options minutes of every front door. Drop in to ask one of the sales associates from Shea Homes, Richmond American Homes and Meritage Homes for an exclusive tour of the homes available now. You’ll find so much more to choose from in exceptional, quality homes in Colliers Hill!
