Respect and Recipes

Today is All Soul's Day, a day when Catholics commemorate their departed loved ones. One of the best ways is to follow the Mexican tradition and making their favorite recipes. it could be a sweet. It could be a savory. It could be a recipe that's over a century old or some out a magazine.

One of the best way to honor one's ancestors and close family members is to continue with their heirloom dishes. If you're lucky some great-great-great grandmother wrote down recipes that were adapted through the centuries for modern cooking.Most families, including mine, relied on the oral tradition of passing down dishes. Memory helps too. Did any of my generation write the recipes down. I did - but only for the posts. Luckily such dishes as my great -grandmother's and great aunt's pumpkin soup recipe were made often. They were also explained step by step, which helps in memorizing them.The family felt that i would make these centuries old Piedmontese dishes when I was ready. Of course there was a bit of nervousness - actually a lot of it , recreating such dishes as risotto and tomatoes provencale in front of the masters. Heaven forbid you mess up a step or accidentally forget a certain spice or herb. Don't ever think of tweaking the recipe.

When I cook these recipes, I think of relatives long gone. It's a connection that everyone should have. This is a gift to the younger generations, especially those who love to cook. Keep in mind that  all recipes should now be stored on the computer. Google Docs has a recipe template where you can plug in ingredients and directions. For those that haven't compiled family recipes this template allows you to do so. Another plus with Google Docs is that you can send the recipes to family members who also have it and they can tweak or edit the recipes. Every branch of a family has several recipes. Combine these to create a cookbook that can be given out at family picnics or to welcome a new spouse to the family.If you do this , make sure to include a few blank pages in the back for the newcomer to add his or her family dishes. A nice idea  - and to continue a loved one's memory is to make the heirloom dishes for the holidays and important events like engagements and baptisms. There's bound to be a flood of memories as well as great stories too.

Today we remember those we have lost. Another way is through honoring the recipes they left us. We will make favorite and family dishes to make sure they are never forgotten.