Whether you’re thinking about food because you’re hungry, or because you’re in the kitchen cooking, food is an important part of every day. Food sustains our bodies and enriches our lives. And the stories of our food adventures are the stuff of rich family traditions and deep friendships.
Case of the Missing Apple Strudel
“The strudel was left on the kitchen counter to cool, as always. To everyone’s horror, it disappeared!…” [continue]
Cooking Madness
“I cook dinner with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old helping me…” [continue]
So I Tried Oatmeal Cookies
“When I got married, the only thing I could cook was chocolate cake…” [continue]
My Mother’s Beach Breakfast
“We were going to cook a homemade breakfast at the beach…” [continue]
Nana’s Food Legacy
“Some of my greatest memories were made, and served, in my grandmother’s kitchen…” [continue]
Beware Flying Candy Bars
“My father hollered across the room to toss him a frozen candy bar…” [continue]
My Patio Garden
“I didn’t know veggies came in tin cans till I started school…” [continue]
Licking the Beaters
“One of my favorite things was helping my mom…” [continue]
No Thanks to the White Chocolate Bread Pudding
“Customers clamored for this bread pudding, but I could never bring myself to try it…” [continue]
Strawberry Fields
“The growers told us that a lot of the berries go to waste, so we were allowed to eat berries as we picked…” [continue]
First Meatloaf
“To this day, my mother teases me…” [continue]
Seven-Layer Dipsaster
“I knew better than to use the microwave…” [continue]
Loving and Learning in the Kitchen
“As my son grew older, he’d wander into the kitchen, and he’d just stand and watch me…” [continue]
The Biggest, Greenest Tomatoes
“A vine started growing in our garden, and it got bigger by the day…” [continue]
Bartering for Health
“When I was diagnosed diabetic, it was a turning point…” [continue]
Child’s Play
“I had quite a bit of room in the garden, so each of my kids got a row of their own…” [continue]
Cooking for Friends
“I told them I’d make the whole thing if they bought the groceries…” [continue]
Holidays Around the Table
“It took me years to appreciate my mother’s generosity…” [continue]
The Advantages of a Vegetarian Thanksgiving
“Maybe it’s the extra love I put in…” [continue]
Dinner in a Box
“The ad read, ‘Purchase your Thanksgiving Dinner, ready to go…” [continue]
Christmas Eve Steak Soup
“Grandma took one bite, jumped up, and went into the kitchen…” [continue]
My First Frozen Thanksgiving
“When Thanksgiving fell into my lap, I was not prepared…” [continue]
The Gift That Keeps Giving
“I told my mom I had to run into town to get something I forgot to pack…” [continue]
Pass the Rolls
“It was finally my chance to host the holiday dinner…” [continue]
Grandpa's Summer Sausage
“I was shopping with my children when I spotted it…” [continue]
Who Ate the Brussels Sprouts?
“Mom had one rule: we had to eat all our veggies, or no dessert…” [continue]
On E
“I wrote this ‘story poem’ because it seems like I’m always hungry…” [continue]
The Secret of Muffins
“I like to make muffins on Sunday mornings, and usually my 4-year-old son, Alex, helps…” [continue]
The Tale of the Chocolate Cream Pie
“It was so pretty on the platter, with the whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top…” [continue]
Sometimes What You Don’t Know Won’t Hurt You
“I made raisin-filled cookies for a teen dance at the church…” [continue]
A Pumpkin Pie to Remember
“This is a tell-tale on my sister…” [continue]
The Cookie Ladies of Spring Valley
“We’d start baking around Halloween and not stop for a month and a half…” [continue]
Breakfast Improvements
“We started eating oatmeal to improve our nutrition and lower our grocery bills…” [continue]
Everyone Loves Pot Roast
“My husband was on the phone leaving a message for his friend when he walked into the dining room and saw one of our cats on the table…” [continue]
No Vampire Worries
“Preparing the main course seemed like a lot of work, but I finally got it into the oven…” [continue]
The Fireball
“I was feeling pretty down at the prospect of the holiday season passing without my mom???s fabulous potato latkes…” [continue]
Grandmother's Kitchen Memories
“My grandmother’s kitchen was warm and cozy, and it always smelled good …” [continue]
Seeds of Wisdom
“When I first enlisted the help of my then-young children in planting the garden, little did I know what they would teach me …” [continue]
Consciousness Raising (or Rising)
“My excuse could be, ‘Hey, it was the 70s, everyone was doing it,’ but that doesn’t really explain how I became such an ardent (and terrible) bread baker …” [continue]
Gianna’s Easy Pick-Me-Up
“I spent my junior year of college in Florence, Italy, a foodie’s paradise…” [continue]
Christmas Creamed Cauliflower
“There were so many appetizers and desserts on the table, I couldn’t imagine what he was waiting for…” [continue]
How I Learned to Cook
“I decided to make my father a sweet after-dinner snack. I was only 4 years old, but I’d watched my mother make it hundreds of times…” [continue]
My Orange Chicken
“He grilled fish, freshly caught by a local fisherman. I told him I knew how to cook, too…” [continue]
A New Meatloaf Topping
“When the meatloaf was done, I noticed it had an unusually crispy topping…” [continue]
Macho Macaroni
“We were supposed to bring a homemade dish, but we hadn’t made anything…” [continue]
Thanksgiving Feast for the Soul
“Every year I go to 3 Thanksgivings, but the first has the most heart and soul…” [continue]
Thanksgiving Day Parade
“Cooking for a crowd can bring out the ‘Iron Chef’ in all of us…” [continue]
Bad Turkey
“My wife burned our turkey…” [continue]
Thanksgiving Keeps On Giving
“What to do with the leftovers?…” [continue]
Battle of the Sexes Cook-Off
“Winter Break from college gave me the chance to join my friends in our traditional New Year’s Eve kitchen battle…” [continue]
Famous Flavors
“The ice cream parlor in our town offered ‘31 famous flavors,’ with a new one featured every month…” [continue]
Pancake Math
“For awhile my parents would eat pancakes every night for dinner…” [continue]
Family Pumpkin Bread
“We have turkey, of course, but in our family the official food of Thanksgiving is pumpkin bread…” [continue]
Audra’s Pie Adventure
“Audra LOVED pumpkin pie, but she had no idea about the reality of turning a pumpkin into a pie…” [continue]
Turkey With Bag
“When I cooked my first turkey, I had my mom and stepfather over for Thanksgiving…” [continue]
Everyone Likes Homemade Pie
“My friends and I love to cook when we’re together, so this was going to be great…” [continue]
Pa & the Chickens
“One day my grandmother sent my grandfather to collect the chicken eggs…” [continue]
The Traditional Roast
“This is one of the best food stories I’ve heard…” [continue]
Happy Birthday Fred
“Every once in awhile, my dad would take us to the grocery store for a few items, including a cake from the bakery…” [continue]
Who Are You?
“My kids were about 3 and 6, my life was crazy busy. I asked my husband to take over my duties for a long weekend…” [continue]
Charcoal Meringue Pie
“My dad was a pretty good cook, and he loved lemon meringue pie…” [continue]
Gooey Buns
“I remember liking them when I was little, but I haven’t tried one in a long time...” [continue]
The Cake and the Box
“In junior high, a friend invited me to her house after school, and we decided to bake a cake...” [continue]
Hell-Bent on Tradition
“One year, we thawed our family turkey by floating it in the pool...” [continue]
Grandma’s Garden
“My grandmother had a knack for knowing when a vegetable was just at its peak...” [continue]
