What does your mom make best?

[Danielle]

Let's admit it...we have our favorite dishes that our moms make, and try as we might, we can never get ours to taste the same. When I left home for college my mom wrote down all my favorite recipes of hers, and when I finally moved to a place with my own kitchen (the dorm kitchen was just too scary to cook in), I was all excited to do some cooking. But for some reason, it's just not the same. What are your favorite dishes that your mom makes best?

I have a few. She makes the best Rice Krispie treats. A simple dessert, I know, but for some reason, hers always taste just phenomenal. And I love her mashed potatoes, though I now know the secret (a potato ricer), and I found a place to purchase one. And if I could just replicate her tasty beef stew....

[This message has been edited by Danielle (edited 07-13-2000).]

[lindrusso]

My mom makes GREAT pesto. I have the recipe and I follow it, but hers always tastes better! She just brought me a bunch of basil, so now I just have to talk her into actually MAKING the pesto for me before she leaves!!

But the best is her turkey dressing. It's a simple recipe (Pepperidge Farms with onions, celery and almonds added), but I've never liked anyone's stuffing as much as hers.

[Peggy]

My mom makes a fabulous broccoli soup. One of those that doesn't have a recipe. She just throws in a little of this and a little of that. I have actually sat and watched and measured while she made it but still can't replicate it at home.

Actually this topic makes me think more of my grandmother's cooking. She made chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies that were out of this world, (again no recipe!), awesome strawberry jam, mouthwatering scrambled eggs, tremendous pot roast, the list goes on and on! Cooking was definately her thing. Oh nostalgia...Gosh, I miss her! (Not just because of her cooking!)

I think I am going to go ask my daughter what she likes most from my cooking repetoire. It should be interesting to hear how she replies!!!

Good Topic!

Peggy

[lorilei]

My mother is another one of those "fly by the seat of her pants" cooks (hmmm... is that where I got it??), so many of the things my mother makes no one can replicate /exactly/ -- even me.

One of those things is her pork roast. It's a simple toss of Rosemary, salt and pepper, but for some reason her roast turns out juicier and more delectable than anyone's.

She also makes the best brownies. Perfectly soft and fudgy on the inside, crispy and crackley on the outside -- and I don't know how she does it.

Oh! And if you want to talk grandmothers... my grandmother made the best Chicken Chow Mein in the universe... among other things. (my grandfather was a butcher, so she was in her element!)

[This message has been edited by lorilei (edited 07-13-2000).]

[Gail]

Burnt toast! (see: Broiler fear)

Actually, she's got a dish she calls Spanish Chicken with fideo, simple really but I can't seem to make mine turn out anywhere close to hers. It's juicy chicken pieces in a sauce that has tomato, onion, garlic and peppers (sometimes green olives) with this fabulous thin pasta that's browned before cooking it. When she makes it, it's sooo good-- when I make it, BASURA. (garbage)

I understand she also made legendary pies-- and that's all they are as far as I'm concerned, because she conveniently stopped baking them when I was born. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 07-13-2000).]

[CrystalB]

Potato salad! Mastering mayo must be a mom thing. I can't forget her apple/walnut/cinnamon coffee cake, apple pie, and macaroni and cheese. Basically all my comfort foods!!!!

[Anne]

My favorites that mom used to make are chicken and noodles, pizza, turkey stuffing, chowmein, and pies, non of which were light and all were made without recipies.

[CAROL ANN]

My mother made the best scratch Coconut cake. I have the recipe but find cutting and grating a coconut very difficult. The coconut in the bags at the grocery store is just not as good. She also made wonderful pies. She is 91 years old and has not baked for a few years. I sure could go for a piece of Coconut cake.

[Angela]

My mom is a great cook/baker. I do have some favorites though, her macaroni salad, chicken-corn soup, and pies (specifically her crusts). She has taught me how to make the crusts and I must say (she said too) that they are good, but there is nothing like a homemade pie from mom.

I have my mom (Carol Ann on this BB) to thank for good meals and my love of cooking and baking http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[karen w]

Reservations!? Seriously, mom, if you're reading this your chicken soup has always been better than mine. But you know how you said your children should do better than you...well I think my cooking is better(and so does my husband!)Someday I hope my daughter's cooking is better,too. It just means you were a good teacher!

[alisome]

My mom makes the worlds best pies! She can make four different kinds at once and all the crusts turn out perfectly! I always add too much water and end up tossing it, and pulling one from the freezer. She also makes a fabulous dressing!

[Angelina]

My mother is a Dutch lady who married an Italian man, and she is the most wonderful cook ever!! She learnt how to cook all things Italian better than a lot of Italians can ever aspire to. Her lasagne are legendary, her traditional Christmas cookies very much in demand and I just swoon over the delicious and simple sauces she makes for spaghetti.. My father (are dads allowed here? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif) makes the best bruschetta. Alas, my grandmother's only contribution is her focaccia. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Vanessa]

My mom is a great cook. But I do like her arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) & red beans. When I make it it tastes ok but not like hers. She also makes great plantain pie and the best natilla (milk with egg yolk, vanilla and thicken with cornstarch) Its like a pudding but thinner and she always makes it when she visits. Through the yrs she has given me her recipes and now we trade back and forth (compare notes) but when I need cooking advice I call mom!

[Susann]

My Mom used to make 'letter cookies'when we were kids. They were a spiced ginger cookie and she would shape them into letters (usually our names). Now that she has grandchildren (my sister has kids), she makes them every time she comes to visit. She still insists on shaping my cookies like letters. Should I tell her that I have already learned the alphabet...?

[SueK]

My mom makes great comfort foods. I love spicy foods, and even black pepper is a bit too adventurous for her, but I have to admit, she makes great lasagna. It's just a regular recipe, but I've never been able to duplicate it. I love her chicken stir-fry, and she also makes great beef and barley soup in the winter, and makes good potato salad, too.

[Gail]

Originally posted by Angelina:
My mother is a Dutch lady who married an Italian man, and she is the most wonderful cook ever!! She learnt how to cook all things Italian better than a lot of Italians can ever aspire to. Her lasagne are legendary, her traditional Christmas cookies very much in demand and I just swoon over the delicious and simple sauces she makes for spaghetti.. My father (are dads allowed here? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif) makes the best bruschetta. Alas, my grandmother's only contribution is her focaccia. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif


I don't imagine you've got any of mom's or dad's Dutch or Italian recipes you'd like to pass on? Here I go again, always after those international recipes.... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[SandyDee]

Now here is the question of questions. I could relate to nearly every post! My mother is an awesome cook, and yes what she does best is comfort foods. I could go on and on but I will stick to a few (I could never list just one I couldn't pick). I would have to list Macaroni and Cheese, Beef Stew, Spaghetti with meat sauce and Pies of any kind. Now the kicker is, she is also a fly by the seat of her pants cook and cannot tell me exactly how to make any of it because she just does it. But I have been able to recreate (by watching her enough times) her macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and once (only once) her beef stew. What I can't get (up to par with hers) is her pies AND her gravy. She makes the BEST gravy in the world. I am sure as others post I will say "aha!! That's another one" but for now this is what I come up with. Another great idea for a topic. Way to go!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[AmyG]

My mom is just flat out a fabulous cook. She came to help my husband care for me when I had major surjury during my 1st pregnancy. I didn't feel like eating much but when she crafted her from-scratch chicken & dumplings (long flat dumplins) and scalloped cabbage it was like "what 9-inch incision in my belly?" She fed us like royalty the whole wk. Then when my (healthy) son was born she whipped up one of her devine tuna cassaroles. When we sat down to eat my husband and I raved. It was so good none of us noticed until half-way thru the meal that she had forgotten to put the tuna in the cassarole!! It was her first grandchild and she was carried away with him-too busy to cook!! She does not bake but can deep fry a flounder like nobody's business. Her spag. sauce, meatloaf, kiebasa and veggies, entire Thanksgiving spread--all legendary. Love you, Mom! And your cooking!

[Susan]

My first inclination is to say...EVERYTHING!!! My mom is an awesome cook and baker! I think her potato salad is the best of all though! I can never seem to get mine to taste just like hers no matter how hard I try.

~~Susan~~

[cluan]

I love all of my mother's cooking, none of which is low-fat, but after reading everyone's replies I think what we're all talking about is not the food itself, but the great memories--and love--we all sense that went into every dish. When someone cooks for you, there's much more in the recipe than spice... It's flavored with the special feelings that person has and is expressing.

[laden]

My mom's Banana Pudding was absolutely wonderful, especially when still warm.

Her fried chicken was heaven, and my grandmother's was even better than my mom's. (Maybe fried chicken is turning into a lost art.)

Homemade yeast rolls...I could eat about 10 right now!

[JeanneW]

Love this topic! My mom made wonderful enchiladas. The recipe was right off the back of a tortilla package and I've made them but they're never as good. CLUAN is right; love makes the difference. Her Thanksgiving stuffing is awesome. This will sound weird but she made the BEST popcorn - in an old iron kettle topped with real butter. Can't hold a candle to microwave.

My grandmother was also a great cook. I remember staying with her and the breakfast she made - scrambled eggs with bacon mixed in. Yes, these were the days before cholesterol reigned supreme! Yum!

[BarbaraL]

I hesitate to say it, but, like Karen W, I think I'm a better cook. Not that my mom isn't a good cook but she was handicapped by being married to a meat and potatoes guy who didn't like sauces or many herbs or spices. Plus I get Cooking Light magazine! Both she and I are recipe-followers, not real experimenters. She does make an awesome pork roast with oven-roasted potatoes. Love ya, Mom!

[MrsReber]

I am so thankful that my mother and grandmother were great cooks because I have inherited their love of cooking. Cluan, you are right when you bring up the memories associated with cooking. My parents were divorced so my mom relied on her three kids to pitch in and help. I wound up cooking lots of dinners (unusual since I was the youngest)- so I learned how to make my mothers marinara sauce, meatballs, stuffed artichokes, chicken marsala, and lemon meringue pie- all very delicious! . Now that I am older, I have taken her basic ideas and added to them myself. My husband says I am a better cook than she is, but I still call her for tips!

[Gwenniver]

My mom's London Broil is the best! I was almost disillusioned when I found out it's just a teriyaki marinade called (believe it or not) Mr. Marinade. I still can't get it to turn out right, though...or her simmer-all-day spaghetti sauce that somehow tastes like no other homemade or jarred sauce I've ever had. I'm planning to try that one again soon.

Mom does have her foibles, though...like the time she ran out of thyme and replaced her 20 year old big box of thyme with a new one. Unbeknownst to her, she'd been gradually increasing the amount of thyme as her spices got older (in vegetable soup). The expressions around the table when we tasted it were pretty comical. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

My dad, much to my husband's chagrin, has socialized me from childhood to believe that making grilled cheese requires a Y chromosome. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif No matter how hard I try, I always burn it, so my husband has to make it for me.

[Laura B]

My mom makes the best pasta salad. It is the simplest recipe, but I can never make it like her. Mine is always bland and hers is always fantastic. It is what I always took to pot luck functions and people always loved it.

I had a triumph recently with one of her recipes. She makes these great oatmeal-coconut-chocolate chip cookies at christmas (nothing christmasy about them except that is the only time she makes them). Last christmas she assigned me to make the cookies to bring because she had too many other things to make. When I arrived, turns out she had made a batch because my brother just couldn't wait for me to get there to have some of these cookies. Well, everyone finished my cookies first and said they were better!! I felt bad because I think it made my mom a little embarrassed but I was secretly very happy about it! (I can post the recipe if anyone wants it but they are so NOT lowfat - another reason only to make them once a year!)

[This message has been edited by Laura B (edited 07-19-2000).]

[PrincessT]

My mom makes the best fried potatoes and onions!!!! (Not very often of course.) I remember walking into the house and smelling them cook. I can almost fry them as well as she can.

My dad, on the other hand, is the only one who knows how to make sausage gravy. No matter how hard I try, it never comes out like his.

[This message has been edited by PrincessT (edited 07-19-2000).]

[Tiffany]

She makes the BEST:


-Chicken Parmesan
-Potato Salad
-Baked Beans
-Green Bean Casserole
and this may sound funny, but she makes the best SANDWICHES!!!!

[RosemaryR]

I have wonderful memories of my Mom baking fresh bread, buns and cinnamon rolls. Her apple pie was to die for and her pie crust (not my forte) was always tasty. She always used spicy italian sausage in her lasagna recipe which was great. My Grandmother made the most fabulous butterscotch pudding from scratch but alas, she never wrote down the recipe.

My mother-in-law is also a great cook and she makes an unusual and excellent entree recipe that combines chicken breast, dried beef and mushrooms. Her shrimp salad is out of this world.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the replies on this subject...everyone's Mom is special in her own way!