I went down this path a few years back on here, and didn't keep up. We all have, or should have some really great family recipes to share, old time stuff, and I'd love to see some posted under a dedicated post topic.

My Mom could make a meal out of next to nothing, and while she wouldn't allow us under her feet as she cooked, she did share some before she passed on. They are treasures. My MIL's recipies, also, that woman could make a tough roast as tender as butter, and feed the family of 7 every night so well- and ALWAYS a fresh salad with the meal, and fresh bread from the local bakery. I have one thru a cousin that is my husband's Grandmother's chicken and rice recipe, and it is on the stove right now, a Portuguese recipie.

I do love good food, well prepared, and really enjoy the process of cooking- and try to get really good ingredients. When we first married (38 yrs ago, gasp!) I had a bleak repertoire- fried chicken (did that one really good!, still do) , fried liver (of course fried in bacon fat with bacon topping, sauteed onions, and mashed potatoes on the side, what a health downfall, but I still do crave it even now but wouldn't have the courage to cook it)(una casserole, meatloaf, and spaghetti.An occasional salad and veg from the cans boiled to death. Cabbage and ham and potatoes, or in the summer, green beans ham and potatoes. My poor husband.

It was a very standard rotation, easier to shop for and totally meat and potatoes. We didn't eat anything other than corn, cabbage or peas or green beans for years! Broccoli, what was THAT stuff- as well as cauliflower- that was something we just did not eat.

One time I got adventerous and served a SPAM dish, thought I was really being crafty- he forbade me to ever serve that dog food again. We ate it, didn't want to waste food, but every bite was a horror. I do have to laugh at this. Back in those days (the early 70's) our food budget was a meager 25. a week for the both of us. Not undoable, but it took some serious stretching. We would have a steak once a month- a ROUND steak on a little hibachi grill, with NO seasonings, tough as shoe leather and totally dependent on the only steak thing I knew to have on hand, worchestershire sauce- and I cringe to think about it today (although today, I know my way around even round steak, the secrets of marinades and such, and can turn even this humble piece of meat into a good meal!)

My grandmother did teach me to cook, there were foods that I learned to prepare- stuffed flank steak, stuffed beef heart, tongue, rabbit, pinto beans, venison, buckwheat cakes with tomato gravy - like I say seriously old time cooking.When I first married, those cuts of beef and game were not commonly obtainable.

I've learned to cook well and really enjoy good I've gotten older, and I really am intreigued (sorry, sic) by regional and familial recipes.

I'd sure love to read some from you all, especially the family ones. My mother cooked a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch type recipes, that hearkened to her upbringing.

Could we put a new post up there for FAMILY recipes, or is this redundant?? I know that some folks guard family secret recipes so well (I have a cousin that WILL not give me Aunt Lil's chicken and dumplings recipe. I have worked on that one for years and finally got it close to what I remember, no thanks to that cousin). And if it is something that truly is a family secret, and you'd rather keep it to your clan, that's ok too.

I'd just like to see more personal regional recipes that are family favorites tested and true. There is something so vital and so soul stirring as a meal that reminds you of when you were younger, and the food was prepared with so much love.

Thanks, sorry for the long post.

Thanks for your suggestion, JudyM. I think this topic could be quite interesting.

Do you have a family recipe you'd like to share to get us started? Maybe YOUR version of chicken and dumplings? Or your fried chicken?

I was watching Alton Brown on the food network recently and he did a show where he made two types of dumplings for chicken and dumplings. Apparently there are regional differences.

In one version, he snipped off little pieces of dough for dumplings that were almost like noodles. In the other, the dumplings were big dough balls.

I use Bisquick to my dumplings and like them just fine. I use the recipe on the box.