The scent of Mama’s cooking

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone is having a wonderful blessed season. Give thanks for all your blessings.

It’s been an interesting few months for me. My computer in October conked out on me. I’ve recently received the new one and still getting familiar with it. The long wait for a new one gave me a lot of time to think and contemplate about everything that happened in this last year.

When I thought about everything I was amazed and saddened how things changed. Not the day to day changes of life but the one that shake your core and change you irrevocably. My biggest change this year was the passing of my mother. And the holiday’s brings it out even more. I miss her so much. I’ve fought away the sadness and instead will celebrate as we usually do each year. Cooking and baking as we usually do.

Each time I bake or cook one of my mother recipe many things overcome me but there two things that stand out. The first is of course the memories of being in the kitchen with her. For as long back as I can remember I was always underfoot when my mom cooked and I wanted to learn. I remember my first time I baked a cookie on my own I was eight at the time. My mom was shocked when she came home to find the cookie. Did you catch that “cookie” in there? No It’s not a typo. I made a cookie with a recipe that should have made about a batch. Mine was one big fat cookie that covered an entire pan. It was soft and delicious. I remember that my Mom was so proud and barely got a bite before my brother ate it off. LOL. Ahhh…. The memories.

Comfort is the second thing that comes to me. To me cooking and baking gives me time to think. There is nothing like kneading dough to get all your thoughts in order. It is a therapeutic thing. The work brings me comfort and takes me to a place where I can experiment yet get my mind off of things. Hmmm… that bring a whole new meaning to the term “comfort foods”. Each person has that comfort food that no matter what is happening the thought of it brings a smile to your face and tummy. LOL. I used to call my Mom and say “make me a bowl of love”. This was our own little code for her to make a bowl of hot cereal (it’s didn’t matter which one). I call it love because I knew that is how she made it. With love. She used to kid and ask why don’t you make it (since she knew I could cook almost as well as she did). I told her that it doesn’t taste as good. Believe me when I made it for myself it just didn’t taste as sweet. I’m sure you know what I am talking about. Well Mom laughed and made it and she even turned the table on me a few times and asked that I make her a bowl of love. I did it since we are an equal opportunity “bowl of love” household. LOL. From generation to generation cooking has been passed down in my family.


Lately I find myself more and more in the kitchen just thinking. As I think I wondered about how the preparation of food then the cooking of it that is passed down in families. You can have many families preparing the same thing but the way they prepare it is what makes them different and unique. Uniqueness is the dynamic of the family. This led me to questions of families.

What is it about the preparation then the scent of foods made using mama or grandma’s recipes that invokes so much memories, feelings, and comfort? What about it that makes your family unique?