This thread in GD should be a warning to all who still have your parents.

My mother passed away from a stroke in 1992 at age 61. My sister and I paid some attention to how mom cooked, often helping out.
What we never asked for was the actual recipes. Its too late now.

My mother had nine brothers and sisters, two died in infancy, one was killed in action in New Guinea in 1944. Twenty two year difference from the oldest sister to the youngest brother. Oldest sister had two kids before her youngest brother was born.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter dinners at my grandparents farm involved at least 40 adults and kids. "ordinary Sunday dinner" was at least 20. Men ate at the grown up table, kids throughout the house. Biscuits and at least two kinds of gravy and mashed, fried and boiled potatoes at every meal. Bacon grease, lard and butter use was extensive. Vegetables were grown fifty yards away, 3-4 hogs butchered every spring, then the hams smoked in the smokehouse next to the garden.  Grandfather lived until age 92, having never eaten but one carrot. Grandmother lived until age 94 having stopped eating beef at age eight because they butchered her pet calf.

Every aunt had grown up in the kitchen and each had a specialty. My mom's being pork chops, coconut cream pie, lemon meringue pie and cole slaw. Yeah, cole slaw. Doesn't sound like much but there were never any left overs. The closest I've found is oddly the coleslaw that KFC serves....but its still missing something.
My youngest aunt made what we called "hold in the hand pies".....some call them empanadas, pasties or hand pies.



When I was in high school, the Foxfire Book was published. It was a collection of stories, recipes, how to and folklore collected by high school students interviewing their grandparents. I loved those books. I wish I would have done the same with my family.

TL/DR version.......get off your ass, call your momma, tell her you love her and ask her to write down her recipes.

My Grandmother made absolutely killer creamed corn. I've tried and tried to duplicate it, but can't even come close. I kick myself in the ass for not having her show me how to make it.

Wish I could. I tried making her potato salad, I know all the ingredients but like you correctly said, that’s only half the battle. Miss you mom.

Yup. Grandfather had apple orchard and blackberry bushes in the backyard and made the best pies and crisps. Grandmother couldn’t replicate it after he passed but her summer potato salad was awesome. Dad and I try to make these dishes but still not the same; went off grandma’s notes and memory. Probably missed something. Great grandmother on other side made her own perogis, kielbasa and cucumber salad. Grandma and Mom never paid attention. All are lost. Wife’s mom was amazing cook. Wife not even close using the actual recipes. Something about timing and prep just not repeatable. Takes more than recipes. Need actual production experience too.

Indeed.  Where there are recipes, get them.  Where there aren't, spend time and learn from them.

My mother had six different types of pie crust each had some specific applicants.

She did interview her mother to learn several of these and said it was a hard process since grammy never used any measuring devices. It took her nearly 10 years of cooking to refine those recipes to formal measurements that us youngsters understood. - Also there were multi versions - depending on how many servings would be in a single batch.

My mom was one of twelve, so cooking for all plus maybe guests and planning a bit of leftovers that could be used for school lunches the next day... Grammy made big batches.

Grammy was also a master at making many kinds of bread. Brown bread cooked in empty soup cans. Daily bread ( a basic whole wheat ) and many others. Mom gave up trying to replicate gram's breads because her methods were spaced out to make it an all day job. Gram did most her cooking on an old wood stove in a wooden shack with no electricity. It had an indoor pump in the kitchen but you had to step out to use the privi.

Mom was also a lover of casseroles. She made a Peanut butter loaf baked with catsup on top. Tuna casserole, a rice chicken and mushroom dish see deemed "Heavenly casserole" and a Cottage cheese loaf which was fantastic but the best way to describe it might be to cross turkey stuffing crossed with meat loaf - yet it had no meat.

She also loved to make Banana bread and cookies....

Sadly she passed 12-25-15 and afterwards when my sister helped clean out her things so my father would not have continuous reminders of her she tossed the 3x5 index card box that had all those recipes she had refined from gramms notes and her own specialties.

I am pressing my friend to get his mother (Croation) to write down several of her "regular" recipes. I love her bitter bean soup. She also makes some of the best Baklava I have ever had.

We didn't have any written recipes for the family dishes, Mom just made them and then taught us all (2 boys and 2 girls) to make them.
Potato salad, ours was one of the egg mustard types, but we put in our home canned pickles and home grown radishes and green onions all chopped for the crunch and sharp flavor to help cut through the mayo & mustard dressing that had a couple hard-boiled eggs mashed into it.
Verrenica (sp?), which is an egg dough rolled out and cut into squares, filled with cottage cheese or mashed potato and onion with lots of pepper, then folded over and edges joined with a fork. Boiled, then fried in butter and served with sour cream. Terrible for your cholesterol but we would go through 4 dozen for dinner.
Breakfast hash with fried potatoes, bean & ham soup, a fish stew we always had on Christmas Eve, sausage and sauerkraut with mash potatoes, a sweet and sour pork dish served over rice, our version of chili and bean & pork burritos.

Sad thing is I am the only one making them now, my brother lets his wife do all the cooking and my sisters don't do anything more than heat up a can of soup or something from the freezer.

When my mom  passed away my brothers only worried about anything of value, They came in took here fiesta ware all her antiques, I took all her recipe cards, they call every year and want to borrow the cards at Thanksgiving ,Christmas. The recipe cards which are all in her handwriting are more priceless then all the antiques that they wanted. So I send them all a copy ever year in the mail.                                                                                                                                

My mom is amazing in the kitchen.  She has some awesome recipes.  Luckily for me she is "old school" and writes everything down in a cookbook as well on on a note card for quick reference.  I already have all of the recipes that would die with her.

My mother is 63, and when she was a girl she would help her grandmother cook for Sunday lunch, holidays, etc. She learned a lot doing that. Most of the cooks in the family do a cornbread dressing like Maw Alice used too, but none are as good as Mom’s. She has shown me the tricks, but I’ve not cooked one yet. Need to get her to write it all down.

I started writing down my recipes years ago. Even the ones I cook all the time. I make notes at the bottom if I change something. Maybe one day those will be my kid’s or grandkid’s prized possessions.

My grandmother made a chicken and rice with sausage that I've been trying to replicate for years.  She passed away last year.  Her measurements used her hand and salt, pepper, etc.  I'll figure it out once of these days.....  Orr I'll ask her when I cross over.....

My mother bless her liberal communist heart, tried to carry on the family recipes. I was smart enough as  younger man to write most of them down. I have a potato soup recipe thats been in the family over 100 years. My grandfather made chili but always called it goulash. He was from Texas, and it had beans. Arfcom taught me why he would change the name lol. But that recipe has also been in our family over 100 years. I have changed very little, since receiving them all those years ago.

I thought I had my Grandma's tater salad recipe down, until I watched my Aunt make it a decade after Grandma passed.  Cooking the taters with the peel on is something I missed, and I had never really paid attention when she made it.  Grandma and Aunt are gone now, but I am sure glad I was in the kitchen that day.

Don't lose hope in finding recipes for stuff you grew up eating.
When I was a little boy my great grandma always made the same meal when we came to visit. The only thing I ever heard it called was supper at nanny's house. It was my favorite meal. I kinda knew what was in it (hamburger, tomato sauce, onions) but something was always missing when I tried to make it.
My wife and met when I was 45 y/o.
She and I were at her mom and dad's house for lunch one Sunday. We were talking about foods from our childhood and I mentioned "supper at nanny's". I described it the best I could. My MIL said hang on a minute.
She went to her bookshelf and got a little spiral notebook that had her family's recipes in it.
Her mom had called it hamburger goo. My wife and I made it for dinner that night with all the trimmings that nanny would have served. It was perfect! The missing ingredient that I couldn't figure out was apple cider vinegar.

That is truly a cool story.

Now, please post the recipe!

Caramelization.

Years ago I collected recipes from my whole family. Well, the ones I liked.  Have them all stored on Evernote. I have each person with their own recipe book. Has come in handy many times.

The recipe would be a nice thing to have but you never would be able to make it taste the same. I think it's the love and experience from the original chef that is missing.

That sounds familiar.  My parents were from S. Indiana.  They both grew up on farms and poor.  I don't think I bought a cut up chicken until I was in my late 20's, and I don't ever remember her buying one when I was growing up.  Always whole birds.  So I've been able to cut up a chicken since I was like 12

I'd guess her fried chicken was like our mom's.  Dredged in flour and seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper.  A paper bag to shake it all up was the normal way.  You have to let it sit in the bag for a bit and shake it again to kind of make its own batter.  Then she pan fried it basically in a cast iron skillet.  Started out with a lid on cooked it a good while, then took the lid off to finish.

I cook better than my mother. I don't want to know how to microwave a Hungry Man frozen dinner.

My grandmother on the other hand, I need to get her stuffing recipe.

My family got lucky. Mother being a teacher kept notes on every thing. Her cook books and recipe cards were extensive. One of my sisters made sure all of this was maintained and now is the librarian of the info. Need a recipe just call her and in arrives that day via email.

So to others who's Moms are still with them, call her then go visit and make sure her food of love is preserved.

God bless all our Moms.

EBR

When I head back home for Christmas this year I won't be leaving without mom's pecan pie recipe.  It's too late for granny's recipes, won't make that mistake again.

Yep. Going to ask mine to write some stuff down tonight...

Good idea. Not sure how she would do it. There are about 100 recipe cards written on both sides. Then the cook books with all the notes and changes. As an example one of the corn breads had using 1-1/2x more sugar but using brown sugar. It kept the bread moist and less crumbs plus added a slight taste difference.

I'll suggest it and maybe work out a method.

Thanks for the suggestion.

EBR

My mom never really learned to cook.  My grandparents on both sides had a handful of good recipes they made.  Most were lost, but I figured out a few of my favorites.

My maternal grandmother made a sort of chicken fricassee that starts with a roux and is almost like a gumbo with no sausage and whole chicken breasts, but not a lot of water added.  It was cooked down in a skillet and served over rice or egg noodles.  

My paternal grandfather made a beef barley vegetable soup with tomatoes, corn, green beans and either potatoes or diced turnips that was just amazing on a cold day.

I sort of had to figure out gumbo and red beans and rice on my own, but my recipes are so good I am satisfied with them.  I have all of them backed up on multiple drives so my kids will be able to use them if they want to.

I have a family reunion cookbook that is at least 40 years old that my mom gave me. It has a lot of my favorite family recipes.  Of the house was burning down it is one of the things I would grab. I need to get her to write down the ones I don't know so I can add them. There are a lot of our Slovak recipes I don't remember.

My family's chicken Paprikas


6 pieces Chicken cut up, skin on
3 cups flour
1 tbl spoon corn starch
1/4 milk
3 eggs
salt
24oz sour cream
1 large can of chicken broth
2 smaller cans of chicken broth
2 chicken bullion cubes
olive oil
3 tablespoons hungarian sweet paprika
 
Add a tablespoon of olive oil or butter to large soup stock pan and brown chicken
Add paprika as it browns, table spoon or so
Once browned add chicken stock and more paprika. Color should be red.
Simmer 1-1.5 hours depending on chicken piece sizes
 
Dumplings
 
Boil salted water in another large stock pan, three teaspoons of salt.
 
3 cups flour in a large mixing bowl
Make a divot and add three eggs, a tablespoon of sour cream
Add milk slowly until ingredients are mixed to the consistency of oatmeal. (about 1/4 cup)
Using a spoon drop dough into the boiling water in blobs the size of a 5.56 round. The dumplings will cook quickly and rise to the top of the water
As the pan fills with dumplings, skim out the done ones into a colander and run cold water over them.
After the chicken is done cooking remove it from the broth to de-bone
 
Next, get a pyrex bowl and add the rest of the tub of sour cream and a tablespoon of corn starch, mix in corn starch
Slowly ladle the broth from the soup pan into the sour cream to bring it to the temperature of the broth. This is important or the sour cream will separate when added to the broth.
When soupy and hot, add the mixture back into the soup stock pan
Add dumplings
De-bone the now cooled chicken and add it to the broth.

Got a starting point? That sounds pretty good.