For Mom's Love of Cooking

  This post was originally written on 9/19/2011, two months after my mom was killed unexpectedly in a car accident.  I still miss her terribly.  In honor of Mother's Day and GenFabs bloghop, I decided to repost it in memory of mom.  As a note of update, my sister's and I have not finished the cookbook but have plans to do so very soon.


     My mom was a famous cook.   Maybe not famous in the terms that you think of Paula Deen (whom mom loved!), or Wolfgang Puck; but she was certainly well known in a certain area of southern Indiana, and a small county in Kentucky.

     Mom spent a major portion of her life cooking in restaurants.  Sometimes it was her own and sometimes she worked for other people.  Either way, she was known for her wonderful home cooking.  

     I can remember sitting down to home cooked family meals as a very young child thinking my mom was the best cook in the whole world.  Every Easter she would make us a chocolate cake in the shape of a lamb, covered with fluffy white frosting and coconut.  Those were special times.

Me & sister Jane with our lamb cake

     As I got older, we spent more and more time at the restaurant mom owned called the Mill Inn.  It was the local hangout for all the kids in the evenings and all the coffee drinkers in the mornings.  Everyone, no matter what age loved mom and her cooking.  

     Mom passed her love of cooking down to her daughters in varying degrees, but we all inherited at least part of her skills.  Some of us just enjoy it more than others (there are 4 of us).  No matter how hard we try, though, some things never seem to taste like mom's.

     Last spring, my sisters and I decided to record our legacy of cooking for our children.  We decided to write a cookbook.  This book would record mom's best recipes, our recipes and a short family history.  We began and I spent several phone calls collecting information from mom and dad for our history pages.  I am so glad I did.

     Mom won't get to see the finished product.  For those of you who are new to my blog, mom was killed in a car accident on July 7th of this year.  We are more determined than ever to finish what we started.   It will now be a memorial to honor the woman who taught us not only the love of cooking, but simply, how to love.   

     Mom was not only a great cook, she was a great mother and a true friend.  I miss her terribly.  I will always be thankful that she instilled in me a love of cooking.  That is a legacy that will live on as my sisters and I pass it down to our children.  Mom would be so proud.

Brenda #3, Me #2, Mom, Jane #1, and Tina #4

Until next time...that's my view.

Kat