Stories 2017
(Click on the photo to read a story.)
Remembrance of Crepes Past
Makella Brems
The origins of a family tradition may be forgotten, but not its enduring importance.
A Melting Pot
Aimee Lee Ball
An ecumenical Christmas, with a cranberry relish that made Mom famous.
The Forager
Liv Woudstra
From the South of France, Mom (or Maman, en français) and her nose for truffles lead to a new business--and the world's most luxurious Christmas breakfast.
Santa Is Real
Ashley Stump
Even when the childhood fable has lost its luster, even when the holiday celebration must change, a family tradition is honored.
Miracles
Barbara Ballinger
With the pancakes of any culture, Mom is always the last to eat, or takes the smallest portion.
Dueling Christmases
Margie Goldsmith
A common dilemma: mothers, mothers-in-law, and the competition about who gets whom for the holidays (but one of them has vichyssoise).
Painting the Past
Linda Ding
Memory is mutable when it comes to Mom and Chinese cooking—a perspective with clarity and heart.
The Blue Binder
Sally Hurst
A legacy of recipes is a tribute to both a hometown and a globe-trotting life.
Shirl the Pearl
Kara Fox
How not to baste a turkey.
A No-Thanks Thanksgiving
Aimee Lee Ball
A wacky Thanksgiving with a well-meaning mom--but is the turkey stuffed or dressed?
The Importance of Pie
Cherie Burns
A culinary tradition is a loving bond over generations.
Tiny Pastry Chef
Erycka Dore’an
One daughter has her hands on the rolling pin; the other is the taste-tester. And the kitchen is citrus-scented.
Canned Corn
Dafne Bianci
The most humble of meals nourishes and unites in Italy.
From Russia With Love
Kristina Zalesskaya
From Soviet-era bread lines to pastries in Hollan—
an odyssey of keeping old traditions and creating new ones for a young daughter.
French Chicken
Aimee Lee Ball
How to handle a picky eater—one mother's trick.
The Taste of Memory
Kathryn Brown Ramsperger
Preserved along with frosting drips in the pages of an eclectic Southern recipe book, a life well-lived.
Cooking Under Pressure
Bonnie Lee Black
Kitchen duties changed when Mom went back to work.
The Secret Ingredient
Julie Tsolka
Food is a metaphor for the sweet and the sour of a mother-daughter relationship in Greece.
The Coming of Quiche
Penelope Rowlands
Glamour, joy, status—or maybe not.
The Gardener
Annie Blasberg
A Dartmouth student reflects on the nourishment of her mother’s garden (and not just from the vegetables).
Different
Helene Henderson
She didn’t look like her mother (or, really, anybody she knew), but the aroma from the kitchen meant love and safety.
The Movie Star
Pam Koner
When dad was away, mom and daughter would play--a dinner party just for two.
Learning From "I Love Lucy"
Thea Habjanic
A memory of the irresistible Slovenian pancakes called palačinke, and a mother who learned English from American TV.
Kicked Out of the Kitchen
Anie Hart
A priceless image of a mom channeling Peg Bundy--along with her unusual topping for waffles.
The Ref
Natalka Burian
The answer to battling in-laws? Pounding pork chops.
Partial Truth
Bri and Aleya Howington
Secrets, lies, and spring rolls—two sisters make peace with their history, and make delicious Filipino food.
Sweet/Salty/Sour/Spicy
Neema Avashia
Mrs. Avashia, newly arrived from India, bonded with Mrs. Bupp, Mrs. Warren, Mrs. Rosenberg, and Mrs. McGovern over (what else?) food.
Culture War
Dunya Ahrns
You might not be making “lapsha" unless you’re feeding a crowd, but the story of conflicting cultures, assimilation, and sacrificial love will resonate.
Everything Just So
Maggie Robertson
Some people respond to grief by pulling the bed covers over their head. Others find comfort in organization and duty (and a mean mocha cake).
Scallops In My Suitcase
Olive Ho
A mother’s message to “remember where you came from” has an unusual delivery system.
Goddesses
Maha Rouchati
There’s a moral code to Moroccan cuisine, scented with mint and honey and fresh yeast.
The Art of Thinness
Vanessa Woy
Mom: disciplined, elegant, skinny.
Daughter: not so much.
Fun ensues.
The Clean-up Crew
Margaret Crane
Motherhood substitutes for a life on the stage--plus there are really good chocolate chip cookies.
The Party Secret
Barbara Ballinger
The masterful mix of a hostess who knew that food was secondary.
Sleeping Late on Sundays
Liz Susman Karp
A mother who cleverly figured out how to stay in bed, and a meditation on French toast.
An Unexpected Gift
Amy Silverstein
A brutally honest woman tells how her mother prepared her for facing life’s adversities, but really, really not in the way you might think.
Proof of Pleasure
Jane Bernstein
The joy of cooking was evident but not easily expressed.
Back of the Restaurant
Eva Zelig
An immigration story that takes us from Czechoslovakia to Ecuador to America—and from goulash to ceviche to Jell-O.
Cookmatic
Christi Clancy
A mom who thought the miracle of the microwave might change her harried life.
A Recipe For Memories
Joan M. Harper
Selling meringues in the snow, and a recipe left to memory.
The Black Sheep
Lorraine Puz Morgan
A town where everybody knows your name and Mom’s kitchen garden is surrounded by marigolds—memories of a childhood in coal-mining country.
Mangiaprete
Marianne Leone
She was Christopher’s mother on "The Sopranos," but her real-life “Ma” handled church dogma and cooking with similar irreverence.
The Peacemaker
Jane Heller
One mom commands peace among querulous siblings at the dinner table...with stuffed cabbage.
Cookie Mom
Deborah Brightman Farone
A daughter learns about diligence, creativity, and imperfection—via cookies.
Chocoholics Anonymous
Jessica Spaulding
A mother’s love plus a legacy from 9/11 combine to make a young woman’s dreams come true, and A Chocolate Factory Grows in Harlem.
Following Her Own Recipe
Jennifer Barr
The lingering smell of Chanel, a pineapple surprise for dessert, and memories of a mother’s culinary collections and curiosities.
Grits and Grit
Sarah Goodrich
Appreciation for a mother who couldn’t spend time imparting kitchen wisdom or recipes because she was desperately needed elsewhere.
The Mom in the Mink-Collared Sweater
Kim Marshall
A pear tree (no partridge), buckwheat pancakes with gravy, and a mom who went to work.
No Talking
Judith Viorst
The renowned author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day shares her recipe for chicken schnitzel.
The Hoarder
Julie Hatfield
What's it like to have a mother who's a fabulous cook but could be a candidate for the "Hoarders" show?
Seven Green Beans
Kay Douglas
The tribulations of a "picky eater." Plus an exotic miso-glazed doughnut.
Roy Cohn's Yacht
Amy Phillips Penn
Barbecued chicken in the driveway, Elizabeth Arden red lipstick, and Roy Cohn (yes, that Roy Cohn).
Mother's Day Special 2017
Our storytellers
Whether you're kissing, missing, or dissing Mom, a collection of anecdotes for the holiday.
Food Snob
Ana Sortun
A celebrated chef still includes Mom’s dishes in her restaurants.
Under the Redwoods
Lisa Leonard-Adler
How to make twins feel special and unique? Separate birthday cakes.
Good Juju
Aimee Lee Ball
It's not easy to dismiss maternal rules and wisdom--about eggs or anything else.
Sole Custody
Jeanne Hunter
What happens when Mom confesses an indiscretion? A cinematic wartime story that ends with chocolate mousse.
The Samoan Princess
Gina Pell
A Samoan princess never cooks (who knew?) so her daughter poured ketchup over meals of dubious distinction.
Little Hollows
Aimee DeMartino Tapia
Learning that it's cool to be "ethnic."
A Pianist in the Kitchen
Buffy Shutt
A long shadow is cast by a mother’s culinary prowess.
Easter Pizza—Oh, Brother!
Lisa DePaulo
The five DeSanto sisters—Olympia, Margaret, Frances, Blanche, and Josephine—all made Easter pizza, but Josie made the best.
The Baby in the Lunch Basket
Rebecca Singelenberg
In one of life's ironic full circles, a daughter teaches her mother to cook.
Thanks to Louisa May Alcott
Nancy Roselin
From an arranged marriage in the old country to a tight budget in America, a family thrives--with love and pot roast.
Encyclopedic Seder
Margie Goldsmith
A Passover celebration taken straight from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Plus there’s Matzoh Crack.
Cooked Into Submission
Jessica Josell
Butter and ballet and books, a yellow Chambers stove, and a dinner table where the food was incidental to the conversation.
The Maytag Repairman
Margie Goldsmith
Mom's hot dogs and canned peas did not bode well for a daughter's kitchen prowess.
Silver Napkin Rings and Spam
Ivy Montgomery
Mom was not a cook, but she had standards.
Seven Fishes
Lisa DePaulo
Peering over Mom's shoulder, a lesson in tradition--and squid.
Boil-in-Bag Mom
Stella Osorojos Eisenstein
Nurturing the development of a cook, even when Mom wasn't one herself.
The Damn Yankee
Adele L. Kellman
Gender roles were clearly defined, and part of the marital bargain, even when a mother's mental health was fragile.
The Safety of Soup
Valerie Monroe
Sharing a favorite comfort food makes it possible to have a difficult conversation.
Two Birds Plus A Turkey
Erika Lenkert
She could run but she couldn't hide from a begrudged, but ultimately beloved, tradition.
Southern Comfort
Beverly Weinstein
Mom's remarriage means bacon and eggs convert to bagels and lox.
Recipe For Life
Tizzy and Isabel Harbough
Calamity can lead to creativity, and other tenets of a culinary philosophy shared by mother and daughter.
A Career Seemed Easier
Carol Tavris
Calamity can lead to creativity, and other tenets of a culinary philosophy shared by mother and daughter.
The Working Girl Must Eat
Aimee Lee Ball
A new bride, famous for her boiled water, figures out how to feed a family.