LIBBY KLEIN: I wanted to bake as far back as I can remember. I believe the spirit of Julia Child was alive and well in my five-year-old self. She too wanted to cook things because she wanted to eat them. My favorite present was an EZ Bake oven which I quickly outgrew. Then I graduated to the big oven and a world of box mixes. If my parents had unexpected company I was assigned blueberry muffin duty. This is my earliest baking memory and the first time I made chocolate chip cookies. The first of a thousand times.
I would read my Peanut Lunch Bag Cook Book every night before going to bed. It's full of food-related comic strips along with lunch recipes. In a way, it was a little like having recipes at the end of a cozy mystery. I have made several of the recipes from this book including Full of Baloney Sandwiches.
When I got to Junior High, it was a dream come true to finally have Home-Ec class where we got to bake something every week. I even remember the first thing we made in Home-Ec. Jelly Muffins. Plain dry muffins with a glop of grape jelly baked in the middle. They were kind of disappointing for someone who was a seasoned chef with baloney sandwiches under her belt.
What is the first thing you can remember making?
MADDIE DAY: That picture is the cutest, ever, Libby. I have pix of my sons like that, but not of me.
I don't remember ever NOT baking with my mom and two older sisters, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We were always included. Mommy was an expert baker, but she always included us in the production of three kinds of Thanksgiving pies, all manner of cakes and candies year-round, and eight kinds of Christmas cookies.
I was the youngest of the Maxwell girls and had one younger sibling - the Only Boy. We're in age order in this studio photograph.
I was also always the youngest and shortest in my class at school. Think I developed a strong need to be noticed? You bet.
So the first meal I remember making solo was hamburgers for the family, ala McDonalds ("18,000 served"). I was probably about seven, an age when I was still too short to be safely flipping high-fat meat patties in a cast iron skillet on the stove, but my parents were lenient by the third child. I found a white chef's hat in the rag drawer (my adult self wonders, why?...) and donned it, pinning a white dishtowel around my waist. I insisted on lining up all the kitchen chairs in a row and making my family file along the other side and put in their order for hamburgers (which I had already formed and fried). I assembled the buns, ketchup, cross-sliced pickles, lettuce, and tomato, except my mom and I were the only two who wanted the works. My older sisters rolled their eyes. We all had dinner. I got to, briefly, be the star chef. With nary a photo to document any of it!
LUCY BURDETTE: I LOVE these stories. You ladies were born to cook. Two things I remember making and I'll describe both since I can't remember what came first! I spent a summer in the nurses' dorm with my sister in Wilmington, Delaware. We had summer jobs as aides in the hospital. It was very spooky as there was absolutely NO ONE ELSE living in this huge building. We moved the two single beds into one room and had our kitchen/sitting area in the other. The main dinner I remember making was creamed chipped beef on toast. (Ugh!) My second memory was preparing homemade spaghetti sauce from the Joy of Cooking for a boy I liked in college. Sheesh, nothing in those memories predicted an obsession with good food and a life writing culinary themed mysteries!
PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON: What fun stories! Such fun stories! The first thing I cooked was something we called Girl Scout stew, which is also known as Campfire Stew. It consisted of ground beef, a can of tomato sauce and elbow macaroni. I think I was in sixth grade and I was so proud when my mother would let me make it for dinner--but only when my father had a late appointment and wasn't eating at home. His standards were a lot higher! By seventh grade, I decided to try my hand at baking. Along with a girlfriend we found a recipe in my mother's Good Housekeeping cookbook for a "simple" cake. For some reason we had the brilliant idea of using food coloring to dye it a sickly green so not only was the cake inedible (it was hard as a rock!) it was hideous to look at.
TINA KASHIAN: What wonderful and fun stories! I enjoyed reading each one. The first thing I remember making was also hamburgers. I was about five or six years old and our school class was putting together a cookbook of our shared recipes to send home to the families. My recipe had to be the funniest. We rarely went to the supermarket because we had a family restaurant. My dad would bring home a large cut of chuck steak/shoulder and we had a meat grinder. My school recipe called for first taking meat into the basement to grind it. Who knows what families thought when they read my recipe? Other than that, the burgers came out pretty good.
LESLIE BUDEWITZ: I honestly don’t remember what was the first thing I cooked All By Myself, but I do remember climbing up on the kitchen counter to toast Saltines. Do not try this at home. Happily, the cabinets were only scorched, and a coat of paint on the underside covered my mistake nicely.
I have a strong memory of making Christmas cookies with my father when my mother was away. My guess is I was about 8. He was so not a cook that it’s hilarious. He loved rolled sugar cookies and found a recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook that used powdered sugar – even then, I knew that was not the norm or what my mom, who was an excellent baker, used, but they turned out beautifully! (That’s her rolling pin, which now lives in my kitchen.) We used lots of cookie cutters and colored sprinkles and had a lovely time. Plus, they were delish, and a memory I cherish.
LESLIE KARST: I’m sure I cooked before this, but what I most remember from childhood is my best friend and I cooking together when we were in junior high school. The Time-Life Foods of the World cookbook series was just being released, and when a new volume would arrive in the mail we’d lie next to each other on her living room floor listening to Mamas and Papas and Beatles LPs, flipping through the pages of glossy color photographs until we found a dish that seemed intriguing, and then consult the smaller spiral-bound book to see how difficult the recipe looked.
Nancy was studying Russian at the time, so we spent long hours perusing that volume (the one with those intricately-painted red and orange Easter eggs on the cover). In particular, I remember making the crispy pirozhki (meat and egg pastries spiked with dill—a new flavor for me), and also the sweet, yeasty Russian Easter bread (kulich), which I found especially fascinating as it was baked in a coffee can, and because it contained saffron—also new to me—dissolved in rum.
MOLLY MACRAE: One of my favorite Christmas presents, when I was quite young, was a set of miniature cake and pie pans along with miniature mixes. I loved those little boxes and the tiny baked goods they produced (although the results didn't go far in a family of eight). One of my first cookbooks was more of a pamphlet that included a recipe for Prune Whip - and no one complained when I made it. They ate it, too. Bless the parents and families who encourage young cooks! Here's my first hardback cookbook. It was another Christmas present, given to my in 1963.
MAYA CORRIGAN: I'm definitely the late bloomer in this group. When I was growing up, the only kitchen duty I had, besides scrubbing pots and pans after dinner, was making chocolate pudding for dessert. This was before instant pudding was invented. I warmed the milk in a pot on the stove, added the powdered pudding, and simmered and stirred . . . and stirred . . . and stirred until the pudding thickened. That seemed to take forever when I wanted to be outside playing. Scarred by this early experience, I don't make or eat anything that resembles chocolate pudding as an adult, not even chocolate mousse, though I otherwise love chocolate. I didn't learn to cook until I shared an apartment in grad school with a friend. I brought Joy of Cooking with me. She brought the Fanny Farmer Cookbook, and the two of us taught ourselves by trying new recipes from those books. My Joy of Cooking fell apart after decades of heavy use, and I went out and bought a new version. The first one I bought didn't have some recipes I cherished most from my old Joy, so I haunted thrift stores until I found a used one that did. And breaking with tradition, I always made cookies with my children. My daughter refuses to make chocolate chip cookies with any recipe except the one in Joy of Cooking.
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| My first cookbook with its loose binding |
CLEO COYLE: Fun topic, Libby! Like you, I have great early memories of baking up tiny treats with a light bulb courtesy of my beloved Easy Bake Oven. Check out the vintage versions below. I had the oven on the left, and my favorite mix was the little chocolate cake...
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| Photo credit: By Bradross63 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38602686 Vintage Easy Bake Ovens |
And do you all remember Jiffy Pop? I loved popping up the corn with my sister, except for the burnt kernels, the inevitable result of a gas stove and too-thin aluminum pan. And how about the Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies from the refrigerator dough tube? It was just as good to eat uncooked, as many of you, no doubt, agree.
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| Cleo's Aunt Mary |
My earliest memory of real, big-girl cooking was acting as the helper to my beloved Aunt Mary, who was born in Italy and lived with our family. She was more of a
grandmother to me, really, and my favorite memories of those years were making
Italian cookies for the Christmas holidays and rolling tiny meatballs for her
Italian Wedding Soup, which she made nearly every Sunday for the family (no
wedding necessary).
Aunt Mary is gone now, but I still have her soup pot and the crinkle dough
cutter she brought with her from Italy. I’m already looking forward to
Christmas cookie season when I’ll be making cookies from those days, including
my version of my aunt’s Glazed Italian Lemon Cookies (Anginetti) and her
Italian Bow Tie Cookies (aka Angel Wings), picture below.
Click the photo below
for the recipe…
you can remember making?
The first thing I remember making was a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
ReplyDeleteKitten143 (at) Verizon (dot) net
I suspect that was a gateway recipe for many of us.
DeleteHappy Labor Day weekend everyone! I loved reading these memories, but Tina's recipe for going down to the basement to grind the meat has to take the cake!
ReplyDeleteIt does!
DeleteI laughed so hard when I read that.
DeleteI do remember making Lucy's lemon bars from the Peanuts cookbook but i'm not sure if that was the first thing. I'm so jealous of you all that got easy bake ovens. I remember asking for one at Christmas and being terribly disappointed in not getting one.
ReplyDeletefruitcrmble AT comcast DOT net
That easy bake oven was fantastic, but once your mom figured out, she had to keep buying the special mixes most of them ended up in the closet.
DeleteLoved reading the memories! Easy Bake oven was a loved gift, my poor dad was our taste tester❤️ Also have the Betty Crocker cookbook for boys and girls, and poured over it for what to cook. Pudding cake was a favorite. My first time alone cooking was at nine, would get the roast or whatever we had planned put together and in the oven when got home from school; mom and dad were both at work. Thank you. Tanya Kotz kotzt77@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI was a latchkey kid who had to make dinner every night too.
DeleteLike Cleo Coyle, I remember baking in my Easy Bake oven. I still marvel at how the light bulb was able to bake a cake! Carter.Karen@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteThat lightbulb had to be 350° to bake those little cakes!
DeleteBack in the 53, when 6, I got my own little stove for Christmas. First thing I ever made for me and my siblings was sugar cookies. Mom let us use her sprinkles. I do remember being rather messy with that. To my Mom's great displeasure. I tried making biscuits the way my grandma did. Bit of messy fail. Grandma gave me my very first cook book in 1955, "Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book". I still have that. Though it is in pretty sorry shape. It is being held together with clear packing tape and rubber bands. Bess deepotter 84 at gmail dot com.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a wonderful family heirloom.
DeleteI think the first thing I baked was mini meatloaves from a recipe in the My First Cookbook that we got from Imperial Sugar. They were pretty good and I still have that cookbook. 3labsmom(at)gmail(dot)com.
ReplyDeleteI'm just fascinated that a sugar company gave you a recipe for meatloaf. I remember the first time I realized that when a brand puts out a recipe it's just to get you to use more of their product. I felt a lot like Ralphie decoding the Ovaltine advertisement.
DeleteMy first cooking memory is gingerbread - its a big deal in my house, we make a ton of it every Christmas, so as early as I remember, I recall helping stamp the cookie pieces and roll out the dough. I still make a bunch every Christmas! Claire.denning.11 at gmail.com
ReplyDeleteSuch a nice memory to have and now you've carried on the tradition!
DeleteI love making gingerbread. I love baking pretty much everything for a holiday though.
DeleteI remember making cut out cookies for Christmas and apple pies for Thanksgiving. Most especially I remember making pierogi with my Mom every Friday for Lent.
DeleteThe first thing I remember cooking was No Bake Cookies which is an old, but very easy recipe. Instead of baking, you cook them on top of the store and then spoon out to set.
ReplyDeleteMy family always had cheeseburgers on Friday nights. It was the only time we were allowed a coke so it was a very special time for my brother and me. (Back then 1 case of coke had to last all month. We often split 2 cokes 4 ways. :) ) So I felt special when I was allowed to make the burgers.
That being said, it didn't really take that much to cooking. I was more of a hit and miss back then. It wasn't until I was out on my own that I wish I had paid more attention to what Mom was doing. I made up for it over time spending lots of time as an adult with Mom in the kitchen both helping and learning. I must say that cooking/baking is definitely not a labor for me - unless it's a labor of love. There's no place I'd rather be than in the kitchen (along side hubby) baking up something delicious to eat and to share with others.
When our daughter came along, I was hoping to get her more interested at a younger age than I was. It was in her young childhood that the E-Z Bake Oven came out. She loved it and I was happy when she wanted to get bigger and better by moving to the regular appliances. Hubby and I have precious memories of her kicking us out of the kitchen area while she prepared a complete anniversary dinner for us, which even included candles and the best china settings when she was 11. Dessert was coconut pie and extremely delicious. As the perfect hostess, she insisted on doing all the clean up work as well. Sadly, we don't get to sample her cooking any more since she went to her heavenly home at 17, but the memories will last us a lifetime.
Thank you for the chance to win so many amazing books but some fabulous authors!
2clowns at arkansas dot not
I am so sorry you lost your daughter so young. To be able to do all that by 11 was amazing.
DeleteSuch a precious memory. She sounds like a doll.
DeleteI have no idea of the very first thing I cooked. Maybe cheese toast in the toaster with the little door? I did have the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls. From that cookbook, I made Candle Salad on page 126, fruit gelatin on page 132, baked scout franks on page 72, carrot curls on page 142 and so many more. If you look on Amazon.com, there's a reprint of that fabulous little cookbook. I purchased a reprint a few years ago since my original copy had literally fallen apart, even with very careful use over the childhood years!
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
I've made cheese toast! I need to know more about this candle salad. It sounds fascinating.
DeleteWhat a fun topic! I loved baking and cooking with both my mom and my aunt. Even just watching them was fun. They made it look so easy. I don't remember the first thing I ever made but I do remember my Easy Bake oven. Oh, what a fun toy! I had one of the first ones and it was so fun! ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com
ReplyDeleteI've made a point to buy easy bake ovens for my granddaughters just to keep the tradition alive.
DeleteThe first thing I remember cooking is rice. I was about eight years old and my mother and two of my brothers had gone on a trip. I stayed home with my father and two other siblings. I was going to surprise everyone and make rice and beans the problem was that I was trying to watch Dark Shadows in another room and cook in the kitchen. I got a big pot and filled it with water, about 2/3 of the way. I put in the rice, 1 cup for each of us and one cup. If anyone wanted extra a total of 5 cups, I turn the stove on medium and went back to my show. On a commercial I went to check it and not only was the rice cooked, it was start it had overflowed out of the pan down the front of the stove and onto the floor! It was a real I Love Lucy moment. My dad got home as I was trying to do some thing about the monster in the pot that just kept coming . We weren’t allowed to waste food, so for the next week, we had rice in or on every meal!
ReplyDeleteOh dear! I remember my grandmother telling a similar story--she'd never made rice before and had no idea how much it was going to expand. Like you, they ate rice for the next several days.
DeleteOh lucy, that is so funny! I've burned many things on top of the stove because I was talking on the phone and forgot to watch it.
DeleteI remember making a burger by myself and preparing dinner for my Grandmother one time. I do remember the Easy Bake Oven and had made some cakes and cookies from there mixes. My duties in the kitchen were making dessert so I was an expert at that. Thank you for the chance deborahortega229@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteDessert was my favorite thing to make.
DeleteI don’t really remember but maybe Jello or chocolate chip cookies.
ReplyDeleteWskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com
My family teases me because I've messed up Jello many times.
DeleteI had that Peanuts cookbook, as well as the Betty Crocker Cook Book For Boys and Girls--but alas, no Easy-Bake Oven, though I desperately wanted one!
ReplyDeleteThat photo of you, Libby, is SOOOOO cute!
I'm not much taller today.
DeleteI have that Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook, too! I remember stirring the tomato sauce when I was tall enough, but the first was memory was baking apple pies with my dad when my mom went to a meeting!! sharonrizzo@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteI loved looking through the cookbook and dreaming.
DeleteI love that you were baking with your father. Mine only made one thing one time and it only involved melting ingredients together.
DeleteI don't remember not helping on the kitchen so I'm not sure what the first thing would be. Probably cookies. There's a story that still gets brought up of the time I was maybe 2 or 3 helping cut out Christmas sugar cookies. I told mom it was snowing. She looks out the window and it is not. She's thinking "dumb kid" until she turns back to see me slowly pushing flour off the table, making it "snow" onto the kitchen floor.
ReplyDeletekozo8989(at)hotmail(dot)com
Alicia, I thought for sure you would be sampling the dough. You got me.
DeleteI remember making cookies with my mom then helping roll out dough for pasta with my nonna.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading everyone's stories ❤️shawnstevensbooks @ gmail.com
I love that you helped your Nonna make pasta. That is something I never learned until I had kids of my own.
DeleteMolly, that was my first personal cookbook! I still have it.
ReplyDeleteBoth my parents loved to cook. My father liked brains and tripe! The rest of us left him on his own for those.
I was cooking once I could see the top of the stove. Whether that required a chair or not I don't remember.
I have a vague recollecion of making a veal roast that had coffee (looking at you, Cleo!) in the seasoning. I think I made this for my parens' anniversary.
libbydodd at cocmast dot net
You must have been a very ambitious cook as a child. I honestly had no desire to "cook". I had to make dinner just about every night because my parents both worked, but I wanted to BAKE all the goodies.
DeleteI don't remember the first thing I cooked, but have two memories from early teens. My first pie was lemon meringue, including a homemade crust, and it was perfect. My first blintz, recipe from a Jewish cookbook, was less perfect - big cracks in the pancake part. My grandmother consoled me, told me that it was because the recipe called for whole wheat flour which makes it harder to get a smooth finish. I still use the Better Hones & Gardens Cookbook more than any other.
ReplyDeleteI am a firm believer that sometimes it's the recipe's fault.
DeleteWhen I spent time in the kitchen I was with my grandmother who supervised and was a talented and creative cook and baker. I wanted to replicate her delectable desserts and meals. I learned everything from her and when I was 10 I began my cooking and baking on my own. My best and favorite meal was roasted chicken with carrots, onions, and potatoes. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI love a good roast chicken. It's one of my favorite dinners!
DeleteThat sounds delicious!
DeleteI remember making cookies with my grandma. I also remember making homemade pizza with my family on Friday nights. Now I make homemade pizza with my family every Friday. Thanks so much for the chance!!
ReplyDeletejarjm1980(at)hotmail(dot)com
How wonderful that you have carried the tradition on with your own kids.
DeleteI honestly don't remember what the first thing I cooked was, but knowing me, it was probably rice. sue.stoner72@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Rice was something you had to cook until I was an adult. My mother only used Minute Rice.
DeleteThe first thing I remember making was roasting hot dogs on skewers over a fire. sgiden at verizon(.)net
ReplyDeleteOoh, that's a fun one!
DeleteLike Libby, I received an EZ Bake oven as a child. So much fun!
ReplyDeleteThose tiny little cake mixes!
DeleteI seasoned and cooked chicken for my grandmother when she visited unexpectedly when I was a preteen. She said it was delicious. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI bet she loved that!
DeleteThe first thing I remember making with my Mom was chocolate chip cookies. It was always a treat when we got to help make cookies.
ReplyDeletediannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com
I love that you have those wonderful memories.
DeleteI'd bake cakes using the store bought cake mixes. Sometimes I added food coloring to the batter and the icing to make it more interesting. I also owed Mom for a few beaters as I inevitably got the spoon stuck in the beaters while mixing. Oh well. patdupuy@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteHa! I had a rubber spatula get stuck once and went through a couple revolutions before shooting out the other side.
DeleteThe first thing I cooked was most likely rice. helped do the prep work for stir fry dishes my mom was making.
ReplyDeletejtcgc at yahoo dot com
It's wonderful that you got to help alongside your mother.
DeleteI remember baking a custard pie for my Dad! He loved custard pie! pingeldownes@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother did too. I've only made it a couple times but I think of her every time we have it.
DeleteMy mom was a fabulous cook and baker but never taught us to cook. The first meal I ever prepared by myself was liver and onions served with rice that I learned to cook in Home Ec class. I made it for my boyfriend who is now my husband. We've been married 57 years and he still enjoys my liver and onions!!!
ReplyDeletesharonquilts148@gmail.com
That is so sweet. I remember making a strawberry cheesecake for a boy I liked once. I recall I won his father over after that.
DeleteMy mother did NOT like getting up early in the morning when I started Kindergarten. My Dad would wake me up on his way out to work, and I would get myself up and dressed, then make sugar & cinnamon toast for myself - my Dad taught me that. So, at 5 years old I got my own breakfast 5 days a week. Sometimes it was just a bowl of cereal with milk.. By 2nd grade I was scrambling eggs for my brother, sister and me for breakfast. My Japanese grandmother taught me how to scramble eggs with a pair of chopsticks, which was how I've done it for decades. teenlibn(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI think grandmother cooking tips are the best. Mine taught me to half bake potatoes for making scalloped potatoes after a disasterous Christmas dinner where the casserole would not get soft after two hours in the oven.
DeleteThe first thing I remember making is chocolate chip cookies. bella_ringer@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteI made them so many times before I graduated high school that to this day I have the recipe memorized.
DeleteThese food cozy mysteries are making me hungry. I remember making an omelette at the age of 7 with the help of my grandfather, since I couldn’t reach the stove, I had to stand on a wooden footstool to be able to pour the eggs on the pan, and my grandfather had to make the rest since he didn’t want to be near the heat from the stove and the pan. pauliebear8@aol.com
ReplyDelete*me
DeleteHow sweet that he let you help him.
DeleteOh my, such fun memories! The first thing I really remember making was a chocolate cake. One Sunday morning, my mom (a nurse) had a call out and left quickly, so I decided to step in and help. Mostly what I recall is the cake, while tasty, didn't quite fill the pans because part of it ended up on the front of my dress (of course, not apron worn!). We were only a bit late for church that day. While the effort was appreciated, the clean-up was a bit much for this 8 year old. makennedyinaz at hotmail dot com
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome. I'm sure your mother appreciated the assist.
DeleteMy first cooking memories are from Girl Scouts. We made no-bake cookies and skillet goulash and planned menus for our weekend camping trip. I love that Leslie mentioned the Time-Life Foods of the World book series. Our school library had them and I borrowed a few to present recipes from around the world as part of our cooking badge. I don't remember the Russian one(I wish I had seen it) but I remember one with a variety of exotic fruits on the cover. egoehner(at)roadrunner(dot)com.
ReplyDeleteI think we made that same skillet goulash in Girl Scouts!
DeleteI didn’t get into baking until I got married and I did simple recipes chocolate chip cookies for my husband. It’s also when I started to cook and I jumped in with bot feet everything I made was from my Betty Crocker cookbook my Aunt Helen gave me as wedding gift.
ReplyDeleteThat Betty Crocker Cookbook was a lifesaver! I have one plus the Good Housekeeping cookbook. You can tell everything I've made in forty years because the pages are crusty.
DeleteI don’t remember the first thing I made but I’m guessing it was probably cookies! Not sure where I put in my email address ?!?
ReplyDeletejust reply here with your email address, Janet.
DeleteOther than the usual Easy Bake Oven stuff, I remember learning how to do scrambled eggs pretty young because it was so easy. My mom always told me no matter what else you add, you have to put in some pepper and Lawry's Seasoned Salt! a007gyrl@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to master scrambled eggs. Good for you!
DeleteThe first thing I baked was sugar cookies (from scratch.) Still love them!
ReplyDeleteYum!
DeleteI loved reading all the stories you posted, and feel comforted that I was not the only one who had a disaster when I attempted to bake got the first time. As a dirt poor newlywed I tried to surprise my wife with a nice loaf of bread. We had no flour, but had oatmeal, so I sifted enough oatmeal and baked the loaf according to the Betty Crocker recipe book we got as a wedding present. No surprise that the “loaf” came out as a “brick”. I slowly learned to bake, and now I even have quite a few sandwiches under my belt using bread I have baked. Baking is a science, my wonderful wife keeps saying to me…and I believe it now. Luis at ole dot travel
ReplyDeleteI think it's precious that you wanted to bake for your wife. That's worth more than all the fresh bread.
DeleteThe first thing I remember making was cinnamon sticks from the crust that was left over from my mother’s homemade cherry pies. She would let us roll out the leftover dough. Cut it up in strips, butter them and put sugar and cinnamon on top of them. They were delicious!
ReplyDeleteGreat memories.❤️
Sherry Brown
ozdot4@sbcglobal.net
That's a fun memory. I'd let me kids have little balls of pie crust dough to practice with, but no one would ever want to eat it when they were finished mauling them.
DeleteI learned to boil coffee for my grandfather while he went to the barn to milk and feed the animals. He would wake me up at 5 to get the coffee on. I was 5 at the time. The pot was a metal pot, you put water egg shells and coffee in. Enola. egmtaylor@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated by this. I remember my grandmother (Aunt Ginny in my series) making coffee every morning in a percolator.
DeleteThe first thing I can remember baking is chocolate chip cookies with my mom. Email: c85516246 (at) gmail (dot) com.
ReplyDeleteThat's a perfect first lesson with mom, isn't it?
DeleteI've always loved cooking. Luckily my grandmother's allowed my help. I guess the first thing I remember cooking was breakfast. I would gently stir the eggs with granny's wooden spoon and help her flip the flapjacks and bacon. I miss those days
ReplyDeleteBreakfast is not easy either. All those different foods need to be watched carefully.
DeleteMy first memory in the kitchen is helping my mom make stuffing for our Christmas turkey. I still use the same recipe and always remember how much I loved helping her in the kitchen. Summers were also a busy time as we had a huge vegetable garden and made preserves and frozen most of our own veggies for the winter. To this day I am not a fan of canned vegetables.
ReplyDeletesandrashenton13@gmail.com
I secretly love canned green beans though. I like them better than fresh ones. Don't tell anyone.
DeleteSpaghetti lol @tammihoneycutt71@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThat's a good one. I think I made spaghetti for dinner when I was 9 twice a month.
DeleteI took Foods in my 7th grade Home Ec class. We made Hot Muffins and I still have the recipe after all these years. Mom worked so she never had the time to let me help in the kitchen when I was small. My DIL lets my 2 y/o granddaughter help and the older boys know how to do simple things too. I think that is great. lkish77123 at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteMy 10 year old grandson is learning knife skills. He wants to be a chef. I think it's great too.
DeleteI honestly don't remember--maybe a salad? lindaherold999(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Linda.
DeleteFirst thing I remember making is when as a child, I decided to go vegetarian! My mom told me she wouldn’t prepare any vegetarian meals for me (she was trying to stop the vegetarian choice - no worries, my mom was wonderful), AND I was told I HAD to include tofu! Mind you this was almost 40 years ago so definitely not like it is nowadays!! So, tofu veggie meal! And it was nasty!!!!
ReplyDeleteEmail is potterfamily541@gmail.com
Yikes! Did you stay a vegetarian after the tofu incident? I tried to buy it once but couldn't get past the sight.
DeleteI remember helping my mom cook for the holidays. We used to make the Charoset dish, a chopped apple dish. I remember using a wooden bowl, and a hand held chopper to chop the apples, raisins, and nuts. Auntbopp@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this apple dish. It sounds fascinating.
DeleteI don't remember my first cooking experience but I do remember my first book mail was a Betty Crocker Children's Cookbook (I still have it!). The chocolate chip cookie recipe was the most used out of all the recipes. By the time I was a teen I became the family official cookie baker, especially during Christmas.
ReplyDeleteLaura Nason
Dlcnason1@msn.com
That's so cool, Laura.
DeleteI remember my first cake I made, we didn't use mixes, everything from scratch, with 7 mouths to feed it was less expensive. I tried a yellow cake recipe, the one my mom always used. It looked perfect but I used baking soda and not baking powder! What a difference in taste! And then I tried to make it again and did the exac same thing! Lesson learned chocolate cake or pineapple upside down front then on. Annelovell@12@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteOh Anne, that is too funny. I've made the same mistakes.
DeleteI remember my mom teaching me how to make butter cookies like the ones Maddie has pictured. She also taught me how to bake all the goodies I know how to make (chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, Jewish Apple cake, and more)! My grandmother taught me how to make pizzelles with a Hershey bar in the middle.
ReplyDeleteHsdh1525@gmail.com
I'm going to need more information about these pizzelles with the Hershey bar.
DeleteI remember trying to make a box of Duncan Hines cake by myself. It was dry but I was in 6th grade. It got better over the years. Thanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteJess
Maceoindo(at)yahoo(dot)Com
I would still eat dry cake. That just requires extra frosting and a cup of coffee.
DeleteI remember 'starting supper' when I was younger since my mom worked. I'd put potatoes in the oven to bake or make a salad. That's not really cooking though. But I also remember learning how to make oatmeal cookies from scratch and still make them as a favorite today.
ReplyDeleteI say making a salad counts. It may not use heat, but prepping food is part of cooking.
DeleteIt's hard to remember, but the first thing I made may have been a cream cheese and grape jelly sandwich (open face), with which I was obsessed as a youngster. After I moved out into my own apartment, I think it was French toast. mbunting(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
ReplyDeleteCream cheese and grape jelly sounds a lot like it came from that Peanut's cookbook, lol.
DeleteThe first thing that I remember making is Oven French Toast from The Kids Can Cook Cookbook, my first cookbook. I was so excited because I ordered it from the Scholastic leaflet and waited weeks for it to arrive.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing all of your experiences! My email address is jlmhenshall@yahoo.com.
I lived for those Scholastic catalogs!
Deletethanks to everyone for sharing their memories. I got Epelipsy when I was 13 so after that time, I didnt do much cooking until I got married. But berore that I loved to help in the kitchen with mom all the time. Especially if she was baking. I was more of a helper and didnt do it on my own. When I turned nine we moved to the desert and between school and chores I didnt do much in the way of helping in the kitchen. But I loved to go to the grocery store with mom. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about the epilepsy. My grandmother had the same. I think helping in the kitchen creates so many more memories than cooking alone.
DeleteDoes shrinkydinks or Lifesavers all melted together into a big disc count? That's the extent of my successful baking. (I honestly can't even make the break and bake cookies, they turn out too crunchy no matter what I do.) -- Now I can make Christmas Krackle (Crack) .. but I changed the name because my kids would take it to school to their teachers and I couldn't have them going around saying their mom made them crack for Christmas. LoL It is Soooo yummy and easy to make. 😍😍. Lily Gill.
ReplyDeletethejellybean1093(at)Gmail(dot)com
I think the shrinkydinks might be stretching it, lol. But I've make "windowpane" cookies by melting lifesavers in little holes of sugar cookie dough so I'll give you credit for that. Christmas Krackle sounds delicious!
DeleteI did try baking when I was probably 12 or 13 as a surprise for my Father one summer day. We had a tree in the backyard that was a graft of crabapple and apple. One side was crabapple and the other side tiny green apples. Daddy said once that he would love to have some rhubarb pie and remarked that the crabapples gave off a scent that was similar. So I gathered up a pot of those crabapples, made a pie crust off the back of the flour bag, and went to town. After I carefully placed my crust in the pie plate, I dumped that pot of crabapples right on the crust, placed on the top crust, popped it in the oven for an hour and waited for my Father to come home.
ReplyDeleteI knew he was going to be thrilled with such a delicious treat. But first I had to clean up that bubbling black mess which was now burnt onto the bottom of the oven. I didn’t realize the pie filling would burst out of the sides and ooze out. That must be why my Mother always used the fork to put those tiny holes in the crust. Learn by doing. I was sneezing and the dogs were sneezing. It sure didn’t smell quite like it was supposed to, but I was sure it would taste okay.
By the time my Father got home, most of the acrid smell had dissipated, and the pie didn’t smell half bad. He said he would try a piece even before dinner. My Father cut out a pretty good slice of pie, and I watched to see how much he enjoyed his special treat. Well, the look on my Dad’s face will have to last me a life time. His eyes got kind of big and his mouth puckered up as he chewed on the crunchy pie. With a half smile, he asked how I baked the pie, and if he could save the rest to take to work with him the next day. I was so proud – he was going to share my pie with all his friends at work. I’m pretty sure now, that he dumped that pie out the minute he had a chance. Over the years, I got more adept at pie baking, and know you have to quick cook fruits before putting them in the filling and add some sugar. I even entered apple pies in the County Fair once or twice, receiving a 2nd place ribbon once. Yes, there were more than two pies in the running.
Ha! I think that's great. And way to go on your blue ribbon! That's very cool!
DeleteThank you
DeleteLibby thanks for bringing out the smiles today! I remember very fondly and clearly canning with my family — there was strawberry jam by the crate load where my job was to stay out of the way and not get sticky (I was famed for my ability to get sticky) — there were tomatoes when I gloried in my role as blancher — there was chili sauce where I reprised my blanching role but chili sauce was notable because even Grandpa was drafted into service (he ground the chilies in the old hand-crank meat grinder attached the the picnic table outside). But my first soirée into solo cooking was purely altruistic. I was home after school, mom was at work, and I decided that she needed peanut butter cookies when she got home. I got out all the ingredients (we’d made them many a time together) and I set to work only to be stymied by part in the instructions on mom’s recipe card (we didn’t do cookbooks— that was for fancy stuff). So I called mom and asked what it meant when a recipe said “cream together” the butter and sugar. Without a moment’s pause my brilliant mom replied: “It means ‘wait until your mom gets home to help.”
ReplyDeleteRuth, that is hilarious. And you have some amazing stories there.
DeleteI think this was a very delicious and delighted experience reading what the authors here have shared. . . . . just reading them takes a person back in time and place and brings the memories tucked away back to life. Also enjoyed the wonderful comments shared by the readers as well. Happy Labor Day to all. I think cooking and baking is a great connector and bridge of communication that we all have and can share with each other. I hope we do something like this too for Christmas/ Navidad/ Buon Natali/ and bring our treasures to share with each other. I think we can see the love and the caring and the strength we acquire that flourishes within us from these special experiences. Memories to be proud of and smile about today for those priceless joys. I was the only child of my parents. I did have a great grandmother and a dear comadre who lived with my parents. I was born in San Francisco at Letterman Hospital while my dad was in the Army. I was still young when we all moved to Los Angeles. That is where I got to enjoy my first memories. It was seeing my great-grandmother and my comadre cooking and making delicious cookies and pastries. Never forgot those memories. I was the observer watching and taking all this to be the inspiration when I got to Home Ec in Jr. High. My Parents worked and it was by then just the three of us. Like many others who have shared, it was the cookies that was my first experience and I knew those memories were going to be tucked away forever along with a lot of other precious memories of my growing up years in the city that I loved. Years have come and gone and hours baking at family get-togethers. Smaller now as family members are no longer here now. But the 1st memories like a first love are often the ones we keep under lock and key in our hearts. Recipes get adapted through the years but the memories, even without the photos, are sketched in our hearts forever and beyond.
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad that you enjoyed our stories. Be sure to leave your email to enter the giveaway.
DeleteThe first thing I remember making was ramen noodles! My dad taught us how to make them so I made them for lunch just about every day!
ReplyDeleteThat’s a good one!
DeleteHow cute was little Libby!! The first thing I remember making was meatballs with my grandma. She taught me how to roll them in my hands until they were nice and round!
ReplyDeletenjcar22(at)aol(dot)com
I live the cooking with grandma memories!
DeleteThose are great stories!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the first thing I made, but it probably wasn't very good. My family considers me a good cook now - my son says we are an "ingredient household," which I take as a good thing - but not sure how or when I became a decent baker and cook. I DO remember very clearly though how I won my husband's heart (through his stomach) as it was with Hamburger Helper, on a single hot plate burner, in our Army barracks in Korea. So bizarre, but it worked!
rosalie.spielman at gmail dot com
Rosalie, that is too funny. Thank god for hamburger helper!
DeleteI remember every Christmas my family (Mom, Gram, and Great Aunt) making our family's Hungarian Kiffles and Nut roll with the usual round of holiday cookies. I was so young, I began helping with Kiffles by grinding the walnuts by hand. That was a lot of cranking! And I sure miss those days! I'd even be allowed a half cup of coffee during our baking days! SO grown up. LOL!
ReplyDeleteWe had a nut grinder too. And I have to say, it worked better than my very expensive food processor.
DeleteBrownies! My mom stayed at home and always made a treat for when we three kids got home from school. That was my favorite so I decided I should learn how to make them. Thank you for this great blog as I do make some of your great recipes and my husband appreciates all of you, too. Maripatflood@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad you and your husband are enjoying the recipes.
DeleteThe first thing I learned to cook was beef roast with potatoes and vegetables
ReplyDeleteMmm, that’s a good one.
DeleteThe first thing I cooked was a yellow cake with a boiled chocolate fudge icing.
ReplyDeleteYum! I’ll have to try boiled chocolate icing.
DeleteI remember making peanut butter cookies. But I did a lot of the family cooking as my parents both worked so there are a lot of dishes I could make by 10 or 11 years old. carolsummers194511@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteMe too, Carol. I’m thankful I learned so young.
DeleteThe first thing I remember making was a pear pie for a contest at an area carnival. I was surprised when I won 1st place.
ReplyDeleteWow! Congratulations! That's a high bar you set.
DeleteChristmas Cookies with my Mom! Always a fun time. catwoman-1@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteI bet that was very special.
DeleteThe first thing I remember making is a cake in my easy bake oven! tWarner419@aol.com
ReplyDeleteThat Easy Bake Oven was a baking gateway for a lot of us.
DeleteI remember trying to make donuts for my family when I was around 12. I'm still not sure what happened but they were so heavy, my little brother wanted to use one as a doorstop. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteLOL. I used to bribe my little brother with licking the beaters to get him to grease the pans for me. That was back before we had PAM.
DeleteI can’t remember the first thing I cooked. I used to help my dad all the time in the kitchen. My Mom isn’t much of a cook. She can cook if she wants to lol. I remember helping my dad make chicken and dumplings and helping my mom make cake. My email address is mickey45840@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteBoth sound like yummy memories.
DeleteI love this blog post! I don't remember the first thing I baked but I have many early memories of baking with my grandma in her kitchen, particularly peanut butter cookies and sourdough waffles.
ReplyDeleteOoh, sourdough waffles. I've never even heard of those. I'm fascinated!
DeleteI loved my Easy Bake oven. I used it all the time even though the finished product wasn't too good.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it was the first thing I made but I remember making baked apples for my parents. I was very proud of myself.
That's a good one. You should have been proud.
DeleteMy first thing I learned to make (& still make to this day) was chocolate/peanut butter no bake cookies. They’re delicious but need to have the right weather to set up. If it’s too humid or rainy, they stay a gooey mess, lol!
ReplyDeleteDisneybaseballmom@gmail.com
I love a no-bake cookie.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI remember always "helping" my Mom bake and cook, stirring and rolling and lots of tasting. When I was five, Mom put me in charge of making the dressing for Thanksgiving dinner. I can still smell the celery, onions, parsley, sage, and butter as we added ingredients to the crunchy bread cubes.. I carefully stirred in just the right amount of broth, and we discussed the consistently as partner chefs. Thanksgiving dinner was so much fun that year. I still make that dressing every year for my grandchildren as I remember my Mom.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to include my email: kat.lazarus@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI love that memory, Kate. And I love that you are passing it along to your grandchildren.
DeleteI was 8 years old as a latch key kid taking care of my sister. The first thing I learned to cook was a cheese quesadilla and a potato chip sandwich with ketchup. It was the best thing.
ReplyDeletestrgth4yu(at)hotmail(dot)com
I adore that you made a potato chip ketchup sandwich. I'm dying.
DeleteJam tarts made with leftover pie crust that my mom gave me, jacvbuddy@aol.com
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea.
DeleteThe first thing I learned to make was scrambled eggs. My mother couldn't cook to save her life. We lived with my grandmother who was busy running the family business. When mommy dearest re-married some years later I started watching every single cooking show on the tube. Even my new father was useless when it came to food. He bought a BBQ to make burgers and hot dogs and burned them all.
ReplyDeleteI worked at learning the proper way to grill and and use a stove.
Once I married my spouse and I took turns making dinner until she changed her schedule to the night shift at the hospital where she was a Labor and Delivery nurse. I made sure that all four of our kids could cook as well as I do and it's paid off. They taught there kids to cook from a young age and no one in this family will every go hungry. LOL
I taught my kids to cook for the same reason. And it was a good thing too because 3 of their spouses don't know how to cook.
DeleteMolly Mcrae, The Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls was my first cookbook! I still use it. (The sugar cookies are the best!) I can’t recall my first cooking/ baking but it was probably in Girl Scouts earning my cooking badge. I was cooking and baking from a young age with my mother. My mother came home with a story from a neighbor who was so proud of her 20 something daughter who made Shake ‘n Bake chicken! My sister and had been cooking full meals since were were in our early teens!
ReplyDeleteLoved your stories!! My first memory was making nut rolls with my Mom and grinding the nuts. We had great fun until my younger sister, apparently allergic to walnuts, her lips all the sudden swole up and a trip to the Emergency room was needed.
ReplyDeletelindalou64(@)live(dot)com
Oh no! That's horrible. Your poor mother. I can see why you remembered though.
DeleteChocolate chip cookies were the 1st. kkertes@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I cooked was oatmeal raisin cookies. pattiharris@me.com
ReplyDeleteThe first thing was scrambled eggs. I was almost 5.
ReplyDeleteOh these wonderful early childhood memories of cooking with family members, the Easy Bake Oven, stiring the chocolate pudding, making cookies with my Nana, graduating to Hamburger helper, tuna sandwiches and box cake mixes. This is Robbin S. rockinrobina@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI what fun stories. Mom didn't really allow us in the kitchen while she was cooking, but she did show me how to make homemade pancake mix. They were my favorite thing to eat in the summer when we were out of school.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win.
barbiefan(@)comcast (.)net
What delightfully charming stories from each person. My darling grandmother raised me with "every day recipes" we had an apple orchard to utilize too. When I grew up I found out watching The British Baking show all grans every day recipes were very difficult French pastries 😂😅😂 blew my mind. All the time I wanted an easy bake oven 😂😅😂She was German grandfather was French. They both had parents around very rich in their cultures so food was very original.
ReplyDelete