"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all." --Harriet VanHorne (American newspaper columnist and ratio/t.v. critic)

As I'm writing this introduction, the smell of something baking, cooking, or slightly burning is reaching me in my office. I'm sure that my daughter Aubrey is experimenting in the kitchen and making a mess--if nothing else!

The Sidetracked Sisters got together this week and wrote down a favorite family recipe and a memory to go along with it. I got down grandma Is' Rhubarb Custard Pie and the accompanying schnibble "cookies". Sandy tries to recreate her mother's Creamed Chicken. Judy goes back to her young adulthood for an experimental Chile Relleno Casserole and Michelle shares the Cajun Cheese Soup that EVERYONE in our family loves. loves. loves.

Oh, by the way, it is my 13-year-old daughter who is making deep-fried Oreos. We went to the county fair this past weekend and she was inspired. When I asked her where she got the recipe, she said, "I didn't." 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I didn't have a recipe," she replied.

"How did you make the coating?"

"Pancake batter."

Huh. Who needs heirloom recipes when you can confidently create your own delicacies from scratch? She definitely enters into her cooking with abandon! I think I have a chef in the making...