Both of my grandmothers spent a good share of their time in the kitchen. Both loved to cook and subsequently, eat! My dad’s mom – Grandma Demorest loved to sing in her kitchen. I remember as a kid waking up to the sound of her voice in the kitchen every morning singing as she prepared our breakfast. Grandpa Demorest was often out in his shop working or sitting in his recliner, reading his Bible. He would then come in or get up, go to the table and take care of his chore – making toast. He also had his “staple” breakfast foods: fried potatoes doused in vinegar, eggs, bacon and a bowl of cereal with his toast. One thing that I could never understand (and still don’t) was his need for a quarter of a raw onion.

My other grandma, Grandma Gilmore, was more of a “cold cereal” gal. For the majority of my growing up years, she was not well. Seeing her in the kitchen was rare since often my mom and her sister were there to do the cooking, cleaning, and caring for grandma and grandpa. One thing I can say about her though, she loved to share her recipes and she was a good cook. She could fry up a mess of trout like nobody’s business!

Grandpa Gilmore was a coffee drinker extraordinaire and if you needed him (after he retired) you could find him at the dining room table drinking cup after cup of Joe and watching the world wake up through the dining room window.

I remember back to a time when I found his cup and peered into its depths only to be horrified at its “filthy” condition. I got out an SOS pad and proceeded to ‘scour’ his cup until it was as shiny on the inside as it was on the outside. NO coffee residue left! He was not as thankful for my work as I had hoped. That day was when I learned that coffee cups, like cast-iron frying pans, are seasoned. I had just ruined years of seasoning and he would have to start over.

All in all, they have given me many great memories where food, fellowship, family, and fun are concerned. Here I will showcase some recipes from both sides of my family and recipes that others have shared along the way.