Picture me and my mom baking brownies together in her cozy kitchen. I am about five years old, with long pigtails, smiling ecstatically as I smear frosting over the brownies, my clothes and my face. Mom is wearing her favorite baking apron – the one with the little pictures of mixing spoons and bowls — and beaming at her little pastry chef. She’s proud to pass on the secret family recipe for perfect brownies to a daughter who will treasure it.
Got that firmly in your mind? Good. It’s the only way you’ll see such a picture because it doesn’t exist and that sweet little scene never happened. That’s because my mother (who is a fantastic mom in just about every way) is kitchen-phobic to the point that she tried to build our house without That Room. She settled for placing it off to the side of the house by the garage so she would never have to walk through it. And she succeeded in passing on her aversion to all things culinary (except take-out food) to Yours Truly. Neither of us was likely to win a Domestic Diva of the Year award.
That was then. So life takes funny turns and I wind up not only learning to cook and bake to feed my family, I turn it into a full time occupation, well you know…
So while I can’t share my mother’s tips for the fluffiest soufflé or the softest brisket, I can share her undying encouragement for anything I decided to take on – basketball, my bachelor’s degree or baking. I am now married just over 7 years and she does not miss a beat when it comes to complimenting my new recipes, or even commenting on the perfect piece of fish or lightest slice of challah. I have to hand it to her. For a mother who never pictured her educated, mega-career oriented, 21st century daughter as a Yiddishe balabusta, it’s a wonder that she’s so enthusiastic about my choices and achievements. But she is – and she is truly proud. She tells everyone I am “the best cook,” and she says it with buoyancy that proclaims that I’ve reached the pinnacle of her aspirations for me.
My mother never gave me any priceless heirloom recipes. But she instilled confidence and gave me unconditional support and love and positive reinforcement at every turn. And that is more valuable than kitchen tips; I can learn those from anyone. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!!
AND….drum roll please….. The Winner is JEN GERSCH! Jen – check your email for a message from me!
I always enjoyed hearing my mother sing. She would sing to herself while cooking or cleaning. She would hum a quite tune as she rocked me in her wooden rocker when I had a bad dream. I really enjoyed when her and my dad would sing in the car. As I sat in the back seat of our station wagon with my 4 other siblings , I enjoyed listening to my mom sing the harmony and my dad sing the melody. Seems like the songs were always praise songs to God; songs about hope, peace, joy, and God’s great love.
My mother, a Holocaust survivor, never had a childhood. When she came to the USA she savored each new experience. She grew to love the theater and would tell us how, in the early days, on her meager salary, she’d buy SRO tickets and stand for the entire performance. I have special memories of my mother taking me to the theater and introducing me to plays she loved.
One of my favorite memories is a baking with my mother and my maternal grandmother when she would come to visit. I am so lucky to still have my mother in my life!
My mother is one of the strongest, most beautiful women I know. The most amazing thing about her – my fondest memory and my amazing present – is that she was and is always there for me. Whenever I needed a hug, she knew and still does. I am now so blessed that I am able to let my own girls know that I am always there for them and that I am their biggest fan with a hug and a kiss!
My Mom A’H was a Holocaust survivior and she lost her parents and most of her family. She tried to make a new life here for my Dad A’H my brother and me by being the best Balabousta you could imagine. A sparkling home and the most fantastic Viennese and Hungarian recipes, which were passed along to her from my grandmother . We cooked and baked together along with my Omi, A’H my Dad’s mother who miraculously survived and lift in the apartment downstairs. My Omi was an amazing cook and baker and so I learned from them both.
My fondest memory was helping cream the batter for them to bake various confections, using only a large bowl, several small bowls of ingredients, and a wooden stirring spoon, and whipping egg whites for snow, with a whisk which she called a ‘shprudle’.
It wasn’t until I was maybe 10 or so that she got an electric mixer. I have all her cherished recipes including those, which belonged to both of my late grandmothers. I think of her and my Omi time I cook or bake anything especially for Shabbos and Yom Tov.
One of my favorite memories of my mother is snuggling in her bed after I had a scary dream. I loved feeling her warm hug and feeling safe and secure.
My fondest memory of my Mom is going with her to the beauty parlor on Friday to get ready for Shabbat. My mother would have her hair done in a Martha Washington hairdo- high and stiff with lots of hairspray.
Then she would have her nails done in a pretty shade of red or coral. She always looked perfectly made up to greet the Shabbat.
One of the fondest memories was making Lemon Meringue Pie together. My mum would give me my own special dough to play with and in the end add some of the filling – no meringue on mine- I didn’t like it! Both the pies went in the oven, both were served for dessert and wow was I proud when my dad said he’d try the one without the meringue. This began when I was 4 and Lemon Meringue is still my favorite pie (my tastes have evolved – love the meringue now too).Most important was the time spent together and sharing in cooking for the family.
My mother was a single mother who had to work part-time to support us, so we didn’t have much quality time during the week. Saturday, however, was our day together. We would go shopping, have our hair done, go out to eat (this was way before I kept kosher or Shabbos), go to a carnival, or do something else fun. To make it more exciting she would keep our destination a secret until we got there. She would just give me a small hint, and I would spend the rest of the ride trying to figure it out. When we reached our destination, I was never disappointed!
The smell of Jergens Hand Lotion on her hands while
my Mother sat on the edge of my bed and read my favorite book that we had bought together at the book Fair when I was in kindergarten, The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson. I have the book till this day and when I look at it I still flash back to that memory.
My childhood memory is actually of my grandmother and I standing at the table on Passover, at her house, and she is teaching me how to make Passover rolls. I always enjoyed that.
The last year before she and grandpa moved to Florida, I got to bake them myself.
I loved going to historical monuments with my mother, she had such a passion for history and learning.
My sweetest memories were sitting in the kitchen with my mom while she cooked for us and telling her about my day. She has always been so interested even in the silly, little things of my life and it makes me feel so special!
My fondest memory is my mother, grandmother and I getting ready for the holidays together. We would cook a lot and most importantly laugh a lot.
My fondest memory of my mother is going to the Philadelphia Flower Show in the Spring every year during high school. We would tour around the flowers and sometimes grab some to take home.
Sometimes the fondest memory is the one that makes you laugh. And that’s the story of what my mom called “Lasagna Roll-Ups”. Mind you, my mom was a great cook…..For certain things, but Italian cooking was just not part of her repertoire. As a matter of fact, until college I honestly didn’t know how Lasagna really looked, let alone how it tasted. So what was the recipe that left my sisters and I totally innocent to The Italian Dish?… OK, here it goes: You take a Lasagna pan and place a layer of boiled Lasagna noodles on the bottom. (That’s the first and only step where my mom’s recipe even remotely follows any Lasagna recipe!)Then you take a can of Manischewitz tomato sauce with mushrooms and pour it over the noodles. It is very important NOT to add ANY seasoning or cheese what –so-ever. Next, roll up each noodle and secure each individual roll-up with a toothpick. Stick it in the oven and there you have Lasagna Roll-Ups! My mom has passed on, and I do have many wonderful recipes as well as practical advice that she has left us with. But Lasagna Roll-Ups even tops her Jewish Spaghetti (spaghetti with ketchup and cottage cheese) for a warm smile and loving laugh. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you.
I came from a family of eight children. My mother found some special attribute in each one of us and would help us to develop that talent in a way that would help us build self-confidence. My sister Rebecca, loved to sneak a needle and thread and try to sew. When my sister was 5, my mother once found her in our bedroom, a bit stuck, as she had sewn a pillow case to itself, her nightgown and partially to the bed sheet. The next week she was enrolled in sewing classes at our JCC and now, at 55, my sister makes fabulous quilts for fundraising auctions for a Jewish senior centre. An older brother was especially shy in front of groups. She asked my father to join Toastmasters, as he spoke often in front of groups, and my brother would go with him. He recently retired as a 4-Star General, after attending the Air Force Academy and had made many relaxed appearance in interviews on nation television. I enjoyed cooking. The first thing my mother ever taught me to cook was a basic white sauce – I remember her standing next to me, her tattered and spattered cookbook open before me, telling me that standing in front of the sauce, making figure-8s in the sauce until it was done, gave me a bit of ‘alone time’ that every woman craved once they had the responsibility of a family. She was right. I now make classic and gourmet kosher meals from my home and have taught cooking to many children of that same age group, both boys and girls. My one daughter is also an excellent cook, schooled by both my mother and me and headed off in her own direction of healthful kosher cooking. As each of my siblings have shared what my mother saw as their special, albeit raw talent, we have found that each one of us were treated as individuals and the encouragement that my mother gave us helped us to achieve some measure of success in life, especially those of us who have been blessed with large families. We also all learned to identify the special talent within each of our children and help them to build on it.
My fondest memory of my mom was when I would get a cold or sick, she would always make me rice pudding, tea and of course chicken soup. She was always there to care and nurture me. Rest in Peace Mom!
If I had to pick just one thing I think it would be all the wonderful arts and crafts we did for the Jewish Holidays — like making menorahs out of clay and miniature sukkahs out of candy and graham crackers (which my dog ate!) — my mom is so creative and makes everything fun.
my mother had a very hard life and always had to work out of the house . i am great full of the safe home my mother created and loved just knowing i have a warm home to come home to.
Baking kokosh and cinnamon buns
I do remember of how much my mom loves to spend time with my kids. She loved them so much! I miss her!
My memories all melt into one- it was that whenever I needed my mother, no matter what, she was always there for me. She shared in my joy and in my pain. She helped me in any way that she could, whould give up so much of her time for me and always made me feel loved.
My mother still is a phenomenal cook at the age of (K’H)87. One of my favorite things that she baked was a special cake. I remember, after I was married for a while, going to her and asking her for the recipe. Well, she didn’t have exact measurements, but knew how many Yahrtzheit glasses of flour, sugar, crisco, etc. was needed. I stood there with her that day and tried to take her Yahrtzheit glass measurements and convert it into actual cups. My version comes out well, but not as good as hers!!
Everyone who meets my Mom just Loves her instantly. Shes so Warm and inviting. So Sweet. She should be America’s Mom.
My mom has always been an inspiration to me. Whether it was her constantly finding an apartment right near us for her parents whenever we moved, or taking my grandmother in to live with us for 17 years. But my favorite memory of my mom would have to be the time she and I went shopping for fruit. We had walked several blocks to the store and were on our way home carrying bags of fruit and laughing at one thing or another. All of a sudden the bottom fell out of one of the bags and the fruit was rolling all around the street. The two of us proceeded to practically collapse in hysterical laughter as we futilely tried to gather our produce! We still talk about it and it must have happened 45 years ago! My mom is the best!
After the divorce when I was upset I was allowed to ask for “love” anytime. My mom would stop whatever she was doing and sit me on her lap and cares or softly tickle my arms and back for a few minutes.
I think the fondest moments I have of my mother is when she came to live with us as she was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. My husband became her confidant and we shared our love and strength with her over those months. Seeing her sit and watch “America’s Funniest Videos” with our then 8 year old grand daughter and hearing them giggle at the same antics was priceless. She has been gone for several years now and sometimes I can still hear her laughing. Happy Mother’s Day to all moms past, present and future.
one of my many fond memories of my mom is that whenever i received or purchased new clothing or shoes she would say “wear it in good health.”
The fondest memory i have of my mother of blessed memory is the one best lesson of all the many best lessons she taught me: “life isn’t always fair.” Please note she did NOT teach that “life isn’t fair.” That would never have been her view. No. She said life isn’t ALWAYS fair… a much better lesson to learn, and one I have remembered all my life (and I will be 66 next week). She had great belief in my ability to solve problems — i guess she knew i was paying attention to all those lessons! She had quite an aversion to the kitchen so I came away from my childhood with no secret recipes, but lots of inner strength!
My mom was crafty not culinary so my fondest memory is of her art projects. One in particular was when she was in charge of the decorations for the Sisterhood’s annual luncheon. Since it was in the spring, she created birdhouses by cutting circles into Pringles cans and covering them with tin foil. Then she perched stuffed birds on sticks and poked the sticks into the holes. She worked diligently into the wee hours of the morning on these sweet little centerpieces. Not exactly Picasso, but “on budget” and on time! While the birdhouses were a far cry from what we see at today’s Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, I’m sure if my mom was alive today she’d volunteer to help me create something precious and full of love for any celebration. I miss her and her heartfelt creativity this Mother’s Day- and every day of the year!
The fondest memory that I have of my mother of her Channel#5 perfume. She would keep the bottle nestled in it’s box, that was lined with this peachy colored satin. I would love to sneak into her room, take the bottle out ( ever so carefully) and just smell the bottle. To this day I just love the smell of that perfume.
You are articulate little girl, Gd bless you! Personally I didn’t learn concepts, let alone words, like career, souffle, aspiration, and whatnot, until I was much older! Your mom has a wonderful resource in you!
Jamie,
The fondest memory of my mother was how beautiful she was. Everything about her was beautiful to me. Her perfume I’ll never forget her favorite White Shoulders. She used to love to celebrate the holidays and besides decorating she would cook and bake the best food. My mother Barbara Ann really loved her family and to see us enjoy the meals that she would prepare. My mothers love and success of cooking, baking is a challenge for me to live up to. I thank HaShem for giving me such a beautiful roll model of a mother as mine was and with a Grandmother equally if not more beautiful than she was. Thank you HaShem. With Love…Chaviva Devorah
I often find myself telling my daughter, as she is raising her two young boys, the advice my mother always gave me on days when I was having a hard time with my own children when they were very young…”This too shall pass”.
As to a favorite childhood memory, that would be watching, fascinated, as she magically rolled out dough with a wooden rolling pin to make kreplach. After cutting it, she carefully layed each square out on a damp tea towel on the kitchen table while she chopped flanken in a large wooden chopping bowl to make the filling. Try as I might, I have not been able to duplicate the taste of my mother’s kreplach, perhaps because there was so much more than mere ingredients that went into it!
My best memories from my childhood about my mom are the summers. I can still remember dusting the house, with the windows open and some soft music like Big Band or Linda Ronstadt playing on the radio while my mom did other cleaning around the house. That same sweet music would filter out the windows to where I would play in the shade of the trees. We would sit down after we were done cleaning and drink glasses of sweet iced tea while still listening to those mellow sounds. I loved it! I try to create that same atmosphere with my own son! Love you, mom!
Going shopping and to the movies
i always wanted to cook and bake- even as a small child.
my mother used to let me take all of the pots and pans out of the drawers and pretend i was cooking a meal on the floor
My fondest memory of my mother is when she would brush my long tangled hair after a bath. My mother always made me feel special, smart and beautiful. My Mom is 89 and lives in a nursing home. We are sitting here together now. Every time she sees me she tells me how beautiful I am. I am 59 years old and she has never failed to make me always feel so special no matter what.
I loved going shopping with my mom for dollhouse furniture for the custom dollhouse she had made for me. We would spend hours picking the perfect furniture to decorate the whole house. I loved it.