Family Recipes  

By: Olivia Carney 

With the holiday season on the horizon, there’s a couple of things that families look forward to. One of them is homemade cooking. With homemade meals one thing is usually common, and that is family recipes. Family recipes are recipes passed down for generations and generations to come.  

Shannon Carney (a mother of six) always goes all out during the holiday season. When asked if she would be comfortable with sharing her recipes, she stated “No, they would no longer be a secret if I told you. Most of my recipes are inside of my head I don’t have them written down.” When Christmas arrives, Shannon usually dabbles in making nutmeg and ginger cookies. The recipe is said to come from her grandmother. “Uncle Lenard’s” ham is also an anticipated food item at the Carney household year-round. Although it is lots of work, Shannon has commented that, “Cooking is my love language, it makes me happy when I see my loved ones eat my food.” 

To Andrew Nickles (Precision Machining) a homemade cooked meal is always better than store bought during the holidays. “Homemade food is most definitely better than store bought, my dad’s side of the family usually goes all out during the holidays. There’s homemade cake, pie, brownies, you name it. Anyways I leave being ten pounds heavier.” 

Mr.Longwell has a very special relationship with his family’s recipes. To him, his family recipes make him feel connected to his lost family members. When asked what his family recipes mean to him he stated, “I love to bake it’s therapeutic, I bake when I’m sad. Certain foods connect me to my family, like my grandma. She has passed now, but her food still connects me to her. Food connects people.” 

Family recipes have been connecting people for a very long time. Whether it be going all out during the holidays, eating those meals, or connecting to loved ones. Food connects people.