Cooking is second nature to me now. I “caught” the love of cooking from my Mom and my Grandmother Copeland. Observing my sisters and my brother cook, grill, bake has brought me to the place I am today… There was a time when Jim and I were first married that I doubted I would ever learn to cook the “way Mom and Mother Dilbeck did”!

My mother-in-law Mother Dilbeck as I called her, also influenced my style of cooking. From her spinach she served with sliced boiled eggs on them to the stunning Diced Apple Cake she presented one Christmas time with flames in the middle of the bundt cake, she impressed me. Watching her make biscuits from scratch reminded me of watching my Grandmother Copeland make them. They both had an ease about them as they went about making mounds of biscuits for breakfast for their families.

But, my Mom was the warm, hospitable Southern cook and lady. She prided herself in preparing and sharing meal after meal with us kids, then our spouses, then our children, along with whatever friends may drop by. I am still amazed at how many pots and dishes of food Mom could fit into the oven to keep them all hot until “everyone arrived”. I wish I could talk to my Mom again and thank her for the beautiful example she set for all of us to learn how to cook and bake and make wonderful memories together as a family.

Well, it’s true what they say “practice makes perfect”. Keep on cooking and trying new recipes and you will get it right.

How about you other cooks out there? How did your lives of cooking evolve?

Elaine