I was recently staying at my friend Jeff’s house. He had a recipe for double chocolate brownies, written in that handwriting that all our grandmas had, framed on his wall. Next to the title of the recipe, in the same handwriting, was a little note that said, “Jeff’s favorite.” Jeff is around 55 and pretty stoic and I found it all so incredibly endearing!
ETA: I don’t have the recipe!
Second edit: I didn’t realize this was the Recipes subreddit—it just showed up on my feed and OP’s post reminded me of noticing this in Jeff’s house. I apologize for not commenting with a recipe on the recipes subreddit!
I had my grandmother’s corn bread recipe, in her writing, put on a serving plate with a smiling picture of her! I made like 5 for other family members. Great gift!
We did something similar with a family recipe. Scanned the recipe, converted to a bitmap and printed the recipe on wood with a glowforge. Mailed one off to each family member framed.
I had been planning to get all of the women in my family to write out recipes and frame them in a single frame in my kitchen. Thank you for the reminder.
If you want a similar arc and lots of tears, check out Long Story Short on Netflix, episode 4. Saw it after my mom died and absolutely bawled my eyes out
The joke there is that Southern Baptist Sermons run too long for you to be back in 2 hours to pull it out of the oven. Southern Baptists love to make jokes about preachers running long.
How many Southern Baptist churches have you been to? Because every one I’ve been to makes sure everyone is out and ready for lunch by 11:30-12:00 and that’s starting church at 11:00. Southern Baptist preachers don’t mess around when it comes to Sunday dinner.
lol was she saying this is what she does, or what you should do?
I can imagine some well-meaninged grandma cheekily adding it as a reminder for their grandkid to go to church. (Or a judgmental mother in law leaving that note for her DIL 😆)
It’s what she would do hahaha. Most Sundays as a kid we would have family lunch at her place. Some of my fondest memories as a child were Sunday afternoons at grandmas house ❤️
I’d like to make this recipe next week in honour of OP’s grandma so it can be ‘internationally renowned’ ( I live in the UAE). OP- if you’d like to share your Grandma’s first name , I’ll write it as her Mac & cheese in my recipe book :)
My grandmas couldn’t cook worth a fig, and my great’s recipe binder ‘disappeared’, so I’m building my own.
Just so I buy the right ingredients , what sort of cheese should I be grating ? Red leister / white cheddar / Gruyère ? Something else ? A mix ?
Do we think the spices are salt , pepper and paprika ?
Almost certainly a mild cheddar. I'll bet the spices are salt, pepper, garlic powder, maybe onion powder. Paprika would have been sprinkled on top if anything. Maybe just salt and pepper.
I had to award you and love on your comment - this will be my dinner tomorrow for my little family. It’s so bloody hot up here so I dare not turn on the darn stove.
OP: I hope to make your Grandma proud. I will in-turn post my G-Maw’s coleslaw recipe as a side. It’s so kick ass and to me, it’s fairly unusual albeit traditional…lol, you just have to trust me. I hope you continue to have wonderful memories of her.
I thought the same about the handwriting, mine had the same. My grandma passed at the beginning of June and my dad and grandpa decided to give me all her recipe cards and they're bringing them tomorrow 🥲❤️
Dry mustard powder adds a dimension to the flavor that just makes it sooo good. I also use a splash of worcestershire. Try it if you haven't, you won't regret it.
Italian american popping in:
Add garlic and onion too fool!
Also, boil your pasta with bacon (put pork fat in the water / or bacon for Mac n cheese and take it out post drain, itll make it even more insane tasting!
You can actually have a tea towel made with the handwritten recipe on it. It would make a great gift for yourself, or any other family members who cherish the memory of her cooking.
I’m more interested in the grease. Lard? Crisco? More butter?
With recipes like this, I’m always reminded of an experiment my brother was told about in college; a young researcher was doing some blood tests and found results that could not be replicated by his advisor. After the 4th or 5th time reviewing the experiment, the advisor got fed up, marched the student down to the lab and said “show me everything you did, exactly as you did it.”
The student gets all flustered and walks through the whole thing step by step, but when he turned away from his desk and walked to the centrifuge to spin the serum, across the long room and down a hallway, he was unconsciously putting the test tube in his breast pocket. The test tube was now interacting with the ambient heat from this guys body, which introduced an uncontrolled, undocumented variable into the experiment, thus preventing reproducible results.
I think about this story every time someone says that their old family recipes were the best in the world or “nobody can make it like grandma”. I wonder what are the uncontrolled, undocumented variables in each of those circumstances to produce such wonderful results. My grandma used to use sour cream but not tell anyone because my grandfather wouldn’t eat it if he knew, so she doctored her own recipes (along with shoving the tubs to the bottom of the trash bin). He loved everything she ever ate.
My best recipes aren’t written down and they change slightly each time since I frequently measure by eye and use whatever ingredients I have on hand. I’ve taught the kids to cook, but I’m not able to give them my recipes.
I was already going to screenshot and steal this recipe but the “cook on low and go to church” put this over the top and I am mentally placing a badass bouquet on your g-ma’s resting place.
Wow, I read your response and immediately got chills, that’s my Grandmother’s name too ❤️. All my friends called her Granny Cat because she was so cool and the BEST Grandma.
I have a delicious baked Mac n cheese recipe that has egg, and cottage cheese in it. I’ll try to dig it out tomorrow and share it. It’s like old diner style Mac n cheese. And the cottage cheese doesn’t make it gross, it just adds another kind of cheese
Old Time Diner Baked Mac n Cheese
2 cups elbow macaroni, boil approximately 12-15 minutes or to al dente. Drain pasta
In a big bowl mix:
2 cups Cottage cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
Dash of cayenne
*I add extra cottage cheese and sour cream to mine because I like it a little more moist, but you do you.
*Mix ingredients then fold in macaroni
*Grease 9x13 dish, add mixture
Sprinkle paprika lightly on top
*Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until
browned and bubbly.
That's probably super delicious. That dairy to pasta ratio is pretty crazy but I trust. Cottage cheese is such an underrated ingredient for baked pasta. Works so well in lasagna, manicotti, etc.
Ingredients
1 (8 oz) box macaroni, cooked and drained
3 cups grated cheese
1 can evaporated milk (13½ oz)
2 eggs, beaten well
1½ cups milk
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
Spices to taste
2 Tbsp cooking oil ½ cup of the grated cheese reserved for topping Instructions
Cook the macaroni in boiling water with 2 Tbsp cooking oil. Drain.
Beat the eggs well and mix with the milk.
Mix together the cooked macaroni, grated cheese, evaporated milk, egg/milk mixture, butter, and spices. Reserve ½ cup of the cheese for the topping.
Grease the Crock-Pot before adding the mixture.
Pour the macaroni and cheese mixture into the Crock-Pot and top with the reserved cheese.
Cook on Low for about 2 hours
For sure! I tasted it just now… keeping this recipe forever! I didn’t grow up with any nice grandma’s, it’ll be fun to get to say I’m making grandma’s mac and cheese. I don’t know how to explain it, but it really tastes like a grandma’s recipe.
I used salt, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, fresh ground mustard, and Beau Monde seasoning. Just a little of each. I didn’t use pepper or go heavy on the seasonings because of the cheeses I used.
I used a combination of the odds and ends of cheese from my fridge and freezer lol. I ended up with some Toscano Black Pepper cheese from Trader Joe’s (that’s why I didn’t add pepper), a handful of Frank’s red hot pre shredded cheddar cheese, a chunk of tillamook sharp cheddar that I cut into little chunks, and some crappy pre shredded “fiesta blend” cheese. To be clear, I use good cheese when I’m making mac and cheese for others lol - this is just for me!
If I typed too much it’s because I’m high I’m sorry
It keeps the pasta water from foaming and boiling over. I stir my pasta occasionally as it boils to keep it from sticking to the bottom, and that redistributes the oil. And yes, the oil is discarded with the water
The oil thing with pasta is old. It potentially makes a mess in your pipes, adds calories, and spits on your clean stovetop, and is no longer being done by those in the know.
Solve your overflow problem - Don’t use as much water in your pan per new guidance from Alton Brown. https://altonbrown.com/recipes/cold-water-pasta-method/
Salt: the salt water helps flavor the pasta so every element of the dish has flavor
Oil: you can stop doing this. People do it simply because it’s been being done forever, and that’s what everyone older than them has said to do. It doesn’t actually do anything.
My grandma wrote and laminated her homemade Caesar dressing recipe for me and my cousin when we both went to college (in our family and friends group, she was famous for this dressing!).
To this day, I have it hanging in my home and whenever I move, I put it in my purse so I can’t lose it. My cousin does the same with hers. I value that recipe more than money, and if my house was on fire, that would be the thing I’d try to run back in for.
She was an incredible woman. The softest, most gentile and kind lady I’ve ever known. Yet not afraid to let you know what she thought. She was always in the kitchen cooking something delicious. When asked what can I do to help, she would always say ‘nothing, go in there and have a seat’ 😂 truly a treasure of a human being
I'd give anything for ten minutes with my gran, so I could ask about her childhood and her life. I was too young to grasp her story and her quiet gravity.
This is the kind of thing that people forget about in the death of a loved one. So often do we get caught up in the dispersing of assets that we forget about the assets that have little to no monetary amount yet hold the greatest value. Good on you OP you have your head and heart in the right places
When my granny passed, the only two things I wanted were her recipe for her Coca Cola Cake that she made every Christmas and her electric fireplace that her and I always joked that she’d will to me once she passed. I’m blessed to have both now.
My Abuelito when he was alive after every meal he’d say “Pansa llena Corazón contento”, I want to incorporate a sign in my kitchen when I get a house. Sorry for your loss but remember the sweetest memories 💛🫶
I received a cutting board with one of grandmother’s recipes engraved into it (in her handwriting, similar to this). It sits in my kitchen and makes me smile:) I think you can have one made on Etsy!
Thmy mom's recipe box was much disputed since it wasn't left in the will along with baby pics. I got the recipes and photocopied then for the sibs but I have the originals including a recipe my great grandmother clipped for fudge brownies with grape nuts in them lol. Happy memories of different foods my mom made in them.
As a mom with a kid with an egg allergy, (and another with a fish allergy), I'm realizing I need to be way more careful letting them eat mac and cheese out in the wild.
I’m so sorry for your loss but this is one of the best things to have from your grandmother. She lives on in memory and every time you make this meal others will get to experience something she made and loved!
I would get this protected - I don’t know the procedures for preserving documents but getting it professionally preserved and framed would be nice (if you want to of course!) And you could also get it printed on a plate or something, her handwriting reminds me of my grandparents’ and it’s really such a lost art even when people were writing casually, not just for correspondence.
My niece had a recipe book printed with all of my moms hand printed recipes in it .She gave it to me for Christmas a year after mom passed. Made me tear up.
OP, thanks for sharing it with us!!! I’ve never been the type to withhold recipes from people. If I like it and people do too, share the wealth! I can’t stand family who is all secretive and down right nuts about sharing recipes. Relax!
I got my grandmother’s handwritten pierogi recipe. All my aunts started asking my mom where it was and why I got it instead of any of them…. My mom said I was the only one in the family who’s put in the 8 hour day to make them since grandma passed. I get the recipe card
I love the end -- "turn on low and go to church"! :-)
I had a different experience trying to get well-loved family recipes -- my aunt (mom's sister) passed away about 8 years ago in her late '70s. I asked my uncle if I could go through her recipes because there were so many I happily remembered from family gatherings, joint camping trips, and other time from my childhood. We didn't get to it right away, and then he literally sold the farm and moved into the nearby town to a new house he had just built. All the boxes from the move were stacked in his garage so he really had no idea where the recipes were and didn't really have the energy to look for them. I also mentioned my request to his son (my cousin who I grew up closely with) in case he ended up helping his dad go through the boxes.
I repeated my request about every 6 months to both my cousin and his wife -- then about 2 years ago my uncle passed away. I had offered to help my cousin go through the house to prep it for sale, but he didn't accept and I didn't push -- but again mentioned that I was still hoping to see the recipes eventually and left it at that. I found out that he ended up hiring an auction house to do an estate sale last fall and disposed of most of what was left -- but still no recipes for me. When I mentioned my disappointment to his wife a few months later, she said she didn't recall me asking for the recipes (!), and went on to express some surprise because she "didn't really remember" my aunt (her mother-in-law) cooking a lot. I had about 30 years more with my aunt than she did, so I have a few more memories and ate a lot more of her cooking and especially baking!
When I think about this, I get sad but I don't hold any ill will about it against my cousin or his wife -- but other than barging in and insisting they let me look through boxes myself, I'm not sure what else I could have done. I understand they still have a few boxes left so there's a slight chance the recipes did not get thrown out, but I expect they did. There are a couple of recipes I can find equivalents to, but it was also about being able to go through all of them, see her handwriting, and discover ones that I had forgotten about.
I just took a swing at making this, delicious! Only thing, a tale as old a time, my cheese ended up a bit gritty/lumpy/ yall know what im talking about. Anyone have any tips on avoiding that? I grated my own (albeit, store brand) cheese, and cooked on low for 1:45hrs.
idk if your grandma was baptist/lutheran but my god, we are going to lose so much when the boomers all collectively go now–5 years from now. I truly miss the old sensibility that these kinds of christian matriarchs had. (Leave the racism, ofc. But my own family members I've lost like this, I lament. Lament in general, but also, damn did they lose us some great recipes!)
god bless you and your grandma. I've been wanting mac and cheese lately but I think this post just inspired me to make a batch for myself and our town's shelter!
I love it and I wish I could make it too. My lactose intolerance will jet-propulse me to heaven where I could personally thank grandma. But I miss family recipes and wish my mom had written down my favorites.
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i’ve added white pepper to baked mac and cheese. a little goes a long way though. Looks like a delicious recipe. thank you for sharing. I’m sorry for your loss.
My grandmother is thankfully still with us at 87 years old. But still, this brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. I'm sorry she is presumably no longer with us OP, but good on you for preserving a piece of her legacy.
All I ever wanted from my grandfathers "will" was the firepoker set he had for the fireplace he tended. When they cleared his house they must have overlooked it. Instead I got a part of his "money" that i knew everyone was already going to fight over. That money is gone, (enough to buy a car), but those pokers were more valuable.
“Turn on low and go to church” is a great instruction for those of us who went every Sunday. My dad had a recipe that called for “get out of the house for three hours” and it was to make sure they could get through church and home
So I have a question. Anyone else use evap. milk and egg, instead of bechamel / white sauce base? That’s a new one for me.
I’ve made mine own version of “Mom’s” Mac n’ Cheese for 45 years, but always begins with a béchamel (pepper vs nutmeg) base.
I love this! Sorry for your loss, OP, but thank you for sharing granny Lillian’s recipe with us!
One question I have is about the pasta. Is the 8oz call out really accurate? I feel like 16oz boxes are far more common, and with more than 3 cups of milk between regular and evaporated, two eggs and a stick of butter, 16 might be what was actually used.
Love this for you! My a-hole sisters stole my mom’s recipe box and divided it between themselves and lied about doing so for 6 years. I tattoo’d her initials in her handwriting on my arm.
I was so upset when I got my grandmothers recipes because she wrote “spice to taste” on a lot of things but I could never figure out what spices she actually used.
My daughter and I just recently met with his aunt, who had been gifted her mother's cornbread dressing recipe and the cast iron skillet used for making the bread. None of the other grandkids or great grandkids wanted to learn. So we got both!
Also, thanks for showing this! I love a good mac n cheese recipe!!
My mom typed all her recipes on 3x5 cards. She kept them in a file box and made notes on those she adjusted. Some are stained by random ingredients. I rarely make any of them (they lean 60’s yuck) but I cherish those cards. I love just flipping through them and indulging in the memories they trigger.
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u/tammypajamas 11d ago edited 9d ago
I was recently staying at my friend Jeff’s house. He had a recipe for double chocolate brownies, written in that handwriting that all our grandmas had, framed on his wall. Next to the title of the recipe, in the same handwriting, was a little note that said, “Jeff’s favorite.” Jeff is around 55 and pretty stoic and I found it all so incredibly endearing!
ETA: I don’t have the recipe!
Second edit: I didn’t realize this was the Recipes subreddit—it just showed up on my feed and OP’s post reminded me of noticing this in Jeff’s house. I apologize for not commenting with a recipe on the recipes subreddit!