More Recipes Than You Can Shake a Stick At
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Some women don’t just cook—
they make a home feel like home.
My mother was one of them.
She was witty, sharp, endlessly well-read—the kind of person people naturally gathered around. A true people magnet. She could hold a conversation on just about anything, remembered everything she read, and always had something clever to say—often with a little pun tucked in.
She was a casual entertainer in the best sense of the word.
She didn’t follow recipes exactly.
She didn’t fuss over presentation.
And somehow, it just… worked.
Fiddle de de… just add a little more butter.
Recipes, of course, were everywhere.
Clipped from old magazines, tucked into drawers, stacked in piles—more recipes than you could shake a stick at.
And when people gathered—which they always did—
she didn’t make a fuss. She simply put something out.
THE USUAL
She didn’t call it a charcuterie board.
It was just… the usual.
And every time the grandkids came over, it appeared like clockwork—set out without announcement, as if it had always been there.
Sliced salami.
Apples.
Crackers.
That was it.
Even the vegetarian grandkids didn’t seem to mind.
CRAB CAKES (THE BIRTHDAY CAKE)
Every year, for her birthday, she asked for crab cakes.
Not cake.
Crab cakes.
Simple Crab Cakes
What you need:
Lump crab meat
1 egg
2–3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ cup breadcrumbs
Squeeze of lemon
Salt & pepper
How to make:
Gently mix everything together. Form into small patties.
Pan-fry in a bit of butter or oil until golden on both sides.
Serve with lemon wedges.
That’s it.
No overthinking required.
CHERRY CRUNCH
(A very 1970s kind of dessert)
Cherry Crunch is one of those wonderfully simple desserts from another era—somewhere between a cake and a cobbler, made with what you had on hand and never quite the same twice.
It wasn’t fancy.
But it was always good.
This is her actual recipe—worn, a little stained, and long since committed to memory.
On the opposite page of her recipe book was something called “Next Best Thing to Robert Redford .”
I’ve never made it, but the name makes me smile.
I’ve recreated a few of my mom’s handwritten favorites on the Recipe page, including her Cherry Crunch recipe.
View the recipe →
IN CLOSING… A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE
It’s easy to forget now—how much they did without.
No computers.
No iPhones.
No cable TV.
No GPS.
No YouTube tutorials to show them how it was “supposed” to be done.
And yet… they figured it out.
They partnered with teachers, preachers, neighbors, and friends.
They showed up for one another.
They raised strong, independent kids in a very different world.
Were they perfect?
Of course not.
And neither are we.
We’re all still trying to figure it out—doing the best we can with what we have, in the moment we’re in.
Maybe that’s the lesson.
Not to overcomplicate it.
Not to wait until everything is just right.
Just to begin.
To gather.
To feed people.
To care.
And to trust that it’s enough.
And fiddlesticks… it usually is.
—Happy birthday, Mom.
