Tammy's Recipes

Pictured above are some delicious homemade Cornmeal Crescent Rolls, made by my mom, Linda F. These extra-fancy rolls have an extra-good taste: light and fluffy, topped with butter and sprinkled with cornmeal before baking. They've been a family favorite ever since we first made them 8+ years ago!

Linda has been making homemade bread for 33+ years, ever since her newlywed days when her husband taught her how.

Like anyone else, Linda didn't start out life as a gourmet chef, or even as much of a cook. During her growing up years, her mom did most of the cooking, leaving her (as the only girl amidst 3 brothers) to do the dishes and cleanup.

As a result, when Linda got married 33 years ago, she didn't know how to cook very many foods.

But that was okay, since she married a man who was the oldest of 13 children. He'd been making bread since he was ten years old, among many other things, and got right to work teaching Linda how to cook his favorite foods, just how he liked them! ;)

Soon Linda was an expert cook. She cooked everyting from scratch (partly to save money, and partly because homemade food is just so much tastier!) and grew a big garden every year. Her husband, busy with other endeavors, left the cooking entirely to her. After 8 years of marriage, Linda was blessed with a child (me!) and continued her cooking and gardening as their family grew.

Eleven years later, they had six children and were canning over 1,000 quarts of food from the garden every summer, as well as freezing and dehydrating things.

During my growing up years, I learned a lot about gardening, canning, and cooking from watching my mom work. She has always been a great source of information, somewhat like my own "cooking helpline" who I can call when I'm in the middle of making something and get stumped. ;) She also has some fantastic recipes that she's been making for years and that have become favorites of Joshua's and mine, also.

Another of Linda's meals is called Meatza Pie, a hamburger "crust" topped with pizza sauce and cheese.

My mom is a very hard worker, spending all day caring for her home and family. She always has a good (though often simple) homemade meal ready when it's time to eat. 

But of far more importance than simply teaching her children how to cook, my mom taught me how to be content with little, thankful for everyday things, and the importance of pleasing my husband by how I cook. My mom cooks things that my dad likes, and plans her meals and menus around his tastes and schedule. (If she and the children want to eat something that my dad doesn't care for, they eat it when he's away.)

Because of her example, when Joshua and I got married, I had already determined to seek to tailor my cooking to his preferences. (I'm not perfect at this, of course!) This means that I cook a lot of different foods that my mom never makes. Joshua likes to try new recipes, whereas my dad likes to eat his same favorites, year after year. My mom taught me how important it is to be thankful for everything in life, and to do the best in whatever situation one finds themselves.

Thanks for being such a great example to me, Mom!