What We're Making from Mom's Kitchen

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Every week, The Sunday Paper brings you something to read, watch, listen to, and cook—little sparks of inspiration to carry into your days. This week, we’re doing something extra special for Mother’s Day.

We asked you to share your mom’s famous recipes, the dishes that have filled your kitchens and your hearts for years. The response was a heartwarming collection of special memories shared from your family’s kitchens. We couldn’t fit every submission, but we gathered as many as we could into one collection we hope feels like a proper celebration.

Nana's Snack Mix

Nana would make this every summer when our family rented a cabin for a week. I remember she always made bags and bags, and would hide the extra in my room so that we didn’t go through it so fast.

~From Maizie Foth

P.S. I would always sneak some from the bags (Nana totally knew)

Ingredients:

12 cups of any kind of:

• Chex cereal
• Pretzels
• Teddy Grahams
• Bugles
• Crisp cereal
• Nuts
• Raisins
• Any other kind of cereal, as long as it equals 12 cups

1 stick of butter

½ cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons light Karo syrup

Directions:

1. Mix together your 12 cups of snacks
2. In a small pot, melt together butter, brown sugar, and syrup. Bring to a boil for 1 minute.
3. Pour over snack mix, and spread it thin on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 12 minutes at 200 degrees.
5. Cool before eating.

Note: Store at room temp or in the freezer, I always liked to keep some in both spots!

Frozen Iced Tea

All my cousins and friends loved it.

~From Joan Cosper 

Ingredients:

Frozen orange juice 

Lemonade

10 tea bags steeped in hot water

Directions:

1. Fill up a soup pot with all that and water to the top. 
2. Freeze it. 
3. Once frozen, chip away at it to create a yummy, frozen summer treat!

"Ladies"

Keeping with my mom's love of always making memories as kids, we would have our friends over to make "ladies" for lunch in the summer. Mom would judge our creations, then we would then take them outside for lunch and enjoy swimming and popsicles in the pool. Again, always making memories!

~From Lori McCoy

Ingredients:

Tuna salad

Lettuce

Avocado

Hard boiled egg

Shredded cheese of your choosing

Carrot sticks

Directions:

1. Take your ingredients to create your “Ladies”
2. A scoop of tuna salad topped with a lettuce leaf for the skirt
3. Half of an avocado for the body
4. Cut a hard boiled egg in half for the head
5. Add the shredded cheese for the hair
6. Place your carrot sticks for the arms

A note from Lori: Decorate your "ladies" with all sorts of veggies turned into a purse or eye lashes or buttons on the hard boiled egg, sort of like creating a gingerbread house in the summertime. 

My Mother's Chicken Tacos

A family recipe filled with love, patience, and flavor. These tacos were more than dinner in our home. They were comfort, laughter, family gathered around the kitchen, and my mother standing at the stove making sure everyone was fed with love. To this day, they are still the best tacos I have ever tasted.

~From Laurie Souza

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Filling:

1 whole chicken

Water (enough to fully cover the chicken)

Salt, to taste

1 large can whole tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce

Black pepper, to taste

Oregano, to taste

Fresh cilantro, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3–4 garlic cloves, chopped or crushed

1 small can sliced black olives

For the Guacamole:

3 ripe avocados

½ onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Salt and pepper, to taste

Chili flakes, to taste

Juice of 1 lime

Taco Toppings:

Medium cheddar cheese, freshly grated

Lettuce, thinly sliced

Tomatoes, thinly sliced

Onions, thinly sliced

Fresh cilantro

Radishes, thinly sliced

Sour cream

Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Tortillas:

Corn tortillas

Olive oil for frying

Directions:

Step 1—Boil the Chicken

1. Place the whole chicken into a large pot, bones and all. Cover completely with water and season generously with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover.
2. Let the chicken simmer slowly until the meat is falling off the bones. This may take 1½ to 2 hours.
3. Carefully remove the chicken and allow it to cool slightly. Take your time separating all of the meat from the bones, shredding it into bite-sized pieces.

Step 2—Make the Sauce

1. Place the shredded chicken into another large pot.
2. Add:

• Whole tomatoes
• Tomato sauce
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oregano
• Chopped cilantro
• Onion
• Garlic
• Black olives

3. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon and stir everything together well.
4. Simmer on very low heat for a few hours, stirring occasionally, until the chicken has absorbed the rich tomato sauce and becomes moist, flavorful, and tender enough to lift with tongs.

Step 3 — Make the Guacamole

1. Mash the avocados in a bowl.
2. Mix in:

• Chopped onion
• Crushed garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chili flakes
• Lime juice

3. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Step 4 — Fry the Taco Shells

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Lightly fry each corn tortilla until crisp, folding gently into a taco shape while cooking. Drain on paper towels.

Assemble the Tacos

1. Fill each crispy taco shell with the warm chicken mixture.
2. Top with:

• Shredded lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Cilantro
• Cheddar cheese
• Sour cream
• Guacamole
• Radishes

3. And finally—just like my mother always did—sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese over the top.

Mom's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Pure comfort and it makes the house smell so good!

~From Joanne Lewis 

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (softened)            

2 eggs

1 cup sugar.                                 

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda.                       

1 1/2 teas baking powder

1/2 pt sour cream. (8 oz)            

1 teas vanilla

Topping:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 TBS cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

(I sometimes add some chocolate chips too - my addition!)

Directions:

1. Cream butter
2. Add sugar, baking soda, sour cream and eggs. 
3. Gradually add flour, baking powder and vanilla. 
4. Pour 1/2 the batter in an 8 or 9in pan (can also use a bundt pan). 
5. Cut in 1/2 the topping. 
6. Pour remaining batter on top and cover with the rest of the topping. 
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Pizza Dough

My Mom made the best pizza dough. Our family members tried to replicate it often, but our dough does not have the same elasticity and texture. We concluded it was our Mother’s hands, lovingly kneading the dough that made all the difference in the world.

~From Irma Napoli

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

1 cup of water

1 package of dry yeast 

1 teaspoon of sugar

Directions:

1. Combine the ingredients until a dough forms.
2. Knead the dough until it is firm and smooth, and stretchy enough to shape. 

Cherry Dessert

~From Susan Jones

Ingredients:

18 graham crackers

1/4 cup butter softened

1/4 cup sugar 

1 package dream whip

1/2 cup milk

2 cups powdered sugar 

1 8oz package of cream cheese, room temp

1 can of cherry pie mix

Additional graham crackers for top crumble

Directions

Crust:

1. Crush up your graham crackers, then mix them together with your butter and sugar.
2. Press into 9x13 pan
3. Bake 8 minutes at 400
4. Cool

Filling and topping:

1. Mix dream whip, milk, and powdered sugar
2. Add cream cheese and mix again, then spread on cooled crust
3. Top with can of cherry pie mix
4. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the top, then refrigerate to cool

Download the recipe book here!