Memories & Family Recipes from Our American Kitchen

We’re sharing #OurAmericanKitchen Memories as part of a sponsored post for GE Appliances. All opinions are 100% mine.

Back when Mr. Flavor Mosaic and I started dating (in prehistoric times) neither one of us cooked. We both came from very different types of families. I came from a large family with 5 kids and two working parents, and when he was growing up, it was just him and his single working Mom.

For Mr. Flavor Mosaic, his Mom cooked quick, easy, and inexpensive meals because money was tight since she was a single Mom. Dave learned to cook a few vital things, such as a steak, salad, and sandwich, and that was about it. While we were married, he was generally only interested in being the taste tester and not the cook.

However, lately since I have been traveling more, Dave is having to cook for his Mom, and in the process, is learning to cook more dishes that his Mom made for him when he was growing up. And in turn, he can show her, his twists he has put on the classic recipes. When we are kids, our parents take care of us. However, as our parents get older, we reverse roles and take care of them. It does not matter your age, it is never too late to start making memories in the kitchen.

When I was growing up, both my parents worked and there was very little time for long leisurely dinners. Dinner was fast, easy, and cheap. It can be expensive to feed a large family. Mostly my Mom cooked during the week. We kids took turns setting the table, washing the dishes, etc. I love my Mom. She was a wonderful Mom, and artistic and talented in many ways, but cooking was not her passion. It was a requirement. So I did not learn to cook from her. However, on weekends and holidays, my Dad did the cooking, which he enjoyed. So we had some wonderful Texas barbecue, steaks, meatloaf. He was definitely a meat and potatoes man. Many of my favorite foods were ones my Dad prepared. However, I did not learn to cook then because he usually scooted us kids out of the kitchen while he was cooking.

It was not until after Mr. Flavor Mosaic and I were married that I learned to cook by looking up recipes on the internet, and joining communities of online cooks from all over the country, and sharing recipe ideas, tips, and reviews. Then cooking became fun and creative to me.

For as long as I can remember, whether it was growing up with my family, or in Mr. Flavor Mosaic’s and my home, or at my Mother-inLaw’s house, GE Appliances have been in the kitchen helping us to make memories. It is not surprising since GE Appliances have been in American Kitchens for over 100 years.

GE Appliances has created a series of webisodes that showcase stories as part of their “Our American Kitchen” campaign.

And for even more inspiration, visit GEAppliances.com. Be sure to enter The Great American Cooking Event Sweepstakes on FoodNetwork.com before October 13, 2015 for a chance to create a dream kitchen with a suite of GE Café Appliances. Click here to enter the contest.