Heirloom Meals: Savoring Yesterday's Traditions Today

New Traditions

There's nothing more comforting than a home-cooked meal. The importance of sharing traditions and kitchen secrets with your friends and family is often overlooked.

Take a day, page through those old recipes, find one, brush it off - invite your kids to apprentice, your friends, an old aunt or uncle to make it with you.

Then set the table. Step back and relish it.Take the time and preserve the ritual of cooking from scratch, sharing and dining. And soon you will create your own traditions from heirloom meals.

Table Tales

This letter from my dear friend Joan Putney says it all:

“In the 43 years Paul and I were married we had six dining room tables.

I now use our first one as my desk in our sunroom. The second is in Joanna’s garage in Ohio. Andy, Margi, Emma, and Henry use the third as their main table in Vermont. The fourth is in Chicago in the dining room of our nephew, Alan, and his wife, Molly.

The fifth and sixth were made for us by our great friend Jack Larimore. These last two tables share a special feature; theirsides are curved. It seems to me that adding one more person to a curved table is... more →

Heirloom Pieces

Create an heirloom tool or set of silver for the next generation by having it engraved with the family initial or crest.

We’ve put together a list of resources on our Where To Find page for those occasions when you want to give a gift that will last several generations. The list is gleaned from friends, family and guests on the show.