Dinner at Mom's

It didn't matter if you were a relative, a neighbor or a friend. When you came to our house, my mother, Barbara, would ask, "Did you eat? Sit down and have a bite!"

If you didn't eat at our house, she'd send you home with a container of food. Mom liked to take care of everyone.


When my three brothers, my sister, and I were growing up, the house was always filled with delicious foods, from soups to desserts. We enjoyed Mom's great home-cooked meals as well as her delicious cookies and cakes.


A favorite still is a chocolate banana cake with a yellow cake mix , chocolate icing and 4 layers with banana and icing in each layer. A must for every birthday cake still!

One of our family's favorite Christmas meals featured a ham with pineapple and maraschino cherries on top with a brown sugar glaze. Served with candied carrots, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and Pineapple Upside Down cake for dessert, which was another favorite dessert my dad always requested.

I'd call my mother a "natural" cook. She'd follow a recipe at first, but then substitute different ingredients. She memorized much of what she did. I loved her flaky pie shells, for instance.
At our house, Mom cooked and we ate. I loved to help in the kitchen. I helped cook and my sister cleaned up. I always thought I had it best!!! My brothers didn’t help in the kitchen much. They just devoured the food.

That’s probably why my parents decided to opened a grocery store, Harter House Supermarket, to feed this passel of kids.

The one thing I did pick up from my mom is improvising. I love to experiment with recipes. And my husband, Craig, is always a willing recipient.
I still have my mom's and my grandmother’s worn cookbooks. The envelopes inside are stuffed with recipes gathered during a lifetime. I'm sure that's true of a lot of us!

I hope this holiday Season is filled with lots of love, family, friends, and lots of great food!
And come see me at Harter House on Republic Road.
~Shelly