My mom's old recipe card for 'Sunday Gravy' had a coffee stain over a key step.

I made it for years thinking you just simmered the tomatoes for an hour, but my uncle visited last month and said, 'Patricia, you're rushing it, it needs three hours minimum.' That changed the whole flavor. Has anyone else had a family recipe where a missing time or temperature made a big difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

calebh903d ago

Honestly though, isn't the fun of a family recipe figuring it out yourself? If everything was written down perfectly, you'd lose that personal touch and the stories that come with the trial and error. Maybe your version with the shorter simmer was just your take on it, not necessarily wrong. Couldn't those little mistakes become part of your own family's tradition someday?

foster.dylan3d ago

My grandma's biscuit recipe just said "mix until right." Turns out she meant until it looked like cottage cheese, which is way wetter than I was doing. Dry biscuits for years. My aunt finally showed me and it was a total game changer. Those little details they just know in their heads get lost.