Many of us cook every day and some of us only occasionally. There are stand-by recipes we use, and then there are those precious recipes we keep stored away in a special place. We pull them out, unfold and smooth the wrinkled edges, and feel a wealth of emotion as we follow handwritten instructions of our family members and ancestors.

Honoring Family Cooks is about keeping the memory of our loved ones alive ... in our minds ... in our hearts ... and in our kitchens. It's about following tradition passed down through the years, and the love our parents and grandparents showed us. It is reliving how they taught us to scoop flour using that noisy sifter with the impossible wobbly handle. Or how to simmer, stir, or fold properly. It is in repeating these lessons that we embrace and validate their teachings.

Whenever we apply their cooking methods, we are honor them in the simplest but most profound ways. But when we share their recipes here on our profile page, our HHM friends can also taste the homemade goodness in every mouthful, just as you did when you were growing up.

I like to think of my relatives watching me as I pull out baking dishes, pots, pans and measuring items. It's like they know how much I loved learning from them and that I still value their ways old school ways of doing things, even in my modern day kitchen. I love recalling the love and memories we shared around the mixing bowls as well as the dinner table.

I invite you to share some stories here, and to add some of your family favorites. Add the link to your recipes and then we can all Tweet them. We all can honor our relatives and yours, too!