To-die-for recipes

I subscribe to an e-mail recipe service that sends me fabulous weekly meal ideas. I pour over them, check the ingredients, make mental notes of ways to improve them, then I promptly hit delete and order a pizza.

I’ve been afraid to delete today’s e-mail, however, because its title is “15 recipes to make before you die.”

“Oh, gosh.” I thought. “Do they know something I don’t?”

So, of course, not wanting to miss any must-have meals before I dropped dead, I checked out the list. The first two were white bread and fried chicken. Now, I’ve made both of those before, and, yes, they could kill a person. The rest of the list seemed mediocre to me, but it made me consider the recipes that I would really like to preserve or--dare I even hope—to perfect before my time comes.

1. My grandmother’s lemon meringue pie--I’ve made the meringue once, just need to make a pie to go with it. My sister works on this one, but I haven’t tried to since my husband doesn’t like lemon. Still the thought of it makes my mouth water to this day.

2.—My grandmother’s rolls. They would literally melt in our mouths, and Grandmama was never satisfied until we ate at least five. On Thanksgiving, we would eat, while she served them to us hot out of the oven. Both of my daughters and my husband have tried to imitate her recipe. The result? Pretty good but not as light and fluffy, and, boy, is all that flour messy! I thought it had snowed indoors.

3.--My mama’s fudge. I have tried and tried, but it ends up with sugar granules. I’m not giving up, though, because all that stirring is definitely worth it.

4.--My other grandmother’s (Mama Dot’s) roast and gravy. I left one in the crock pot for almost two days. I’m not sure if you are really supposed to do that, but it was as close as I’ve ever come.

5.--My mom’s chicken livers. Truthfully, I don’t have the courage to ever make those, but I sure did love them when I was little. (And doesn’t that say a lot!)

6.—My mama’s homemade peach ice cream—She makes it with raw eggs, so I’ve been afraid to serve it to my little ones, but there is no better recipe.

7.—My mama’s lasagna—She makes it with cottage cheese. Mine comes pretty close, if only I wouldn’t run out of meat sauce every time when I’m layering.

8.—My grandmother’s pound cake—It was so good we used to butter it and eat it for breakfast, thanks to a dad who shared our sweet tooth.

I think that’s a good start. If I get really smart, I’ll post some of these, so we can all try them—God willing!

(P.S. I’d love to hear what’s on your list!)