Family of Cooks

My mom's family (my grandma and my mom's siblings. Sorry if the picture is blurry)

I have a lot of great cooks in my family as I'm sure a lot of people probably do. Both of my grandma's were farmers wives, so you know there had to be some good cooking going on in their kitchens. They passed that ability to cook on to their kids who passed it on to me, my siblings, and my cousins.


My siblings and me with my grandparents on my dad's side. Again, sorry if the picture comes out blurry.....

As a kid, I remember going to my grandma and grandpa Heiman's house. Grandpa would be out working in the field, in the big shed, or working with cattle. My sibliings and I would be inside with grandma. About once a month, we'd crawl up onto her countertops and she'd let us put the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies into the mixing bowl. Whenever she would turn around, we would sneak a taste of the cookie dough. She also made some of the most fabulous homemade pies I've ever tasted. My grandparents had a few cherry trees next to their garden and they usually got a lot of apples from some trees they had elsewhere. Grandpa would take us outside with a gallon ice cream bucket. Once it was full, we'd take it inside to where grandma would make a pie or two from what we had picked. Her apple cake and her spaghetti were also some of my favorite things that she made a lot.

At my other grandparent's house, anytime there is a get together, it looks like there is a feast for a small army set up in the basement kitchen. Every inch of counter space is used plus a board that has been set up along the wall to accomodate all the food. If the entire Heinen family would get together, there would be well over 85 people crammed into my grandma's tiny basement. So you can only imagine all of the good food that awaits when it's time to eat. You don't go home hungry.

My aunt Jeannie is a big fan of Paula Dean. She's even met her. Jeannie has put together a few cookbooks (which I have and they are wonderful!) with contributions from family and friends. I'm a really big fan of Ree Drummond. She is the Pioneer Woman Cooks.... Her cookbook is amazing. I really hope she comes out with another cookbook because I know I'd want to try everything in it. Which is probably not good coming from a girl who needs to drop 30-50 pounds. Can you tell I love food just a little bit????? But that's another time.....