Is the Cooking Gene Passed Down?

My love of cooking came early on, though I really didn't start pursuing it on my own until after college. It's a shared love with my mother, so I assume it passed down through her. But in the case of my grandmother, it definitely "skipped" a generation. Mom must have picked it up from her grandmothers with whom she spent a lot of time and they certainly had more maternal instincts than my grandmother.

My grandmother was an interesting woman. She didn't cook, but somehow I have recipes that come from her for the cookbook. Maybe she farmed them out as far as the work was concerned, I dunno... will have to do some research.

Since we're on the topic of Thanksgiving and my grandmother, here's a story that has always fascinated me. Though she didn't cook, my grandmother brought the mashed potatoes....the instant kind. When she was getting older, I'd go over to her place and help her with the work of making the instant mashers the day before--Mom always whispered something about her being too weak to stir the mixture. I think it was all a ruse from my mom to have me spend some quality time with her while on trips home from college or out of state.

Gaga's instant potatoes lasted until my aunt and family moved back to town and were next up to host Thanksgiving. No way were instant mashers acceptable at her house. A concept I fully get now, but at the time it made me sad. Since my grandmother refused to make real potatoes, my aunt nixed potatoes altogether for Thanksgiving. At the time, mashed potatoes were my all time favorite food--instant or real--so this was devastating.

I loved mashed potatoes so much that one year back in the 80's, I even insisted on keeping my invite to Thanksgiving at the home of the high school sweetheart because his family was having them even though I'd dumped the day before. This was before my grandmother and her daughter-in-law had the potato war. My mom had decided to turn Thanksgiving that year into a sandwich buffet (no potatoes). I selfishly cared more about potatoes than the feelings of my ex. I don't think I even know who that girl is anymore and just thinking about that god-awful day breaks my heart.

But back to my grandmother. Ever since what I'm now calling "The Potato War," Gaga's contribution to Thanksgiving was the largest round of Brie cheese I'd ever seen. Not a bad trade off, I suppose.