The community potluck made me rethink my grandma's stew recipe
Honestly, I used to skip making my grandma's beef stew because it seemed too plain. Tbh, seeing everyone bring their family dishes to the potluck showed me how much history is in those recipes. Ngl, has anyone else had a moment like this with a traditional dish?
Notice how the most basic things become special when they're repeated. My dad's messy handwriting on recipe cards used to just look messy. Now that he's gone, it's like a piece of him is right there. You see it with old t shirts that are worn soft or the specific way someone always makes coffee. The routine itself becomes the important part, not how fancy it is.
My grandma's recipe card says to use exactly two bay leaves. Two. I always thought that was weird until I read what @morgan_mason said about handwriting, and now I'm scared to lose the card. The whole thing feels like a fragile instruction manual.