Mother Knows Best: Cooking Advice We've Used for Decades

Life (okay, dinner) lessons from our own mothers.
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Our mothers are both 70-something. They wore shoulder-padded silk blouses to their full-time jobs in the ’80s; they’re skeptical of salt that is not iodized and turkeys that are heritage; and when we were growing up, both made it clear that family dinner—which was centered on old-school Italian repertoires and supplemented by a little Stouffer’s now and then—was a given. They taught us well: Prioritizing a shared meal at the end of the day with our kids (only without the frozen Salisbury steak) has stayed with us. What other kitchen wisdom did Jody (Jenny's mom) and Emily (Andy's mom) impart? In honor of Mother’s Day, we put together a partial list.

Set a Proper Table

Sure, most of us expect linens and flowers on our holiday tables, but what about the rest of the year? Sitting down to a meal with placemats, cloth napkins, and sometimes even a vase with fresh-cut flowers—as Emily does most nights—says, This is a ritual that matters.

A Warm Dinner Plate Is a Right, Not a Luxury

Our moms hail from an era when a good hot meal was the elixir for just about anything—soccer loss, minor cold, catatonic depression. So why, Jody would like to know, would one serve a hot meal on a cold plate? She warms her china plates in the oven at 200 degrees.

Call the Next Day

Gratitude never goes out of style. It’s a lot of work to have people over for dinner, and we can’t remember a time when Emily didn’t pick up the phone the morning after to thank her hosts for all they had done. (Note: Texting or e-mailing a thank you counts, too, but Emily has no idea what texting is.)

Keep Your Secrets

Fennel seeds in the meatballs. Challah for the French toast. Cinnamon in the chili. Every family has its own “secret” food traditions, and it is our job to sustain them.

Serve Just Enough

Jody is notoriously stingy on the portions. (If we had to pick one story among thousands: In high school she served Jenny’s 220-pound linebacker boyfriend a burger that fit in the palm of his hand. Okay, one more: She once had a single pint of ice cream for a party of nine.)
It’s never been about calorie control—it’s more that the idea of waste kills her. And it taught us something: Eat what you want, just don’t go crazy.

Photo: Alex Lau

Alex Lau
Salad Does Not Need Lettuce

Emily was famous for her chopped (pronounced by our family as CHOP-id) salad. She had one of those low-tech push-top choppers that she would use to dice red peppers, onions, carrots, cucumbers, celery, and whatever else she had in the vegetable drawer. Toss that with some Wish-Bone Italian? That right there is some crunchy goodness, and a dish we’ve updated (step one: homemade vinaigrette) and served to our kids countless times.

Finish the Meal with Fruit

Jody is 100 percent Italian, which means she wasn’t afraid of churning out some breaded chicken cutlets, meatballs, and lasagna. It also meant that after any carb-and-ricotta fest, we didn’t need much more than a bowl of strawberries or sliced melon for dessert. (Coming next month, our fathers’ mantra: Finish the Meal with Chocolate.)

For more Jenny and Andy, check out their blog, Dinner: A Love Story.

Get the Recipe: Chopped Spring Salad