Despite your youthful transgressions and the tattoo that makes her cringe to this day, your mom loves you. And all those years, she fed you. We asked our Home Chef team about their favorite mom-made dishes and the stories behind them. Read on and share your own stories in the comments!

Jenny H., Director of Market Strategy and Analytics. Hails from Columbia, Missouri.

 

 

So my Mom, Kathy, always used to make “pig dip”. Now that I’m a vegetarian, it’s kind of weird to talk about it so nostalgically (and with a little bit of food envy), but anyway – it’s a dip and she would make heaps of it. Ingredients are just a whole sleeve of ground spicy pork sausage, an entire block of Velveeta and a can of Tostitos mild salsa. We ate it only with Mission Strip Tortilla Chips and I would eat until I was about to bust. #saltcoma

My Grandma Rita makes some killer lemon bars. She’s got many traditional foods that she graces us with during the holidays, but this is a particular favorite of mine – the recipe for which I’ve unfortunately still not snagged, but it makes them even more special that Grandma Rita is the only one who can make them.

Shout out to my Nana who completely CRUSHES the kitchen with some good ol’ southern style cooking and never has once shied away from butter (drooling) – somehow she still has managed to be an adorably tiny woman, though! She has a few signature dishes, but I especially love her melt in your mouth chicken and dumplings. My sisters and I got her to cook them with her a few years ago – I still haven’t tried to make them yet because I know they’ll never be like hers.

 

 

Serena M, Graphic Designer. Hails from Chicago, Illinois.

My favorite dish from my mom is Chinese Tang Yuan, also a winter solstice food. It can either be eaten as a sweet dessert or a savory bone broth, but I prefer savory soup and my mom makes it best. There are all kinds of toppings you can add to your soup, but glutinous rice balls are absolutely essential. To this day, I still haven’t found a recipe better than my mom’s.

 

 

 

Paulina B., Product Manager. Hails from Wheaton, Illinois (and also France?!)

My mother is a real advocate of the salade composée – we lived in France for a few years when I was growing up, which influenced how she cooked forever. This is her no-cook warm-weather go-to Chef’s Salad. You don’t do much work other than chop things up and hard-boil two eggs, but the presentation and flavors do all the heavy lifting. It should be eaten outside in the summer, misted lightly with Off! Deep Woods (don’t actually do this) and a bottle of chilled Costco Sauvignon Blanc (do actually do this.)

 

 

Charles K., Software Engineer. Hails Teignmouth, United Kingdom.

 

 

My favorite dish from my mom, Polly, is lamb shawarma, roast Potatoes, and tomato and cucumber salad with garlic and parsley flat breads. We go pretty nontraditional for holidays, too. Everyone in my family hates a traditional turkey Christmas dinner, so we always go for something crazy and unorthodox every year. One year we even had home made pizza – no joke.

Happy, happy Mother’s Day!