Good food is worth a thousand words—sometimes more. In My Family Recipe, a writer shares the story of a single dish that’s meaningful to them and their loved ones.
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My mother, Caroline Ragsdale Reutter of Caroline’s Cakes, had a background in interior design, but good food was always a major ingredient in her life. And growing up in Lake City, South Carolina life revolved around entertaining. Caroline’s mother—my grandmother—was a fabulous cook and a gracious entertainer, and constantly entertained customers from my grandfather’s charcoal business, Ember’s Charcoal, with recipes that had been in our family for generations. There were weekly cookouts and delicious dinners with friends at Caroline’s childhood home, and whether it was a planned cocktail party or a last-minute barbecue, she quickly learned the enjoyment that food brings into everyone’s lives.
“I looked forward to family night dinners at my church when everyone contributes their best dishes,” my mother said. “You knew who brought the best deviled eggs, the best fried chicken, and the best cakes, of course. Food brought us all together in happy times and sad. It was the core of our lives—the hospitality and the grace we learned to share.”
Growing up with my mother, I don’t recall a time in the kitchen when the oven wasn’t on and a mixer wasn’t humming its way through another delicious recipe. It was always such a treat to help out during the baking process. Her now-famous seven-layer caramel cake was too delicate a recipe for me to help with during my brief visits home from school, but she would ask me to step into the kitchen with her to make our family’s classic carrot cake.
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The monotonous shredding of the carrots was always my task and it consumed all of my time until they were ready to be added to the cake batter and put in the oven. But the end result was worth it: four moist layers of carrot cake, filled and iced with the creamiest of cream cheese icings. It has remained one of my favorites to this day.
The most important part for Mom was the tradition behind the recipe, not just the ingredients. Each perfect bite covered with cream cheese icing brought back memories from childhood or family gatherings for so many people—and any alterations to the recipe would be immediately noticed (and shunned).
Even as Caroline’s Cakes has grown over the years, the recipe has remained the same and these wonderful memories of time spent in the kitchen with my mother always come back when I heat up the ovens and turn on our mixers. To me that’s the most amazing part about spending time in the kitchen. The ability that each recipe has to connect me to so many fond memories, traditions, and wonderful experiences is truly one of a kind. I feel lucky every day to be a part of the Caroline’s Cakes family and the community that surrounds it.
Got a family recipe you’d like to share? Email [email protected] for a chance to be featured.
