Annual Food & Drink Issue
Family recipes are treasures passed down from one generation to the next. They bring comfort and familiarity to our tables today, just as they did to our parents’ tables, and their parents before them. Here, locals share enduring family recipes and tell us what makes them so special after all these years.
By Anna Hill | Photos by Rich Smith
Stephanie Blackiston“One of the happiest memories in my life was spending the night with my grandparents. After a full day of playing outside, I would drift off to sleep surrounded by my grandmother’s love. The next morning, the aroma of sausage gravy would wake me up. I could hear gospel music and her pulling biscuits out of the oven. These smells and tastes left an imprint on me.
Years later after I was married, I told my husband how much her gravy meant to me. He watched her make it and discovered that the secret ingredient was coffee! Now, my husband makes sausage gravy for me and our eight children. My grandmother left me with much more than a gravy recipe; she left me the recipe of loving my family well.” – Stephanie Blackiston
