Mom’s Best Meal

Nothing can beat Mom’s home cooking! Here two more readers, Kevin Weeks of North Palm Beach, Florida and Brenda Beachy of Belvidere, Tennessee, share favorite meals from their Moms:

Buttery Crescents
These golden brown rolls are my mother’s bread of choice for holiday meals. No one in our extended family can imagine a celebratory meal without them. They have such a rich taste that you might not need to butter them! —Kevin Weeks

Lemon Baked Alaska
This impressive dessert, piled high with vanilla ice cream, lemon sauce and meringue, won my mother the grand prize in a local cooking contest as a first-time entrant. It’s the perfect finale to a special meal. —Kevin Weeks

Spicy Seafood Bisque
This spicy soup, featuring shrimp, crabmeat and tomatoes, gets its zip from hot pepper sauce and cayenne pepper. It’s easy to prepare and dresses up any meal. Of all the recipes I’ve borrowed from my mom, this soup is the one that I’ve made most often. —Kevin Weeks

Chicken Romaine Salad
Mom invented this colorful salad by combining romaine lettuce with toasted pecans, chicken strips, grapes, dried cranberries and cheddar cheese. I think she’s particularly proud of this recipe. —Kevin Weeks

Frozen Fruit Slush
Our family loves this refreshing fruit-filled salad, but it’s pretty enough to serve company, too. The salad combines pineapple, bananas, grapes and peaches along with lemonade and orange juice concentrates. It is so good, you’ll want seconds. —Brenda Beachy

Mom’s Molasses Cookies
The kitchen smells so good when Mom is baking these yummy cookies, which we like to make with sorghum. They’re chewy and tender, with a sugary coating. It’s hard to eat just one! —Brenda Beachy

Grated Potato Salad
Mom’s creamy combination of chopped hard-cooked eggs and grated potatoes is both smooth and chunky. The dressing coats the salad nicely. —Brenda Beachy

Grilled Thighs and Drumsticks
When Mom makes chicken, this is the way we like it prepared. It’s juicy, has great barbecue flavor and makes a big batch, so it’s perfect for a summer picnic and family reunions. —Brenda Beachy