Recipes From My Kitchen

A framed photograph of an elderly woman with short gray hair and glasses, placed next to a handwritten recipe for mayonnaise cake on a decorative frame, both on a table with lace cloth.

Family recipes, comforting favorites, and the dishes that have been passed down, shared often, and loved around our table.

Meet My Grandma Gladys

Gladys Powell
December 28, 1931–June 22, 2006

My grandma, Gladys Powell, was one of the most special people in my life. To this day, after twenty years of being gone from this life, she brings me joy and happiness when I think of her.

I don’t just remember one thing; I remember many things, like her home, her kitchen, her beautiful vegetable gardens in the springtime, the simple life she had, and the comfort of simply being with her. She felt like home!

Grandma knew how to grow things. She always planted large vegetable gardens in the spring and tended them with love, patience, hard work, and a gift that seemed to come naturally to her. Her gardens would always produce an abundance of vegetables, so much so that our local grocery store, which at the time was called Tonns Red & White Grocery, would even come to buy them. I remember Mr. George Tonn Sr. would always say, “Mrs. Gladys, you always have the prettiest vegetables.”

When I was young, I didn’t fully understand what those simple things meant. It wasn’t until I got older that I began to understand how much she was teaching us through the way she lived.

When I think about those gardens now, I realize they were about more than vegetables. They were part of the way she lived. She worked hard, used what God had given her, and shared the abundance with others around her.

So many of my most cherished memories of her are tied to simple, ordinary things. The food she prepared, vegetables fresh from the garden, handwritten recipes, and time spent together around her table. Those are the kinds of memories that may seem small at the time but, years later, become the most cherished.

Her mayonnaise cake is one of those memories.

I still have her recipe written in her own handwriting, and that makes it even more precious to me than I can really put into words. To someone else, it may simply look like an old recipe card. To me, it is her handwriting. It is her kitchen. It is a little piece of my grandma that I still get to hold on to.

Every time I see it, I am reminded that the things we pass down through a family are not always expensive or grand. Sometimes they are seeds planted in a garden, a recipe written by hand, a favorite dish made over and over, or memories created while everyone was gathered around the table.

My grandma Gladys was deeply loved, and she remains a very special part of who I am. I wish I could sit at her table with her one more time, but I am grateful that pieces of her remain here, in the memories, the stories, and the recipes she left behind.

This is my Grandma Gladys, and I’m so glad I get to share a little piece of the woman I loved so dearly with you.

Grandma Gladys’s Mayonnaise Cake

This old-fashioned cake was sometimes called a salad dressing cake.

This is one of those old family recipes that deserves to be kept, shared, and made again.

I hope you enjoy it just as much as we do.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 2 teaspoons baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 3 tablespoons cocoa

  • 1 cup mayonnaise

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1 cup water

Directions

Combine the ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into a prepared baking pan and bake at 350°F until done.

Butternut Squash Spaghetti Bowls

A Cozy Taste of Fall

With fall right around the corner, I wanted to prepare something warm, comforting, and a little different. Butternut squash is one of those ingredients that immediately brings the season to the table—its golden color, subtle sweetness, and earthy flavor feel like autumn in every bite.

Instead of using an ordinary serving bowl, I roasted the squash and filled each half with creamy spaghetti. It turned a simple pasta dinner into something beautiful and special. This is the kind of meal that invites you to slow down, gather around the table, and enjoy the comfort of good food made at home.

Creamy Butternut Squash Spaghetti Bowls

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45–55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 medium butternut squash

  • 6 ounces spaghetti noodles

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • Salt and black pepper, to taste

  • 2 tablespoons butter

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • ½ cup heavy cream

  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • ½ teaspoon dried sage, or 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage

  • ½ cup reserved pasta water, as needed

  • Fresh parsley or sage for garnish, optional

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

  2. Carefully slice the butternut squash lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and stringy center.

  3. Brush the cut sides with olive oil, then season them lightly with salt and black pepper.

  4. Place the squash halves cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 40–50 minutes, or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.

  5. While the squash is roasting, cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Before draining it, reserve approximately ½ cup of the pasta water.

  6. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring carefully to prevent burning.

  7. Add the heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, and sage. Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth.

  8. Use a fork to gently loosen some of the roasted squash from each half, leaving enough around the edges so the squash holds its shape.

  9. Add the loosened squash to the cream sauce and stir until it becomes creamy. If the sauce is too thick, add a little reserved pasta water until it reaches the desired consistency.

  10. Add the cooked spaghetti to the skillet and gently toss until every strand is coated with the sauce.

  11. Spoon the spaghetti into the roasted squash halves. Finish with additional Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and fresh herbs, if desired.

Serve immediately while everything is warm and creamy.

A Note From My Kitchen

There is something special about turning an ordinary meal into an experience. Serving the spaghetti inside the roasted squash makes the dish feel inviting, while also allowing a little more of that sweet, roasted flavor to mingle with the pasta.

It is warm, creamy, and comforting—the perfect meal for welcoming a new season and gathering around the table with someone you love.