Our "grandmothers" are the women and men, old and young, who keep the home fires burning on the hearth and in the heart -- the nurturers. Their recipes may come from brittle, yellowing notebooks with careful entries in their own grandmothers' spidery hands or hasty scrawls on a paper napkin. They may or may not imitate the style of professional food writers. No matter what the externals, these gifts from the grandmothers are coded messages, keys ready to unlock the inner life of someone's kitchen.

by Maricel Presilla