Chances are, this time of year you will be asked to make your signature dish. A special recipe that only you know all the ingredients to. A delicious dish that they always ask you to bring.

Everyone in my family has at least one- Mom’s layered salad, Dad’s ribs, my mother-in-law’s fish stew, Paw-Paw’s stuffing, Mam-Maw’s apple pie, Grandma’s fried chicken, Aunt Lyla’s sugar cookies, Lee’s grandma’s lemonade, his Aunt Trish’s cakes…

Most holiday memories involve famous signature dishes. It wasn’t the actual food, but the love and time that went into making it that made us feel special. It was the stories, jokes, and laughs we shared as we passed these dishes around the table.

I’ve been thinking about my signature dish. The meal the boys will request when they come home from college. The recipe their wives will ask me for early in their marriages. The dish that my grandkids will expect when they visit.

It connects me to the generations of women before me who loved, cooked, and cared for their families.And it will connect me to the generations after me who will smell chocolate chip cookies and think of me. Or go to a restaurant and order quesadillas, but smile and say, “They just aren’t as good as Mom’s!”

I hope to incorporate all of my family’s signature dishes into my own collection so the meals and memories will live on. And someday when my grandchildren say, “Grandma, you make the best chocolate pie!” I will say, “You should have tasted my grandma’s!”

Sandra Peoples blogs with friends at Today’s Housewife. We shared our favorite family signature dishes in our weekly feature, “Please Pass the…”