The Tastes Of Love Angelina Bell   © Copyright 2026 by Angelina Bell

Photo by Los Muertos Crew at Pexels.

When I was a young girl, our family packed up the car and drove from California to New Mexico to visit Grandma at her country house. I remember the tangy mineral smell of earth after the rain. Grandma raised rabbits to eat and goats for milk. Many delicious meals came from her small country kitchen. Pumpkin pies, pinto beans, and yes, we did eat fried rabbit.

I still remember watching her mix flour, water, and lard to make homemade tortillas. Grandma would squeeze the ball of dough through a closed fist, forming round balls. She would then dust them with flour and roll them out with her heavy wooden rolling pin. Mom would gather a crock of butter and plates. As soon as the tortillas puffed up on the gas stove flame, she would pile them up on a plate with a clean cotton hand towel over them. We slathered them with butter, rolled them up, and ate them one after another. Grandma was also known for her potato yeast rolls. Same ritual, hot out of the oven, crock of butter, sometimes a dab of jam, and off we’d go polishing off the whole pan.

My mother was also an amazing cook. With a Latina heritage, she was well known for her Mexican cooking. Her favorite specialty was chiles rellenos, especially if she could acquire fresh Hatch chilies from Santa Fe, New Mexico. I remember a time our family struggled financially, mom was forced to economize and often created budget-friendly dinners. Especially Spanish rice, a pot of pinto beans, fresh spicy salsa, and a pile of homemade tortillas. Those were the most delicious meals. Mom was also known for her red beef chili Colorado, pork chili verde, and chicken mole.

Mom had a wicked sweet tooth. She raised her family in an era where many family desserts came from a box. Jello was often a dessert staple along with tapioca pudding. I especially loved the cooked chocolate pudding that she served warm with vanilla ice cream. Mom also used her red-checked Betty Crocker cookbook for dessert recipes. My favorite was her pineapple upside-down cake. The whole house was drenched with sweet sugary aromas. At an early age, I, too, had the same sweet tooth. Although I took advantage of cake mixes from a box, I found a developing passion for desserts made from scratch. With three younger siblings and a father and mother who loved desserts, I always had eager admirers. I was heavily influenced by my father’s mother, Grandma Luckenbach. Her desserts were my favorite.

Mom’s cooking was hard to beat, but oh, the meals my Grandma made! It wasn’t until I was a teenager that Grandma and Grandpa moved to California, within an hour of where we lived. Most of their time had been spent on the East Coast. Now that Grandma was in town, we were in for a treat.

My grandparents bought a gorgeous brick home in Thousand Oaks, California. Grandma always set the prettiest tables with her pink linen tablecloths, Desert Rose china, and fresh flowers. We would jump out of the car and rush in to see what Grandma was cooking. Grandma didn’t believe in special kids’ meals or finicky eaters. I started my “foodie fervor” at a very young age. Grandma dazzled us with chicken cordon bleu, scalloped potatoes, cauliflower polonaise, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, lemon meringue pies piled high with fluffy marshmallowy meringues and tart lemon fillings, raisin-studded rice pudding, cinnamon-flecked apple pies, rum-glazed cinnamon rolls, homemade yeast rolls, and other drool-worthy creations.

My favorite food memory was Grandma outside with a garlic rosemary-scented leg of lamb turning on a rotisserie spit. Grandma would shave off little samplings of hot, savory, crusty pieces of lamb for us to sample. Swoon! She loved to serve her lamb with bright green mint jelly.

Easter was always a special occasion. Grandma was busy in the kitchen while we ran out in the yard frantically looking for hidden easter eggs filled with chocolates, jelly beans, and coins! She baked glazed ham with pineapple slices, sweet and golden, crowning the outside and studding it with a criss-cross of whole cloves. There were trays of paprika-flecked deviled eggs as appetizers. For dessert, Grandma served her famous triple-layer coconut cake. Grandma always kept all of us hopping with chores when we came to visit. But when we sat down to eat, it was well worth it!

In my 50s, I enjoyed a year as a vendor at our local farmers’ market, Moonflower Baking and Catering. I loved thumbing through magazines and cookbooks for ideas. My specialty was my flaky galettes made with seasonal fruits, which were often purchased from fellow vendors selling their farm produce. Italian plums were my favorite. Cranberry oat scones, date pecan iced cinnamon rolls made from my biscuit recipe, cakes, cookies, bars, loaves, hand pies, and anything else I was inspired to make. I sent an email out to my customers letting them know what was on Saturday’s menu. My hatchback was packed to the brim. I would leave the back open with enough space for hot scones and muffins to be pulled from the oven and loaded at the last second. I always appreciated the line of patrons waiting for their chance to purchase a warm treat, often with a shopping list in hand.

I’m retired now, but I love nothing more than to spend hours in the kitchen preparing meals for new friends, a neighbor with a new baby, and lots and lots of treats for church coffee hour, dinners, and picnics.

This morning, our car is packed with “The Jewel Box,” 40 mini galettes in seven different fruit fillings. Plump, juicy, dark cherries; gorgeous, fresh blueberries; bright red, tart raspberries; sunny apricots; fragrant, sweet peaches; jumbo blackberries; and round, dark, purply plums with golden centers, all glazed with a thin layer of apricot jam for extra shine. All together they look like beautiful jeweled brooches.

Planning menus, shopping, cooking, baking, hours in the kitchen, that’s my happy place. The gift flows on from great grandmothers, grandmothers, mom, me, and on to my children and grandchildren.

My eldest son, Frank, prides himself on his gorgeous, award-winning wedding cakes produced in his bakery, Frank Vilt’s Cakes. He even won first place in a televised baking show. Jared inspired me to make a sourdough starter after seeing images of his golden, crusty, fresh-from-the-oven loaves. Robin has impressed me with the nutritious dinners she makes for her family, no matter how busy she is. Roast chicken breast, steamed broccoli, and baked sweet potatoes are delicious meals that are her go-to. Brandon is a beast in the kitchen. He loves to eat, cook, and entertain. One of his favorite creations is mastering Mamacita’s spicy salsa just like my mom used to make. And it continues with our granddaughter, Skylynn, who was thrilled when she learned to make my guacamole recipe. Fresh, perfectly ripe avocados, sweet chopped white onion, fresh lemon juice, and sea salt, all mashed together served with tortilla chips. She loved it so much that she could eat the whole bowl by herself. She also taught herself how to make steamed shrimp, another of her favorites.

The aromas, the spicy tastes, the sweet creations continue to carry on the tastes of love.