As a Christmas gift, my mom made a recipe book for her grandkids of all the recipes she’s shared with them over the years. It was a HUGE undertaking for her and the final result was everything my mom had hoped for. They LOVED it. At one point tonight, having opened their copies, the grandkids were all flipping through the pages, laughing, smiling and reminiscing, and I said to her, “It’s the moment you worked for. It’s wonderful. Enjoy it.”

Some of the recipes date back to our days in Omaha, and each comes with notes about its origin. A more recent recipe, under the dessert section, comes with this note, “This is the recipe from Melinda’s good friend, Christine, who gave it to the family when they left France for home in 2011. She had served them and the whole family loved them – especially Andy who added the ‘crack’ to the title because they are so addictive.”

Yes, Christine’s “crack brownies” made the book.

Today’s photo is of Ella just as she finished unwrapping her copy.