She got me and my sister into the habit of singing in the kitchen. Once in a while, we three are in the same kitchen at the same time. We may not recall all the lyrics, but we don't lack for laughs. Also, experiment and don't worry about the exact ingredients called for in a recipe. Improvise and learn from your creations and mistakes.
Husbands are good people to experiment on.
Her forte, however, proved to be another dish. Once a year, ever since she joined the ladies' branch of the Steuben Society in the 1930s, she would invite the ladies over for an Italian luncheon, and my mother served bona fide Italian spaghetti and meatballs. That aroma permeated the kitchen, its pungent odor surrounding the whole house on that day. We children dipped fingers in the pot, tasting the scrumptious simmering tomato sauce as we sneaked past, then were beckoned by the sweet smell of the apple pie in the oven. First she had me put some flour into a cup before adding cold water.