Posted on 09/16/2025 3:05:30 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Food is never just food. For many of us, recipes passed down through generations hold memories, traditions, and a sense of family heritage. That’s why one teenager turned to Reddit after clashing with his mom and stepdad over a beloved recipe that he isn’t ready to share.
A 17-year-old explained on Reddit that his dad, who has since passed away, taught him how to make a special batch of gooey, chocolatey birthday brownies. These brownies are more than just dessert; they’re a family tradition on his father’s side and something that connects him to his dad’s memory.
His mom never learned the recipe and admits she isn’t much of a baker. After remarrying, she asked her son to make the brownies for his new step-siblings, hoping to turn the recipe into a tradition for her blended family as well.
The teen said no, explaining that he didn’t want to share something so personal and didn’t want the responsibility of baking for multiple birthdays each year. He even suggested his mom find a new tradition that didn’t rely on him. But his stepdad called him “a stubborn child,” insisting there was “no good reason” not to make the brownies......
This story resonated because it illustrates how food often holds meaning far beyond the table. For the teenager, his dad's brownie recipe is a link to someone he lost, not just a treat to hand out at birthdays. Reddit was nearly unanimous: it's perfectly okay to protect a tradition that feels sacred, even if others don't understand.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The dirty little secret is that 95% of “family recipes” came from the back of a box or cookbook.
Being on reddit a few times, I have to see if I can get it. If the recipe has a secret ingredient, he shouldn’t share it. If it something else, like a different cooking temperature and less time in the oven, he should. Wife has a recipe for a cake that been in her family for a 100 years. Her great great grandmother got it from a baker in Poland. She doesn’t tell me her recipe.
Fair, it’s the teens to share or not.
Because, ypu know, its not oike there are millions of recipes online just as good or better!
Bkmk
His dad probably got the recipe from Betty Crocker.
I’m always happy to share a recipe or cooking technique, but I don’t get upset if people don’t want to share theirs for whatever reason. It’s their call. I’m not entitled to their information.
Totally agree. Forced slavery (share with MY kids your tenderest memory of your late father whose wife I’m banging) is not the hill the stepfather should want to die on. Sounds like a pr*ck.
I SAY-—THEY SHOULD HAVE OBTAINED THE RECIPE BEFORE DAD DIED.
NOT FAIR TO PUT KID ON THE HOT SEAT NOW.
Could be... very well could be.
The mom should have. The step side of the family didn’t come about until the dad was gone.
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