Peanut Butter Squares & New Traditions

From Brokenness to Beauty: Family Recipes and New Traditions

Life doesn’t always turn out the way we imagine. Sometimes our past is filled with pain, disappointment, or loss—moments that leave us longing for healing and hope. I know mine was... Yet even in the brokenness, God invites us to create something beautiful, something new. With the help of my husband, God, and hard self-work I am working every day to create new beginnings. This family recipe below will warm your hearts and hopefully your bellies.

One of the most tangible ways we can do this is through food and family traditions. Recipes passed down through generations carry stories, flavors, and memories—sometimes sweet, sometimes bittersweet. And when our past is fractured, creating new rituals around meals can be an act of grace, a declaration that beauty can rise from ashes.

1. Honoring the Past, Healing Through Food

Family recipes are more than ingredients and instructions—they’re pieces of history. A grandmother’s pie, an aunt’s Sunday stew, a father’s barbecue rub—these dishes carry love, effort, and memories.

Even if those memories are tangled with pain, choosing to honor them can be healing. Cook them with intention, share the stories with your children, and reflect on the lessons of resilience and hope that food can carry.

2. Creating New Traditions

Sometimes, the past cannot be replicated—and it shouldn’t hold us captive. God invites us to start fresh, even small.

• Pick a day of the week for family cooking: Whether it’s breakfast, dinner, or a weekend treat, make it a sacred rhythm.

• Let your kids cook: If you have younger kids let them pick a recipe. If you have teens - Let them cook one night a week. (pick their own recipe, shop for the items, and prepare the whole thing themselves). They will be so proud.

• Celebrate milestones with symbolic meals: A new recipe for the first day of school, a Reese's Cake for birthdays, a Ham for thanksgiving—each dish can tell a story of resilience and love.

3. Turning Pain into Beauty

The Bible tells us: “He gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3). Cooking and creating new family traditions are practical ways to embody this truth.

Each time we gather around the table, we take a little piece of the past, mix it with hope, sprinkle in joy, and serve something wholly new. We are declaring that the story is not over, that life can be full of warmth, connection, and love—even if it once felt broken.

4. Practical Tips to Start Your Journey

• Mix old with new: Adapt a cherished recipe with a new ingredient or technique.

• Document the story: Keep a family recipe journal, including why a recipe matters and the memories attached to it.

• Invite others: Healing is often communal. Share your new traditions with friends, neighbors, or extended family.

• Celebrate imperfection: Some recipes will flop, just as life does. Laugh, learn, and try again.

5. The Table as a Place of Renewal

Food is more than sustenance—it’s a vessel for love, storytelling, and grace. By honoring family recipes and creating new traditions, we transform our homes into places where God’s beauty can flourish. Where ashes once lay, hope rises. Where old wounds lingered, laughter now echoes. Where past pain existed, new memories bloom.

In the kitchen, at the table, in everyday rituals, we are making something holy: a faith-filled, joy-filled, hope-filled home—one recipe, one tradition, one meal at a time.

Please enjoy my husband's family recipe below. This cherished recipe was shared with me and is enjoyed every year by our family. We have honored his family by creating these with our daughters and look forward to the day we can continue making them with our grandkids.

Don't forget to share pictures with me and share comments on how much your family enjoyed this easy, timeless, and beloved dessert.