Last month we asked you who in your family embodies the traditions of food and family—offering up a CookServ 12-inch Sauté Pan to our judges’ 50 favorite entries—and we had hundreds and hundreds of amazing entries. We heard about your mothers and your husbands. We read about traditional family recipes and the ways you make them your own. There were stories about Christmases, Seder dinners and Friday night tapas parties.

Sharing a meal is how we connect. At Nambé we’re about elevating that special moment at the dinner table. Each day this week, we’ve posted ten of the winning essays from our CookServ contest. All 50 winners have been notified by email (check those spam folders!), and have been invited to provide us with a video review of the new CookServ. We’ll share those with you in several weeks. Until then, enjoy reading the fifth and final set of winning essays.

Only my mother could be nominated for this contest. She is THE person in our family who upholds our Polish food traditions. From stuffed cabbage (galumpkis) to kielbasa she has made sure these traditions continue. Every year she and my dad would ‘discuss’ exactly which spices had to be added to the kielbasa. Then the meat had to sit 24 hours until we could stuff it in the casing. Yum. – Loreli

The heritage of food runs thick through all branches of my family tree. What makes us unique is that there is no one person that embodies the traditions, but each of us carries a piece of those traditions inside of us. Grandma Mert cooks for an army. Papa Jack taught us the patience to wait for excellent food. My dad taught me how to grill for perfect taste and professional appearance. My mom taught me how to bake the perfect cake, never satisfied with “good enough.” No single one of us can hold the tradition himself. We cook as family. – Brad M.

When I married my husband, we had both been previously widowed. He had children-I did not. So in the middle of my life, I had to learn to cook… for a family! I have fallen in love with cooking, and also with dinner time at home, almost every night, with all of us talking, laughing and savoring food and life. We are a true family, and I honestly believe much of our bonding and success has been because of food, which has created family rituals, traditions and closeness. – Carolyn A.

My entire family embraces cooking and family gatherings. Each member brings something different to the kitchen and the table. Our family dinners are often eclectic and never boring. We challenge each other to come up with the next “gotta have” dish and relish the time we spend together savoring each other’s creations. – Phil M.

I love cooking for our family for all “Traditional” family get togethers. Entertaining family and friends for all holidays and birthdays is special because eating brings us together!! Multi-generational eating is what keeps our family ‘glued together.’ – Linda B.

Family, Friends, Food, Fun…+ Fantastic = the five food groups! Or is that the five principles of life? We are a family of five who embrace weekend filled with family friends, the great outdoors and LOTS of cooking. Nothing brings a group of people closer together than a good cooked meal and a table filled with laughter, a recap of the day’s adventures, and great company. In a world that is becoming more fast paced, filled with quick fixes and fast food, a home cooked meal around a picnic table with closest friends and loving family reminds us of where we have come from and where we are going. Cheers to family, friends, good food, and unforgettable memories! – Erin

My mom is the embodiment of delicious food. She has been cooking for over 40+ years, keeping old, family traditions and recipes alive. When she makes potato pancakes, it is a nod to her grandparents. When she makes eggplant Parmesan and spaghetti & meatballs it’s a nod to her mother. Keeping these family recipes and traditions going make us a close family. It is how she shows her love to us, by making the most delicious food. The most important ingredient she uses is LOVE.

Every meal is no different than a holiday if you ask Jeff. He is my husband of 24 years and father of our two teenage boys. This morning he filled a pot with homemade vegetable soup, topped with freshly chopped basil for us; and sautéd bacon & poached eggs for the boys. For dinner he stuffed and baked eggplant; broiled steaks, and topped fresh bread with a tapenade made from leftover olives and artichokes. Family dinners may happen right after school or at 9:00, but he has made that time cherished every single day. – Athena K.

My mom embodies food and family traditions. After she married my father, they moved away from their families and across the USA. In order to keep their family traditions alive, she learned his family’s recipes and made them every holiday, just like his mother. She also made her own family’s recipes but created new recipes and traditions for my siblings and me. Many of the new traditions revolved around her delicious cooking which I try to replicate as I start my own family. Our traditional family get-togethers now revolve around meals where we savor delicious food and have meaningful conversations. – Jenny P.

My grandmother embodies food and family traditions. When I cook, I think of her. I see her hands cutting onions, peeling apples, shucking corn. I learned so much about cooking from her. Often times I wonder, how many hours has she spent in her life preparing meals for others? My grandmother is one of the only people that can whip up a gourmet feast in 10 minutes from nothing! She still cooks a fabulous Sunday dinner every week. – Erica H.

Last month we asked you who in your family embodies the traditions of food and family—offering up a CookServ 12-inch Sauté Pan to our judges’ 50 favorite entries—and we had hundreds and hundreds of amazing entries. We heard about your mothers and your husbands. We read about traditional family recipes and the ways you make them your own. There were stories about Christmases, Seder dinners and Friday night tapas parties.

Sharing a meal is how we connect. At Nambé we’re about elevating that special moment at the dinner table. Each day this week, we’ll post ten of the winning essays from our CookServ contest. All 50 winners have been notified by email (check those spam folders!), and have been invited to provide us with a video review of the new CookServ. We’ll share those with you in several weeks. Until then, enjoy reading the fourth set of winning essays.

Top food honors go to my loving grandmother. Fresh tortillas, green chile and fantastic baked hams are only a few specialties she shares with the family. Tradition for us lies on holiday lunches and dinners where we gather around grandmas dining room table and feast on beautiful home cooked meals. The inspiration and appreciation from this food has encouraged a career in cooking for myself. The warmth and love behind my cuisine shows the values attained from my grandmother and bring my diners a sense of truth in their dish. I can only hope to continue her legacy. – Thomas V.

Family tradition in our house started seven years ago and continues to be very active. Every Friday we host a dinner, friends and family are always eager to see the theme for that week. We are a family of seven and our children enjoy creating in the kitchen and have become critics of their own food. I was told by our youngest daughter that she always knows where to find me, and that’s in the kitchen. Cooking is not only a passion but where I find my sense of peace. – Lynette D.

I grew up with a love of good food and cooking from my mother. Now, I share that same passion with others in small cooking classes. Fresh food, real ingredients, and all can come together quickly with the right tools that are beautiful as well as functional! Sharing a great meal around the table at least once a day strengthens relationships between family and friends. My mother taught me these values and it is my turn to pass them on! – C.K.

25 years ago I took a vow to a family of epicureans. Of course they would never have used those words, but it is what they live for nonetheless. The culture of creole cooking that day was on display that day, and my mother in law, Helen Sutton was in charge. She is cooks with slow precision and history in her stirs that can hardly be put on paper. If you want to experience Louisiana creole cooking, then her kitchen is the place to eat and learn. The traditions and techniques of Creole cuisine have long taken the backseat to cajun cooking but it is the best kept secret. – DeAnne S.

My husband and I have been enjoying a tapas afternoon every Saturday for the past several years. Tapas quickly became a tradition for us and our friends. Everyone looks forward to seeing and tasting what we have on our “menu” for the day. We would love to have these fine Nambe pieces to show off our culinary creations. After all, we first eat with our eyes. – Claudia B.

My husband has made it a tradition to teach our children recipes handed down to him from his family in Sicily. We take pictures to capture the moment of one generation handing down the love of cooking to the other. It is something we know our children will continue so that the family recipes will continue their journey from one generation to the next. – Suzanne I.

My Mom is the embodiment of tradition and food in my family. From chicken and dumplings in the fall, lemon cake in the summer, or spaghetti with meatball surprise anytime, I firmly believe there is something special in her hands that made any dish special. Making cornbread stuffing is a tradition in my home that everyone participates in. As children my Mom had my sister to crumble the cornbread, my brother cooked the sausage, and I chopped and sautéd the vegetables. This Thanksgiving tradition, is also lovely metaphor of how our efforts as a family could turn into something great! – Roxanne J.

Having a meal together represent family, relationship, a shared moment in time. My mother grew up with ten siblings and, being one of the oldest, used to cook for the family. I can’t even begin to imagine the hustle and bustle around that table! My mother brought that livelihood and love for gathering people around a shared meal to our family table as I was growing up. And now, newly married and with a table of my own, so to speak, I hope to carry on the tradition of celebrating life and love with others around a shared dish. – Lina H.

I am the person in our family who embodies food and family traditions that were brought to this country from Greece by my family. I incorporate these traditions with my American upbringing to give my family a sense or their roots while encompassing the lifestyle that we American live today. The meals I serve have their Mediterranean roots, served with the flair and importance of family. I have always tried to embody these feelings when I serve to show that the eye appeal is as important as the foods you are serving, both the table and the food are a marriage of the hostess’s love for the enjoyment and comfort of her family. When a good presentation is there, the food’s appeal is acceptance with love and friendship that one brings to the table. Bon Apetit! – Stacy F.

My wife loves to cook; she loves trying new recipes. Family tradition is very important to her; our family gets to enjoy all those wonderful meals she grew up with as a child. Holidays are very special too with all the baking of favorite Swedish pastries such as Swedish tearings and Swedish kringle. We love coming home and smelling homemade bread that permeates the house. She has a passion for cooking and we love her for it. – Patricia M.

Last month we asked you who in your family embodies the traditions of food and family—offering up a CookServ 12-inch Sauté Pan to our judges’ 50 favorite entries—and we had hundreds and hundreds of amazing entries. We heard about your mothers and your husbands. We read about traditional family recipes and the ways you make them your own. There were stories about Christmases, Seder dinners and Friday night tapas parties.

Sharing a meal is how we connect. At Nambé we’re about elevating that special moment at the dinner table. Each day this week, we’ll post ten of the winning essays from our CookServ contest. All 50 winners have been notified by email (check those spam folders!), and have been invited to provide us with a video review of the new CookServ. We’ll share those with you in several weeks. Until then, enjoy reading the third set of winning essays.

The person in our family who best embodies food and family traditions is my husband. We are stationed overseas and when my husband comes home from deployments or travel he enjoys creating and recreating unique dishes that capture our travels, history and enjoyment of different cultures and of our own family traditions. – Sandra B.

I am the chef! I grew up helping my mother and grandmothers in their kitchens. Growing up on a farm gave me ample fresh ingredients to use and enjoy. As an adult, I have lived overseas. From each country…I tried to emulate their favorite dishes. In doing so, I’ve learned so much about the cuisines of the world. Cooking is like a history lesson! I love to share my meals with family & friends. To live, is to eat! – Judy C.

The women in my family have passed on the traditions of canning, pickled beets, cookie recipes, jams, and yes, fruitcake (it’s yummy!). When we moved to New Mexico, the realm of cooking and food options exploded—through exposure to a variety of fruits and vegetables, green chile, and my mom trying new recipes, I found a love of creative, exploratory cooking. My sister’s cooking blossomed later, and is creatively rooted, too, which has served her well; she has had the added challenge of dietary restrictions in her family (gluten intolerance and dairy free) and yet, she cooks/creates amazing cuisine. – Marci R.

I grew up in a large family, and gatherings are always about laughter and great food. Everyone in my family cooks (there are always leftovers), and we all have our favorite dishes. Looking back, I am lucky I was able to spend time watching both my grandmothers make dinner, and spend countless hours with my mother cooking, baking, and laughing. Those memories are priceless, and I hope to share them with my children someday. My husband and I recently bought our first home, and now I get to experiment with all those fun recipes in my own kitchen. – Stephanie B.

It seems that I am the family member who has kept (and established!) traditions at the family table. Actually, I Have the family table which my siblings and I grew up around! And, as my daughters grew up, I baked and prepared specific dishes for each annual occasion. Every year I love to pull out the stained recipe cards and pore over the treasured recipes in my Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book which was given to me by my great-grandmother when I was a girl. – Colleen S.

My daughter Melissa, 28 was married 2 months ago to the love of her life Gregory. They both have a passion for food, all types of ethnic cooking. They recently purchased a new apartment in Brooklyn, NY which will be renovated and she is hoping the kitchen to be finished by the end of the summer. Melissa loves to cook and early September will be the Jewish New Year. It would be her first year cooking for the family as a married woman. What’s even more special is that most of the recipes we use are taken from her Grandma Phyllis who passed away from Alzheimer’s 6 years ago. Her traditions continue through food and custom and I know she would be honored if one of her recipes were prepared in Nambe cookware. She had an eye for beauty and quality. Her traditions are continuing one more generation. – Susan P.

My grandmother embodied our food and family traditions. I loved the visits to Grandma’s house and enjoying dishes from our cultural heritage like veranika and zweiback. We would spend time in the kitchen together preparing supper from scratch – we even made noodles from scratch! Grandma passed her love of family and good homemade food on to my mother who served us scrumptious homemade meals every day, and now my sister carries on the tradition of preparing delicious food for others in her culinary career. Grandma left us a legacy of good food and family dinners. – Janelle

My daughter Erin is 16 and looking forward to attending the Culinary Institute of America after she graduates high school. She got excited about food and family traditions after receiving a Julia Child Art of French Cooking book for Christmas. Erin inspires the family to gather together and connect around meals that nourish our hearts as well as our bodies. The art in her cooking is experienced on the plate, the palate and in the connection she makes with the people around her. – Tracey H.

My sister is the center of all traditions in our family that encompass good food expertly prepared and elegantly presented. Her home is the setting for multi-generational family gatherings where some are formal affairs with all the china and sterling and others not so much. All have in common wonderful delicious food beautifully presented. – Susan

My husband is a great cook (better than both of our sets of parents-don’t tell!) and is trying to teach the value of trying new flavors and textures to our children, 3 1/2 and 18 months. He tries to involve them as long as they’ll stay, so that they can be invested in the process and excited about what they accomplished. We also try a garden ever summer, but we’re still working on our green thumbs. It’s a process! His (and my) hope is to teach our children the value of fresh and healthy foods! – Linde A.