By Amanda Hill

What is it about old family recipes that bring back such fond memories?

For me, this time of year always reminds me of fresh-baked Christmas tree cookies straight out of the oven—a recipe passed down from my Grandma to my Mom and then to me in college. I’ve never known anyone else to make them, and now I bake a batch each year. The holidays just wouldn’t be the same without them. In warmer seasons, my Gran’s Lemon Chicken Kabobs and my Mom’s Frozen Fruit Cups make an appearance at least once, if not several times, at my house.

The holidays, though, seem to bring out everyone’s favorite family recipes. But what do you do when a loved one has passed away, and suddenly that famous dish—made from memory—is no longer available? Suddenly, it becomes a lost recipe.

Finding those lost recipes has become a quest for some family cooks. A few months ago, I came across this neat site, www.lostrecipesfound.com. Not your typical food blog, Monica Kass Rogers started compiling the lost recipes that she had hunted down for her monthly column in the Chicago Tribune. Readers would write in to Monica, looking for a particular recipe, and she would hunt them down, try them out and share the recipe with her readers.

Lost Recipes Found has everything from family recipes and chef favorites to state fair fare and “gone but not forgotten” dishes from restaurants of old. If you’re scouring your kitchen for that clipped recipe off a food box or bag, chances are it’s just a blog search away.

What are some of your family’s holiday favorites—the recipes you can’t live without? Have you ever searched for a lost recipe? Share with us by leaving a comment below.