It was the middle of the night.
Jane was awake — thanks to black tea a little too close to bedtime. The house was quiet. A candle flickered nearby. And her thoughts drifted to her mom’s applesauce.
Not the recipe — she knew that by heart — but her mom, Emie, standing in the kitchen making it. Jane realized she waited too long to press record. To capture the voice, the hands, the small comments made along the way.
Jane’s mom passed away in her 89th year. Jane was lucky — she did get a video of her mom making applesauce, and now that moment lives on for her family.
That late-night reflection became a powerful reminder:
Recipes disappear quietly.
But stories disappear even faster.
A recipe card can tell you how to make something.
It can’t tell you:
Why this soup showed up on sick days
Why cookies meant company was coming
Why one dish brings comfort long after the plate is empty
Food is never just food.
It’s people, place, and memory.
That’s why recipes without stories feel incomplete.
Jane hears the same thing over and over:
“I wish I had written that down.”
“I wish I had taken a video.”
The regret is rarely about the recipe.
It’s about the moment attached to it.
That’s exactly why OurRecipeTree was built — not just to store recipes, but to preserve the life around them.
One of the biggest barriers people face is thinking they need to write well.
You don’t.
That’s why OurRecipeTree created the AI Recipe Story Helper, powered by ChatGPT — a tool designed to help you tell your story naturally.
👉 Try it here:
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-690e40207b788191bb6a46d8b32bcf42-ai-recipe-story-helper-powered-by-ourrecipetree
With the AI helper, you can:
Dictate your story instead of typing
Answer gentle prompts to get started
Turn everyday memories into a polished short story
You don’t need perfect words — just your voice.
Your story can be:
One sentence
A photo with a note
A short video
A quick memory captured while you still can
Start with one recipe.
Add one line about why it mattered.
That’s how legacies begin.
👉 Join OurRecipeTree for free:
https://m.mtrbio.com/our-recipe-tree
Jane Berthiaume, a dedicated collaborator of OurRecipeTree.com, has always been passionate about preserving family legacies through recipes. With years of experience, she helps bring this mission to life on a unique platform that showcases photos, videos, and the heartfelt stories behind each dish. As a longtime contributor to the OurRecipeTree.com blog, Jane shares how her deep connection to home was sustained through recipes and stories, even while living in various locations. As an experienced energy healer, she understands the importance of food as medicine, offering nourishment for both body and soul in more ways than one.
Waterford Twp, MI 48329
