When I was a kid, I always loved Valentine’s Day. Each year, I’d get a beautiful, sparkly card from my Grandma Peggy with a dollar bill inside. I’d watch the mailbox like a hawk for the red or pink envelope to come, knowing when it did there would always be a pretty card for me.

As I got older, that dollar bill was replaced with a five, and my Valentine cards from my grandma still, all these years later, are among my favorite memories. I also loved the way my grandma cooked.

She was a typical Jewish grandmother, always in the kitchen. We’d spend holidays at my grandparent’s house at 330 W. Diversey in Lincoln Park, and they were always filled with wonderful Jewish cooking.

One of the ultimate treats for us was my grandma’s kreplach, which were like small dumplings with meat stuffed inside. My grandmother would spend hours standing at the stove frying them up, and she’d stack them high upon a big platter. My brothers and I and my cousins, seven of us in all, would run through her kitchen snatching those kreplach up, even before she was ready to serve them. But my grandma never ever said a word. It was like it was her joy in life to cook for us and make us happy.

That’s why I love what River North resident Emily Israel Hoffman is doing.

Hoffman is creating a cookbook, A Blending of Bittersweet Memories, to honor her mom, Renee Israel, who died in Jan. 2006 after a hard-fought battle with breast cancer. The book will share memories of people that have lost loved ones, the lessons they’ve learned and recipes from their loved ones who are gone.

Hoffman’s goal is to gather 1,000 stories and recipes from people throughout the country, allowing family legacies and memories to live on forever. A portion of sales profits will go to charity through the Renee Israel Foundation, created in honor of her mom.

“This is the most therapeutic thing that I’ve done … and I’ve done tons of traditional therapy,” Hoffman said. “This makes me connect with people. No one really gets it unless you’ve been through it.”

Losing her mom was unbearable for the then 21 year-old Hoffman, yet she finds comfort in preparing her mom’s recipes. Renee was a fabulous cook, and she developed two cookbooks, both entitled Whip Me, Beat Me, Eat Me. Through Hoffman’s foundation, the family also created a third edition of the cookbook in Renee’s memory.

“When I cook, I’m celebrating my mother’s legacy,” Hoffman said. “One taste of one of her recipes brings the memories back. Food and recipes are a way to heal, and I’m hoping to share that healing process with others.”

Hoffman is collecting recipes and stories 500 words or less of a favorite or bittersweet memory connected to a recipe. They can run the gamut, and be something as simple as a milkshake.

“My mom was my best friend and all my memories growing up were surrounded by food,” said Hoffman. “My hopes are that this will bring a new light on the grieving process. For the majority of people it’s a dark process, but some good things can come out of it.”

She hopes to have her first book out by the end of the year.

“My ultimate goal of the book is to give back to others and help them grieve and yet celebrate,” Hoffman said. “I want people to find comfort and support in this book, and come away feeling less alone.”

Send memories/recipes to Bittersweet Memories, P.O. Box 10936, Chicago, 60610 or check out www.bittersweet-memories.com.