Bon Appetite! A Collision of Traditions at the Dinner Table

My first introduction in to the house of in-laws was totally food orientated. A few hugs and names exchanges was a merely a short introduction into a tradition of food. It could have been no more then 10 minutes into meeting everyone (probably forty of them) when I was told that I should not be shy and help myself, or else I would probably starve. At first I did not really get take it serous. But, after the frenzy had cleared I found my modest time of waiting was up and I was going to go in there and get some food. All I found was crumbs…crumbs so puny that it would not have even filled a small mouse. With the sympathy of the aunts that have seen similar episodes go down with new comers, let me get into the fridge and make a sandwich on Thanksgiving Day. But let it be clear, that it was a get out of jail free card. Reality is that their are not so nice when it comes to their kitchens and facing the humiliation of being the only one that did not get dinner was my problem; and in the future I should no better.
I guess at this point I should tell why there was no food left. To every aunt there are four or more children, one husband, and at least, speaking in the past, a few grandchildren. There are five aunts, one mother-in-law, and two uncles. There’s grandma and grandpa, and all the cousins first, second, third and some twice removed. They are self proclaimed Tar Heals, have you ever heard of corn bread feed. I swear it like standing in a group of green giants, male and female a like. They have an appétit as well.
I can admit it after 10 years of being in the family; I’ve gone from scrappy ally cat that was starving, to an intrigued food seeker. The food is so good it impossible to make anything like what is prepared in the smoregusborge of down right tar heal traditions. But out of all the types of food that they prepare, it likes the theory of teaching an old dog a new trick. It’s the same when a new dish is introduced to the tables. At first it gets a nosed turned up, and then it get ate by the boys that will eat anything; but to see the old timers with that dish on their plate is unheard.
It could drive a person mad, thinking about their family traditions. From pepper to salt, flour to milk, generic to name bran has all to do with their food traditions. But I can not believe it’s a tradition of the past just merely their interpretation of what is traditional. I think that they all have a pretty good idea what their predecessors before them did, but I think each and everyone of the traditionalist have put their own twist on their recipes. So my question to them is why, would you try my dish, I watch cooking shows and everyone but them will try my foods, yet only my mother-in-law will allow me to cook for her. At the same time she teaches me tough’s old great traditional recipes. I guess family traditions are a little give and take