Pencil Me In

By Deborah L. Cohen

Philadelphia

Diane Satterthwaite remembers with pride how her mother helped build the witch's oven for her school's production of "Hansel and Gretel." Her mom's dedication to family and community left a lasting impression on her. But she owes her affable nature to her grandmother, whose death three years ago left a void that no one and nothing can fill.

"I cannot put into words what my nana meant to me," says Satterthwaite, who inherited her grandmother's love for entertaining. "Nana always had food and people at her house," she...