Cooking can be so easy!Grandma Annemarie impresses with her ingenious kitchen tricks

May 9, 2026 around 11:21 Clock

Eggs don't belong in a breading; red cabbage is better cooked with grape juice instead of water, and to ensure that the soup stays clear, the noodles have to be boiled separately. Several thousand followers learn these and other kitchen tricks every week on Vanessa and her grandma Annemarie's social media accounts.

“We’re making beef soup today,” says Annemarie into her 37-year-old granddaughter’s cell phone camera. Grandma cooks and Vanessa films – they show step by step how traditional dishes are made from simple ingredients. Knowledge passed down over generations has long since found its way onto social media. Grandma Annemarie doesn't know exactly what Tiktok or Instagram are – but she doesn't care either. She's just happy that she can help people “somewhere on the internet.”

It all started with a crusty roast. “Grandma just makes the best,” says her granddaughter. Vanessa wants to record the recipe for herself, but not just in the form of quantities with a piece of paper and pen. That's why Vanessa keeps her cell phone camera on it as Grandma Annemarie cooks the roast in the pot, cuts into the rind and salts the meat. On a whim, Vanessa uploads the video to her Tiktok account, where she already posts videos from her everyday life. A short time later, the digital roast recipe has several million views.

Since this first video in September 2024, numerous others have been added – and with it thousands of followers and millions of clicks. The filming takes place on weekends or evenings when Vanessa comes from her actual job in a pharmacy. A lot of work for the 37-year-old, but filming with her grandma is not only fun for her, but also bears fruit: they have now published their own cookbook.

Vanessa and grandma Annemarie hit a nerve with their videos. There are more and more generational duos and older creators on social media. “They seem particularly credible because they simply contradict some mechanisms and provide moments of surprise,” says Hanna Klimpe from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. The trend could contribute to “emotional stabilization and mutual understanding”. Ruth Gehrmann from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz also says: “One opportunity is the breaking up of older people as a homogeneous group.”

The success in the big social media world doesn't change how and what is cooked in the small kitchen in Recklinghausen: Instead of using the shiny electric pepper mill, Grandma Annemarie still prefers to season the beef soup with the grinder that Vanessa gave her 20 years ago. The asparagus and herbs are easily cut with kitchen scissors. Nothing is provided. “Grandma couldn’t do that,” says Vanessa. Most of the time, Grandma Annemarie doesn't even notice that her granddaughter is filming her.

Nevertheless, not everything is the same as it was back in grandma's time: “Grandma wants to be a modern grandma,” says Vanessa. That's why the two hot air fryers are loyal helpers in your kitchen. Grandma Annemarie is now a real fan: “Chicken in there, oh! The chicken, that's unique,” says the 79-year-old. She also wants to show her appreciation for food and cooking on social media.

For Grandma Annemarie, cooking is more than just an outdated social obligation. The 79-year-old fulfills having a task. “I have time,” she says. From shopping to tidying up the kitchen – she likes to do it herself, whether for social media or not.

Was the same spoon used twice to taste? Why is the bowl of bread now a different color than in the previous clip? And soy sauce didn't exist back then, as the video tells us. The detectives in Vanessa and Grandma Annemarie's community notice everything. “They look for something in every little bit,” reports Grandma Annemarie.

Real hate comments are never directed at the 79-year-old, but at Vanessa. Then she is sometimes insulted as “the lazy one” who doesn’t help her grandma cook. They have no way of knowing that Grandma Annemarie has “bumblebees in her butt” and actually prefers not to let her granddaughter touch the cooking pots out of perfectionism. Sometimes Vanessa answers ironically. If the writing goes below the belt, it blocks the authors. She doesn't tell her grandma about it.

Most of the time, the generational duo is in the favor of their followers. “I’ve also received a few marriage proposals just because they want to eat at Grandma’s,” says Vanessa. “I also get so many heartbreaking messages, some even say they cried watching the videos.” Grandma Annemarie not only gives cooking tips, but also gives many people a feeling of security.

“You get a few grandparents virtually,” says scientist Klimpe. “In a society in which a lot of people don’t live in this village structure, where you have parents or grandparents in the same town, this naturally serves a longing for family cohesion and intergenerational exchange.” Some of the community also learn German from Grandma Annemarie because she speaks so slowly and clearly in the videos.

How long the generational duo continues to share cooking videos online depends entirely on grandma Annemarie: “If grandma says tomorrow that she doesn’t feel like it anymore, then that’s so,” says Vanessa, “but no one can take away the time with her right now.”

Sources used: Celine Frohnapfel, dpa