When I was first married, I called Mom to ask what to put in a meatloaf for when the inlaws came to dinner. Meatloaf was my FILs request. Mom said, just go to the refrigerator and dump anything in there and then bake it. I burst into tears. Didn't ask for any more recipes. She still enjoys telling that story.
On the other hand, my maternal gram gave me her BBQ sauce recipe and swore me to secrecy. Also her pie crust recipe (buy the sticks in the box...which is how they came then) and swore me to secrecy on that one, too. She gave me her precious dill pickle recipe. Gram was the one I went to if I needed recipe help. She was a cook in a restaurant and then for individual families, so she knew some good tricks!