Anyone who was fortunate enough to enjoy one of my mom’s home cooked meals may be surprised that she didn’t know how to cook until she emigrated to the States. As a child in mainland China and when she worked as a teacher in Taiwan she had family cooks who could  provide the daily meals.

   When she came here with two kids in tow (my brother Alan and me) to join my dad (who was in graduate school) she had to learn how to cook. 

   She said that she pored through all the Chinese cookbooks and figured it out to not only cook the most delicious meals from scratch but to do it economically on dad’s graduate student’s limited funds. 

   As their family grew, she started a garden to supplement with fresh vegetables. Sometimes, I recall, as she worked the garden she had one young child strapped to her back and another in the front. She used strips of sheets to create a double sided “baby bjorn” to keep them safe and close by. At the time, being a child, I had no understanding of how remarkable it was that she was able to do that. 

    No matter how difficult the times were she was always happy to share her wonderful meals with our friends and family. My brothers and I will always remember the delicious meals and mom as being so central to how we perceived what home was. Mom’s kitchen was the heart of our home. She used very simple tools, no fancy gadgets. The pots and pans were dented but the meals that emerged were sublime. 

     So now the meal making is passed on to us and our children. Some of the wonderful dishes include Chinese variation of pulled pork, scallion pancakes, crispy sautéed shrimp and with vegetables, tofu and mushrooms in soy sauce, steamed buns, fried dumplings, hand pulled noodles and pearl meatballs to name a few.  The tradition continues ♥️