It’s still Sunday in the States, so I wanted to take this opportunity to wish my mom a happy Mother’s Day!  Growing up, this holiday was a subdued affair in our household given the lack of nearby relatives.  Inevitably, we would celebrate with a traditional brunch buffet (ah the Broker Inn).  Food, and not just Chinese is an integral part of my family.  Weekends might be consumed with attempts at homemade chinese sausages, dumplings, etc…  and when we could afford to eat out, mom always had a nose for good restaurants.  Since  about food, I thought I would share about one of the strongest bonds with my mom (and Dad also)- food.

Until meeting G, I wasn’t nearly as picky about what or where I ate, so long as it was filling.  Ironically, my disinterest for and love of food can all be attributed to my childhood.  I can still recall the many times that Mom would drag Dad and me to faraway restaurants just because she had “heard” they had great food.  Driving at least an hour each way just for a meal, especially as a teenager (when there are more important social activities to attend to) created a strong negative reinforcement towards food.  Outwardly I hated all the “time spent” with the folks, but secretly I loved the variety of cultural experiences, Thai, Korean, Moroccan, etc… so foreign to where we lived.

At home, I grew up to the many attempts by Mom to reproduce the dishes that she and dad loved in Taiwan, made that much more amusing since she had never once stepped into the kitchen until moving to the States.  Being on the receiving end of some horrendously botched up dishes really did help me to better appreciate the difference between “good” and “bad” food.  This is one reason I learned to cook.  Since graduation, I’ve lived further and further away from home.  So cooking was a way to try to preserve the happy moments with my folks.   It’s amazing how even now the smell of steamed dumplings will bring back weekends spent at the dining table making the filling and rolling out our own dough.

While I hated the long drives as a teenager, looking back, I now appreciate the time and effort my mom put into feeding the family be it home cooked or forcing me to experience new cuisines.  To this day, even with a restricted diet, my folks still venture out and try new places with an open mind.  I’m always surprised by the random places they’ll take me to each time we visit.  G insists that if it wasn’t for “that soup” we might never have gotten together, so yes, I most definitely should thank mom for instilling in me an appreciation for food.  Thanks Mom, and I hope you had great rest of the day!