Today marks my Mom’s birthday. Known affectionately as “Lola” to her grandchildren, Mom has taken on the mantle of grandmother without losing one bit of her beauty or energy. My brother Paul is going to cook dinner for her today, and Andy has baked a cake, so the family will get together in Amsterdam this evening to celebrate. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.
Last week I attempted to cook a Filipino dinner ~ adobo, pancit, and baby bok choy. (Inspired partly by an adobo recipe and story that appeared in the New York Times, as well as fond family memories of the dish.) All but the pancit turned out exceptionally well – the pancit was slightly disappointing because I couldn’t find the Chinese sausage that my Mom uses in hers, and the chorizo substitute lent the dish a more smoky flavor.
The kitchens of my aunts, and the crowded houses of extended relatives, always revolved around one thing: food. My favorite childhood memories are of those special gatherings that were crowded with family, crowded with love, and crowded with Filipino food. Several women occupied the kitchen, cutting up vegetables, frying something on the stove-top, shoving dishes into the oven. It was a maelstrom of culinary activity, with insanity and raised voices, and I loved it all.
My own parents would create the same excitement when we had family visiting, whipping the kitchen into its own fun frenzy of food, culminating in dinner each evening, where we would quickly eat then hide under the dining room table or scurry off to play with our Uncle.
Since losing my Aunt and Uncle, cooking Filipino food is one way to keep them close to me. It’s never quite the same, but if I close my eyes, breathe in the steam coming from the dishes, and listen to the sounds of the kitchen, I can almost hear the Tagalog again.
Last week we celebrated Mom’s birthday with a dinner in our home. It was my niece and nephew’s first visit, and they did quite well. (Of course, it turns out our house isn’t exactly baby-friendly, but the babies enjoyed it – especially the spoons.)
This time around Andy made a lasagna and Erin brought a salad. I opened the wine.
Andy also made a chocolate mint birthday cake – which was the same cake he ever made for my family. For the next family gathering I’m going to make a full-fledged Filipino dinner. The next few weeks of winter will provide plenty of practice.
If there’s one thing that makes winter in upstate New York bearable, it’s the closeness and warmth of my family.
After returning from Boston, I made an overnight stop in Amsterdam to visit my niece and nephew and take some photos at my parents’ house (they were taking a vacation in Florida). Here is Emi rolling around the dining room.
And finishing up with dinner.
And here is Noah, in a rare moment of sitting still. Like his father, he needs to always be on the move. Crawling everywhere, lifting himself onto his feet to see anything and everything, he is more active than Emi, who is content to sit and watch and play in one place. In a lot of ways that is exactly how me and my brother were as babies, or so I’m told.
I can’t wait until they start walking and talking…
These two adorable babies are my niece and nephew, whom I got to see while Lola was babysitting last weekend. As you can see above, Emi already has great taste in shoes, as well as track-suit colors. Below, Noah takes after his Uncle with a fixation on the mirror in hand. Both are growing into their own distinctive personalities, and it’s going to be a treat to see them celebrate their first Christmas.
Noah and Lolo.
Emi and Lola.
The famous holiday staple – grasshopper pie.
Father and daughter.
Mother and son.
A tantalizing trifle.
Hi Randi!
The pumpkin pie has my name on it.
While Suzie was missing from the festivities, this bird stood in for her at today’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the Ko’s.
Andy and Lisa came up from NYC.
My nephew and niece – Noah and Emi – celebrated their first Thanksgiving.
Green pickles amid green glass.
And Brussel sprouts.