My grandmother was raised on a farm, came of age during the Depression, married, and had nine children to feed. At the same time, her husband, my grandfather, was a Porter on the railroad and Itinerate Preacher and was often gone for long periods. So, not only was she well-versed in essential home maintenance, but she also understood how to economize and make her inexpensive southern meals both tasty and filling. She taught my mother and me several ways to prepare meals for large groups and was ahead of her time implementing the meatless meals popular today. She did not have enough money to feed her family protein daily, so she made collard greens, beans, potatoes, cornbread, and buttermilk as primary grocery staples. She also understood how to can and preserve foods from her days on the farm. Her fundamental cooking principles are ones that I still abide by today. She understood how to do all these things and maintained an understated elegance, grace, and iron resolve as she raised her children and grandchildren.
My mother learned to cook more when she was a young newlywed. Although she and her sisters were often in the kitchen assisting my grandmother, my mother, like most teenage girls, left the cooking to her mother. It was when she became a young newlywed that Mama started cooking earnestly. Later, as a devastated divorcee, she learned to balance her household financially and began to embrace different foods, flavors, and cultures of Thai, Mexican, and Asian cuisines, enhancing her cooking style. She was a seasoned cook when she remarried my West African stepfather. He also improved her life and cooking abilities by adding additional cultural spices and flavorings to her cooking. She became an outstanding home cook who could have easily opened a restaurant. It was one of her unrealized dreams to become a restaurant owner. She certainly had a creative culinary palette and the ability. Mama traveled with her new husband to London, Ghana, Mexico, the Caribbean, and France. Her travels influenced her love of cooking even more.
So those two women are the two that taught me how to cook. However, as I married and had children, I also created recipes, adapted theirs, curated others, and then developed my style based on my beloved Southern California, a salad bowl of cultures offering unique perspectives and flavors to enhance my cooking style. At its core, it is southern cooking but with a California flare, as I shared in my introduction.
Cooking is more than a hobby to me; it is my way of demonstrating love and care for my family, celebrating with my friends, and maintaining the legacy of these two beloved women. So, enjoy the website, my YouTube channel, and the weekly tips. Shortly, I will create a Pantry Essentials list, provide canning ideas, share how to make your own spices and continue sharing recipes. I will also offer a soup e-book and give part of the proceeds to organizations that house people experiencing homelessness and feed the hungry. So, stay tuned as I journey forward.