Is it weird that I can’t recall my grandmother ever cooking for me? She may have at some point, but there was never any special reverence for her cooking the way I hear a lot of families have. As far as food goes, my strongest memories are about how she’d keep a cup of jelly beans in her car. I was always excited to ride with her because of it, haha.

The big deal cook in my family is my dad, who would have everybody lining up for his chili when he’d cook food for games and fundraisers. He became known for it. When a home game was coming up, football players would ask my marching band brothers if our dad would be cooking for it.

It’s interesting too, because despite being born in a foreign country, and nearly my entire extended family being of the same culture, he doesn’t cook in that style. His recipes are entirely his own. The key difference is that he uses a lot of sorrel, which is rare in the US but very common in the country he’s from. We grew it in our backyard garden, and he gifted me a potted plant of it when I moved out.

I used to get annoyed when he’d invite himself to join me whenever I cooked… but I miss it now.