A Tribute

 On April 24, 2012, I lost my incredibly loving, talented, generous, and caring mom.  My mom has been my number one inspiration in terms of becoming a cook, and becoming a hostess for dinner parties and holidays.  My entire life, our house was the central hub for all friends and family to come to whether it was for a weekend dinner, Christmas, Easter or any other holiday/occasion that my family held dear.  Mom was the chef.  From hosting small groups, to huge parties, mom, on her own, created amazing, homemade meals from scratch, to feed her guests. 

 Mom was from the school of two thoughts when it came to food.  First, it must all be homemade.  She insisted on making her own crepes for her famous Manicotti and thought that any tomato sauce that came in a jar/can was blasphemy (with later exception for Rao's Sauce).  In addition to insisting on all homemade goods, mom didn't think there was enough food unless there were pounds of leftovers after her event.  These two criterion are what has always stayed with me when I undertake the daunting task of filling my mom's shoes... and I find myself unintentionally adapting to her approach.

 Over the years growing up, mom always let me help her in the kitchen, like most mom's do... however she allowed me to do more than your average "stir this" or "measure this".  Mom and my cooking sessions were about her teaching me the skills that she was taught as a younger woman so that I too, one day, could cook as well as she did.  In addition to teaching actual formal cooking skills and recipes, Mom's lessons were filled with stories of what a certain dish reminded her of in her past, or who taught her how to cook a particular dish, or holidays dinner traditions from her past.  It was always fun to hear the stories of her childhood, and it was evident that her passion for cooking and family was the best ingredient in her food.

 In mom's last year of her life, she compiled a family history of her Sicilian side of the family along with an index of the classic Italian recipes that she had been taught and perfected.  From Sicilian style rabbits (commonly cooked on Easter in our house) to Sfinge (known by the public as Zeppole) - mom's recipes were really unique to her.  She had her standby dishes that you always knew were going to be incredible and comforting...but that was not to say she wasn't adventurous.  Mom cooked Indian food (her homemade Palek Paneer was probably the best Indian dish a white woman has ever made), she tapped into her Spanish background and created amazing Paellas and Green Sauce dishes, and she mastered Jewish goodies to help celebrate my dad's background (her latkes were legendary).

 This last Thanksgiving, mom "passed the baton" (in her words) to me to cook and host.  Many phone conversations were had between us with me asking questions like "how do you clean out a turkey" to "what table linen should I use?"  Mom's advice was accurate, well conveyed and always with a bit of humor.  When I asked "how many side dishes should I make?" Mom's response was "well you eat like 10 men, so enough to fill you and a little bit more for the rest of us."  I did all of the cooking myself last Thanksgiving, but I told mom to get to our apartment a little earlier than everyone else to just make sure I didn't mess anything up.  When she got there and saw all I had done by myself, I for the first time saw a satisfaction in her eyes as if to say "I've taught my daughter well".  When she toasted Thanksgiving dinner by saying "Sara, I officially have passed the baton" I was not only honored but also a little burdened by the shoes I have to fill!

 I leave you with this story mom always used to tell me about when she learned how to cook from her grandmother....

 Mom asked, "Grandma how do I know when the food's cooked?"

 She responds, "When it's done."

 Mom, puzzled asked, "Well, how do I know when it's done?"

 Grandma responds with, "When it's cooked!"

 Mom - you have been my inspiration in everything I do in life, cooking is just one of those things.  I hope I can make you proud in the future years to come by trying to fill the big shoes you left behind and creating such lasting memories of meals and holidays the way you so effortlessly did.