Happy Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day being this Sunday, I am thinking about calling my mother to surprise her. She lives in Toronto, Ontario and is still in good health in spite of a hearing loss. When I talk to her, I have to make sure she has her hearing aid switched on; otherwise, I have to repeat myself several times. I should call her more often but I know she is fine as she is staying with one of my brothers.
When we were growing up in Hong Kong, we always had maids to help with the chores in the house and my mother never cooked very often, with five children to care for, including me and my twin brother. Later on, my mother became more involved and starting cooking more often. I don’t think my mom is the best cook; she was trained in teaching, however, she can made several dishes very well and one of them is a marinated pork and hard-boiled egg dish. Every time we had guests visiting, my mom would prepare this dish, in particular, and it would be gone in minutes especially since we had a large family. Sometimes, my sisters would complain that my mom used too much salt or oil for cooking and that she always took too long to prepare food; but from what I recall, her food tasted great and we always had a great meal. Now, when my family visits her, she doesn’t cook for us. We always go out to eat because it is a lot easier for everyone and Toronto has many fine Chinese restaurants, not to mention that no one wants to deal with all the dishes. I do wish that she would cook a meal for me someday.
My wife Pam is more or less the chef in our house. She does most of the cooking and lately has been making lots of pies. I kid with her that students at UMass do not eat as much pie as they used to. One of her favorites at this time of the year is strawberry rhubarb or plain rhubarb and this week, she made two of them and shared them with the neighbors since the rhubarb came from someone’s garden. I did not have any as I have been trying to watch my calorie intake to shed a few pounds; however, I noticed pie was even eaten for breakfast at my house, so it must have been good.
It’s hard to beat mom’s cooking. My daughters have grown up eating ethnic cuisines and travelled with me for various conferences, where they have been exposed to many foods and also watch many shows on the Food Network. They always appreciate their mother’s cooking. Maybe it’s the extra touch that makes home cooked meals taste good or making things from scratch that counts. My cooking is done on the weekends and usually involves the barbeque or the oven; something easier and quicker, than Pam’s cooking.
Many of our students love their mom’s cooking and I don’t blame them. Even if we use some of the recipes sent from home, the dishes do not always turn out the same; maybe it an ingredient like a mother’s love that we are missing.
I better go call my mom right now and wish her Happy Mother’s Day.
Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere!
This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.
Ken Toong
Director
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu
You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong