Gather

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by and scrolling through my blog!

I have always said to people closest to me that I have stories inside me to write and share with the world.  I love writing and have MANY story plots in my head. Perhaps I will get going on this soon and release them from my internal drive.  For now, food and mom life sharing are the two topics that are fulfilling and bubbling to the surface.

This profile picture is one of my favourite shots of all time because it captures my then barely 2-year-old son eating a big bowl of fantastic ramen.  The bowl was bigger than his face and he was so happy eating noodles on this September day at Gyoza Bar in Vancouver. This captured food memory is a snapshot in time but engraved in my heart.  This moment with the most important people in my life doing what we love to do….EAT!

This blog is me expanding on my love of food as a friend, as a mom and as a fan. I used to spam my friends, family and co-workers with pictures of my cooking and my food.  For years.  I am sure it gave me more joy than it did for most of my captive audience. (Sorry work people!)  I then jumped into Instagram and entered a world that fit my passion for food.  I hesitantly joined Facebook to connect with family members and to expand onto a more established (*yawn) platform. BUT when IG introduced Reels….WOW!!  It gave me an outlet to cook, create, edit and tell my story with music.  It was a perfect way to showcase my love for food and the songs that play in my head. (Yes, I am an 80’s music nut!)

Back to the food part… I am Chinese Canadian and grew up in a busy household with uncles, aunts, grand parents and a sibling.  The only event we would stop for is to eat dinner.  In Cantonese “Sic Fahn AH!!”  When one hears this in our household, it would be equivalent to a “STOP, DROP & ROLL” fire drill.  You must stop and drop whatever you are doing and get to your seat at the dinner table!  We would gather around the table and share a communal meal of fresh vegetables, RICE, accent meat dish, soup and finish with fresh fruit.   On special occasions, we would gather at a restaurant to enjoy a big symbolic 12 course meal.  Often we would gather for dim sum on the weekends with the elders.  Generally, we did a lot of eating and not a lot of talking.  We did not share or connect about life and certainly not about emotions or feelings! (Very old school Asian!) We grew up not hearing “I love you” but certainly felt it through the food my parents or grandma would purchase and prepare for us.  To this day, when I take my mom grocery shopping, it amuses me to watch her meticulously pick her produce and all her advice she has to share about quality, price and value.  It is heartwarming, slightly annoying but, ultimately, her love language.

The key word to me is gather.  Being together to feast or for a simple meal is important to me and truly is an act of love.  Especially after being apart during the last 12+ months due to a global pandemic.  That was hard on everyone and to the food industry.  For now, we are slowly gathering and supporting the industry with caution.

So let us gather here, bring the old school, and evolve it to a new school of food with family and friends in a loving home environment or an energetic food place.

Sign the virtual guest book by leaving a comment below! 

For now, know that I am thinking about my next dish, my next meal or my next restaurant stop.

Angela