It’s Valentine’s Day. This cake has hearts on it. But it’s not meant for Valentine’s day. I made this cake and I’m posting on this particular day, because it’s my mom’s birthday!!!! Happy birthday, Mom!!! I love you so much and I want to dedicate this cake to you.
I honestly thought I’d start out with a anecdote or a mini biography about my mom, but I can’t put those into words. Instead, a list of little moments comes through. Like when she waited with me outside a big hall before I took my piano exams. When she first taught me how to cook and and basically just threw in seasonings with no measurements and told me to cook until it just looks right. When she stayed outside in the car reading a book, waiting for me and my sister to finish our harp lessons. When I came home crying because I got a traffic ticket, and she just smiled and said it’s OK, but didn’t you see the sign that said no turn on red? When she dropped me off in St Louis for college for the first time, leaving me with packs of homemade goods. When I get a short, punctuated text back because she’s not used to texting. When she and my dad decided to buy a larger tote bag for my aunt in China, because “it’s better to fit bread”. When she patiently taught me how to wrap shaomai. And zhongzi. And jiu cai he zi, and so many more precious things. When she laughed at me in Shanghai because I was obviously targeted as the foreigner… because I didn’t speak Shanghainese and she had to intervene.
These little moments don’t seem to be significant, but I hoard them like a miser now that I’m geographically miles away. My mom is my inspiration (her food is one of the reasons I even decided to start this blog). She’s the person I go to for advice, my bulwark of steadiness. She’s my comfort, my rock. My mom is who I want to be when I grow up.
le jus d'orange | food & photography 