Say good bye to yesterday

Yet another downtown Long Beach establishment is going the way of the do-do. The downtown post office will be closing it's doors, most likely, as a results of the economic woes that we are all too familiar with. I liked this office, not only for the convenience of its proximity to our place, but because the building itself has that 1930's classic bank feel with its hefty concrete, rectangular presence and interior floors of cool polished stone. I wonder what will become of the building once the post offices is gone?

Tradition is in trying

The funny thing about my grandmother is that she wasn't necessarily the greatest cook and very much lived in the shadow of my grandfather. But my grandmother would never hesitate to put forth her creations from scalloped potatoes to walnut cookies - her cooking was very American in a family that prized Japanese (or at least Japanese rooted cooking). Even when my grandfather scoffed at her dishes often there were times when his eyes would light up as he recommended a particular food on a particular day that my grandmother cooked saying, "I actually ate a lot of this, you should try it..." And the victory would go to my grandmother through persistence. So her "traditional" cooking would sit along side my grandfather's cooking every year, without fail.

Tradition is not a recipe

I remember when my grandfather cooked for the family on major holidays but namely Thanksgiving - a very un-Japanese celebration. He would always let me in on his secrets in hiding the peculiar smell of the big bird and I would admire the pride he took in preparing the feast. So many years later I took over the tradition of cooking on Thanksgiving and while my recipe is not my grandfather's, there is an inner drive in me that belongs to my grandfather - the drive to bring family together through cooking and caring. Documenting recipes has never been a priority for me but as more of life's experiences fill my mind, I'm tending to forget details. So with the help of some pictures I snapped, I'm going to record my 2008 cooking experience so that 2009 will go just as well, if not better. Stay tuned.