31 Comments

Jeff, What a masterful piece of writing! Thank you for sharing this slice of you. D

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Jeff, what a wonderful piece. I texted my mom yesterday for her banana bread recipe, I have some bananas that are too ripe for me on the counter. With all the recipes that I could use by searching on the web, the one I grew up with, remembering how the house smells when she would make it, that's the one I want. Thanks for sharing yourself with us. Laura

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For all of my childhood, my mum made her wonderful Scots shortbread for Christmas. The Christmas after her death at the early age of 60, I tried to make it but it wasn't the same. Too many tears fell into the dough. Now, 35 years later, I can make it and pass on the recipe to the generations to follow. Love is in every bite. Blessings to you, Jeff, and your beloved xoxo

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There aren't many cooking traditions in my immediate family. My mom is more of a "get the food on the table" person, but there are a few staples we love having around. Every charcuterie board night needs to include pickled herring. Always pancakes on your birthday morning. My New Jersey grandfather always bringing home massive bags of fresh bagels when we visited. Nana's Swedish tea ring on Christmas morning. Now my husband and I are also making our own traditions. One of my favorite comfort meals we make is risotto with spinach, onions, peas, lots of garlic and parmesan, and made in the oven so no one has to stand at the stove stirring for an hour.

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Jan 5, 2023Liked by Jeff Chu 朱天慧

This is beautiful, Jeff. Thank you.

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I look forward to each new “Notes” from you. You give the most enjoyable windows into your life that resonate with something in mine. Thank you! I sure wish I could cook like you, but there are a few things that I can make exceptionally good and filled with memories.

I am Austrian born and love Apple Strudel. I remember watching my mother stretch out the dough almost paper thin over the whole kitchen table, then cutting off the edges that were hanging over and filling it with delicious apples, walnuts, toasted breadcrumbs, raisins, cinnamon, clove, brown sugar, and drizzled lots of butter over it all. Then rolled it, placed it on a large cookie sheet and the heavenly odour of it baking began to fill the house shortly after. Dusted with powdered sugar after it cooled a bit, with a dollop of whipped cream, it was heavenly and to this day brings back the comfort of my mother’s presence. She didn’t measure, just by handful and pinch, so it took me quite a while till I managed to make one that tasted like hers. Worth all the trial and error, though.

Thanks for dropping in, Jeff! Maybe one day I get to enjoy your fried rice :)

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I absolutely loved this.

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Absolutely beautiful! I love to feed people!

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Thank you Jeff. My daughter came home to Edmonton for Christmas from Vancouver where she is doing her Masters. Edmonton has a large Ukrainian population and though that is not our heritage, she has grown up with good perogies (a lovely potato dumpling). Vancouver lacks good perogies it seems, so as we packed her suitcase, I packed the best frozen perogies from the local market and told her this is what Jeff Chu does. So if it works for him - hopefully it will work for you. Well she reported that her perogies for supper were fantastic. :)

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Thanks for this, beautiful. I’ve tried your fried rice, and it probably isn’t as good as yours but it’s super yummy. I love to add lots of cilantro, which is probably not authentic, but it’s great. As for comfort food, my go to as always cookies. When someone in my life is sick or sad - I’ll bring them what I call my magical healing oatmeal cookies. It’s an old cooks illustrated recipe that I jazz up with citrus, dried cranberries and roasted nuts. My other cookie recipe is my annual holiday gift of ginger cookies - again, based on an old recipe for lumberjacks that I add enormous amounts of extra ginger (fresh, candied and dried); and of course citrus! Thanks for the opportunity to share - I love reading all of these!.

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When I was growing up in Colorado, we lived days away from family in Texas. My “adopted” grandparents taught us to fish (and cook) the trout from the river nearby. The best were smaller fish we called “brook” trout (not sure if that is officially what they are called)…so sweet and tender. Mr Parker would bread them with cornmeal and fry them outside, while inside, Mrs. Parker would make baked beans, hot potato salad, sweet tea, and chocolate pie. Same sides every time unless we were cooking them right beside the river and then just potato chips and white bread would suffice. It is the meal of my childhood. Mrs. Parker passed away a few years ago, Mr. Parker moved to be with family, and it’s been years since I moved on, but if I could have one single meal right now, it would be that particular meal with those particular people. Thanks for reminding me!!

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Jeff, As a charlestonian (SC), rice is my required dish. white rice, steamed and buttered.. My dad cooked a mean speghetrti but "Nursie"--our family cook shared by us and my Aunt, knew how to cook the rice.. WM-

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As a Southerner, it feels like most of my family memories involve food. Growing up, we would eat Sunday lunch with my Nana every week after Church. I’m still in awe of how she made the entire lunch and went to church with us and had it ready to eat within minutes of getting back to her house. I can still taste her homemade rolls and fried chicken. And there was always a carrots and raisin salad that is not something I’ve ever recreated or necessarily even want to, yet I have fond memories of it. 🤷‍♀️ She also made raisin pies. I think raisins were inexpensive and this was a reason it was her go to dessert. I’ve made several and they actually do taste the same to me but no one else is interested in eating them. Ha. My mother passed away this past summer. There were several things that only she seemed to make, some that I’ve tried to create and some that I haven’t yet. A dessert she called peach delight with fresh peaches, peach jello (that’s really hard to find and I’ve ordered a dozen boxes online), a pecan shortbread crust and cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar filling. She always made two and sent one home with me. Her coconut cake that always looked as good as it tasted. I made one for my daughter’s birthday this year and it tasted very similar but was pathetic to look at. Sausage balls at Christmas, which are easy to make but didn’t taste the same made by my hands. Thank you for this beautiful remembrance.

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Ah, yes, the memories, places & people do seem to make or break how much we savor the food. For me... vegetable soup with leftover beef pot roast. I’m making some today, actually, in the stainless steel Wagner pots my parents received as a wedding gift nearly 60 years ago, then passed along to me when they became too heavy for arthritic hands to lift for regular use. They were cast in Sydney, Ohio & will still be in great cooking condition for years to come! Those pots are also great for hours-long simmering of mom’s unique spaghetti sauce with beef & green peppers, or the final boil & prep of what we always called “pot pie.” It is a sort of dumpling, but rolled flat and cut into squares with a pizza cutter. Carbs for the win!

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Hi, so nice to hear back from you!

Yes, I think the breadcrumbs are for texture. About 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs is tossed in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter till browned and thoroughly coated. Then sprinkled over the strudel dough they provide the base for the other ingredients which go on in layers. Unlike my mother I don’t make the dough from scratch but use FILO dough from the grocery store. If you ever feel like making it I’m happy to send you the recipe- or you can google it. Just specify ‘Austrian’ or ‘Vienna’ Apple strudel. Take care! I’ll continue to follow your ‘Notes’.

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My grandmother was a cook I loved too. She completely ruined blueberry muffins for me. With diet restrictions (or severe pain) now, I’m very limited, but I did find a lovely blueberry recipe last year and finally made them. Also, wassail for Christmas Eve. Prepping the oranges makes me miss her, and then the house smells like Christmas and things are a little bit better.

Thank you for sharing your story with us. 💜

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