shiva

there was one episode on grey's anatomy where i actually learned something. it was the one where denny died and izzie started baking up a storm. meredith and christina were sitting in the kitchen and said it was a jewish custom of mourning called Shiva when somebody dies and family members cook.

although we're not jewish and my nono has not yet passed. the women in the family seem to have fallen into a cooking/baking frenzy. i go and visit him everyday and his house always smells of good things to eat. the freezer is stocked full of homemade avocado ice cream and all the cookie jars are full of tita maling's chocolate chip cookies. so far, we've made cheesecake, brussell sprout soup, natilya and baked spring chicken. suddenly, everyone's reaching into the back of their heads and bringing out all their secret recipes to make. we've recently gotten excited about the prospect of making braided bread, paella, lasagna and some other kind of cookies.

our family has always been about food. if there's one thing we have in common, it's the love of creating good things to eat and serving it to people near and dear to us. although nono is too ill to eat anything we make, he enjoys the smell of a happy kitchen and always asks what's cooking.