I’ve been gone too long. This past week has been heavy. To make up for it, I do have some projects under development. But I’d like to take some time to share some of the foods whose memories I owe to my father. I told you about his preparation of BBQ chicken,  his love off coffee- and everything in it- and my! His pancakes. But here are some other ones that I’ve been thinking of.

Cashews

 

This was one of his favorite snacks, at least when he was somewhat health conscious I guess. Its a mild snack I enjoy. Sweet with a gentle crunch. Tastes good raw but tastes great roasted and salted. Since the early snacking days, I’ve grown to see the many things you can do with cashews, serving as a thickener for a lot of vegan dishes. My grandmother likes to soak’em and turn’em into cheese sauce. Before you turn your nose up at the vegan notion, it’s probably adapted from the many Indian recipes that existed before the term was coined.

A Mexican friend in Chelsea, MA introduced me to the juice of maranon- the fruit that the cashew hangs from (which happens to also grow in Panama).

 

Pilsbury Grands Biscuits

When he couldn’t make his own Grand Pancakes, Pilsbury Grand biscuits, were a quick and fitting replacement- or even when he had made pancakes. Mom likes to slather the (buttered) biscuits with butter and syrup. But you might also find’em stuffed with those brown and serve sausage with scrambled eggs and usually kraft American singles. When ever I see the can, or hear that seam slitting pop delivered by the back of the spoon, I think of the man.

Ne Mo Carrot Cake

Oooh! The reason I love carrot cake. I don’t eat it often because I rarely find these or any that surpass it. They are amazingly moist (leaving a slick sheen on your fingers) with walnuts and thick layer of cream cheese frosting between the surface of the rich cake square and the plastic wrap that encased it. That label may discourage you but it wasn’t my concern growing up and it won’t be yours after tasting what lies beneath it. (Just don’t make it a habit.

Senna

Saved the best for last! Okay not really. But after you ate all that, and everything else the guy hoarded in his belly, he thought the cure-all, magical cleaning was delivered by this powerful leaf. He’d boil it- and when he did, you’d walk in the house and smell it! It has a sorta funky smell to it but even worse was the smell it left on the way out. It has laxative properties. And now that I’m older, the taste of it isn’t so unbearable; its just knowing what it does to you.

Stay tuned! I’m releasing a series of local posts called #TheKinjo, starting next Friday, featuring local shops and their owners, like Toshi Yokimori of Café Continue.