When I was in Cleveland for the Memorial Day weekend, in addition to the bridal shower, it was also really great to spend some time with my parents. The weekend festivities were so much fun and all the girl time was great, but relaxing with my mom and dad on Sunday was also a much needed breath of fresh air.
Actually, just being in Ohio in May is a breath of fresh air; around the spring-summer transition, the Midwest is a wide expanse of green carpet, with baby blades of pure green grass, thick foliage on the trees, and colorful flowers growing everywhere. It is a stark contrast to the dry landscape of southern California at this time of year. I can almost feel the trees breathing in and out and increasing my oxygen flow; meanwhile, the blue sky soothes away all my worries and cares while the sun warms my face. All in all, pretty heavenly. Since the dead of summer is reliably humid and at least 90 degrees every day, I think May is one of the best times of the year in Ohio.
Most of the time when I go back to Cleveland, either my mom has some special recipe planned that she wants to make for me (in the last couple of years I have been making recipes for her too!), or we have decided to make one of our classic meals for the holidays or a summer cook out. No matter what, there is always food and eating, and lots of it! More recently, my parents have also become budding foodies themselves, so it was no surprise when my dad told me he had picked up some duck legs at a kosher shop. He was really excited about making this recipe (his very first chef idol was Emeril Lagasse), and I was looking forward to it as well since I had never made duck at home.
When we were making it, everything seemed fine; we went through all the steps for the recipe without a hitch, and I think my dad really enjoyed being the head honcho in the kitchen while I worked as his sous-chef. I gave my mom a wink when I called him "Chef" once, and I think out of the corner of my eye I saw him puff up with pride.
Posts
