MY HOME

I have been trying to do this food blogging thing for the past year but I haven't found the best way to do it. I started blogging, stopped, started again and then stopped again. I'm starting again now, with a whole new perspective and a plan. I guess now I want to actually make this a food journey, instead of just blogging and sharing recipes.  So, let's start with the family and the food that I grew up with. 

My Family

I come from a huge family. My Pap has 5 siblings and my Mam has 6. Myself, I have 1 big brother and 3 big sisters. Within my close extended family, I have at least 25 cousins. When our family throw parties, we at least have 20+ guests. We always have big parties back in the day.. 

The one in sitting in the middle is my late Oma Netty. She was a fantastic cook. I still remember when we have parties at her house a giant table of 8 would be full of food she cooks! She was such a wonderful Oma, she took care of everybody, ever so loving and humble. She passed away when I was only 8 years old. I wish she was still here, it would have been great to cook with her... 

This is Oma Jo, dressed in black. It is such a blessing that she is still healthy and strong, she is turning 85 years old in December. She still cooks very good! 2 years ago when I went home to Jakarta, she was still cooking for everybody, she puts a chair in front of the stove and cooks and stirs the food.. She still loves to go out and meet up with friends!

My Food
My Mam cooked this whole thing when it was my sister's birthday. This was a dinner for 5 people! There are always leftovers and normally we eat them the next day for breakfast ;) 
I miss my Mam's food.. Let me tell you, she has good instinct on cooking.. When I'm around she always makes me test the food, and then she adjusts the taste. If I then cook the same food by myself, I could never make my food taste the way my Mam makes it... 

I started first with baking instead of cooking when I was around 13 or 14 years old.. Sometimes for the birthday parties I would make the cakes.. I just started cooking when I moved to Holland, at 17 years old. Moving to Holland and having great internet :) opens up my view of cooking, baking and kitchen. 

My family are Manadonese, thus I grew up with a lot of manadonese food. Mostly are super super spicy. I'll try to moderate the spices with the recipe that I will post here ;) My Mam taught me to always appreciate the food on the table. Maybe when I was a kid I sometimes complain about food? She would always say, "Finish your food and just be grateful with what you have." I always remember that and I think it makes me appreciate and love food even more.