“My family is from Venezuela. Tajadas (fried plantains) in Venezuela are part of our everyday meals.They remind me a lot of my grandma in our kitchen, cooking everyday rice, beans and tajadas. When she was in the kitchen she was such a master chef - even though she never had specific training. The way she would produce all of her meals was so beautiful and so rich - she would include so many ingredients. It seemed so complicated. I think one of the things I am learning here today is how going the easy way with food might not be what I want to pass onto my kids. I cook a lot of the meals my grandma and mom made at home but I go the easy way. I don’t cut the cilantro just like this, I don’t incorporate all of the amazing ingredients that she would spend so much time preparing - so patiently and with so much love. I really miss the plantains she used to make because she would cut them to perfection. Every slice was the exact same shape. Because they were so thin they would be crispy. She would wait until the plantains were perfectly ripe. I miss her a whole lot. I really wanted to honor her because she taught me so much.”