the food of love

this was the last meal kris and i had for 2011, pancit palabok, rice noodles with a chicken-based sauce, one of my mom's specialties.

this was supper for the first night of 2012, baked ham with macaroni and cheese from kris and her mom, with sides of corn bread and hoppin' johns from my sister pamy.

(she learned the dish from her and her husband's stint in oklahoma, where it's served as a traditional new year's dish for luck.)

i'm sure to mom and kris and her mom and pamy, these were simply dishes; to me, though, they were nourishing gifts of their hearts.

something about the holidays always makes me mushy anyway, but for some reason this year they made me especially nostalgic and sentimental.

i was grateful for the wonderful flavors and comfort these meals provided. but what warmed my heart was the love that went into making them.