Mom emailed me the super-secret recipe for my late Lola Marcing’s traditional Christmas stuffed chicken a few years ago. I decided to copy it into my recipe book today in preparation for our Christmas/New Year celebration at the end of this month and I just rediscovered these funny notes Mom wrote in the recipe.
Food is always the centerpiece of every single one of my family’s gatherings. It is the perfect complement to great conversations, lightning-fast one-liners and roaring laughter around the dinner or lunch table. And Lola Marcing’s cooking, especially at Christmas, would always be scrumptious and leave us all wanting for more even with bellies full to bursting. She loved to cook for everyone. She was a simple and beautiful woman who lived to serve others. I miss her.
Some of our family recipes have a long history. Lola learned to cook from my great-grandmother, (my late Lolo Manolo’s mother) Lola Merced. The recipe I’ve just copied into my little spiral book originated from Lola Merced’s next-door neighbor in Tacloban, Leyte; an American named Mr. Price. It was the stuffing recipe that they used for Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey, but Lola Merced adapted it for chicken instead. It’s cool to think that, maybe, somewhere in the U.S., there is a family who is still enjoying the same stuffing recipe that several generations of our family have known and loved.
Lola, being a true virtuoso in the kitchen, did all her cooking by feel. But I take after my very O.C. mother in the kitchen, measuring everything precisely and leveling every cup at eye level. This will be the first Christmas (for as long as I can remember) that I won’t be helping her make apple pies. It’s a sad thought. The smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and freshly-baked pie crusts will forever remind me of our yearly tradition and our lengthy conversations while cutting and rolling out the pastry.
Sometimes I wonder if the food would taste as good were they not accompanied by such wonderful memories. I thank God because, even though I won’t be home for Christmas for the very first time, these memories can never be taken away from me. And that while I’ll be making stuffed chicken and apple pie in my friend Somer’s kitchen instead of my mother’s, I’ll also be making some brand-new memories to go with the familiar food.
Someday I’ll look back on this Christmas and I’ll probably be wistful about the memories I’ll have made. But for now, pardon me for being wistful about being away from the home I love and miss terribly.
