Proudest Moments

It's funny how a small thing can make you feel like you're finally grown up. I suppose getting married, or buying a home are milestones, but those decisions on its own aren't indicators of maturity. How many married people still act like kids? And buying a home? I find myself missing our little beach town apartment from time to time, having traded the freedom of dirty floors or knicks on the walls as renters to the constant maintenance and preservation of home ownership.

Making wontons has always been a family tradition. With the kitchen being an adult zone where real work was done not play, these little allowances meant a great deal. It was a time to share jokes, stories, and life lessons. With every swoosh of a spoon, every tuck, and pinch, "less filling", "more filling", it seemed like in those moments, our family was unbreakable, time would stand still, and the only people that existed or mattered were my dad, my mom, and my brother.

At 36 years old, I made wontons with my husband last week. We'd made them once before in our old apartment years ago when we were dating. The healthy recipe found online was bland and dry. But today, I found myself wanting to do something out of the ordinary. I didn't follow a recipe nor did I try to recall the exact ingredients my parents used. Instead, I allowed my senses to guide me to ingredients I was familiar with growing up, ginger, green onions, the sounds of sounds and smells make me smile as I'm dicing away. But wait, Dad would never put ginger in wontons. I added a bit of soy, some rice wine vinegar (just because), and generous portions of salt (a no no in a salt conscious family) plus frozen spinach, (totally unheard of), no shrimp (I didn't feel like it).

Somehow riffing on a family tradition became a parable for a bigger life realization, that as an adult, sometimes making decisions different from my parents might not just result in a better dumpling, but maybe a happier and more fulfilled life. It wasn't that the previous wontons were bad, but that is' okay to create something new, and there's chance that the result might be better than you could have ever imagined.

 As we were giving each other some ribbing on which ones looked better,  I realized that it's come full circle. As husband and wife, Eddie and I are not only remaking family traditions, we are starting our own. It's as if the scene in the movie shot to my family's kitchen in 1988 and flash forwarded to our kitchen in 2015. The main protagonist takes a moment of self-reflection as the camera pans in for the final close up. After scoring my breakfast at a 9, Eddie gave the wontons a 10. Yes, they were that good.

1/2lb ground turkey (don't use lean)
1 box frozen spinach
1 egg
3 stalks green onions
2 tbsp. diced ginger
1.5 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 pack of wonton skins (you can also use egg roll skins cut in 4)

Boil enough water to cover the dumplings. Add wontons. Be careful not to add too many at once as they stick. Use a ladle to separate wontons. Bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Serve with hot chili sauce or soy sauce.