Happy Sapi Day!

her favorite dessert and go-to lunch:
rice krispies treats and fried egg sandwich w/ cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise on toasted bread

 This was what I made today for lunch, totally not realizing that yesterday was the anniversary of my sister's passing.  I think she would've been proud of me because she of all people knows I'm no cook.

I also made these yesterday:

panikeke -- bear with me; mine never look good

I would say that cooking more has been a New Year's Resolution of mine this year, but that's not true.  I'm cooking out of default; we have no money to eat out anymore.  I have no choice but to cook more. :-)  Amazing the things you can do when you have no kupe (COO-pay = "money" in Samoan).

Food was a big part of my sister's life.  I mean, food is a big part of ANY Polynesian's life, but she took to food like I took to piano: as a hobby-turned-craft that she loved developing and sharing with others.  Especially our father... she was the biggest Daddy's Girl of all of us, and every time she knew he was having a bad day, she'd always make him something to eat, just the way he liked.  Before she went home after our oldest sister's husband passed away, she took a job as a sous chef at a Japanese fusion restaurant.  She had other cooking jobs before, but that one, she said, was her dream job.  So on Sapi Day, my siblings and I celebrate with food: going to her favorite local restaurant, eating garlic shrimp and orange chicken or pad thai noodles, or making a choice dish of hers.  Since her taste buds were always more refined than mine (I used to eat like a haole), I usually keep to her simpler pleasures, such as rice krispies treats and egg sandwiches.  They bring happy memories to me of her in her everyday life, and I'm grateful that I can always remember her in those ways.

So Happy Sapi Day to everyone!  Go eat something good!