career
...ied rice with chicken, either baked or fried. Then the dessert, which she would prepare herself. In making these things, she would make sure she had all the ingredients. It could be from the spice, to the rice, but she would have them ready. She would boil the rice and then add whatever else she needed to make the fried rice. These included the onions or garlic, the scallions and sometimes boullion cubes. Her favorite seasoning for the fried rice was the yellow saffron coloring. She would also have a variety of vegetables; the green peas, the carrots, the broccoli, and the scallion all chopped up in little squares. For those who didn't like vegetables, chicken would be chopped up and put aside in a stew for them. This fried rice was like the fried rice prepared every year for Thanksgiving. My mother, my sister and I would prepare this meal. Each one of us chooses our favorite dish. First we wash the turkey. "Here take this!" my mother says, as she hands me a bottle of lemon juice. "Put a lot so it can be seasoned well. Put a good amount of the other seasonings and stuff it." My sister jumps in asking if she can put it in the oven. "Go ahead, who is stopping you?" my mother responds. While that is in the oven, we prepare the rice. Once again, we make the fried rice. This one may have a different taste, because it may actually be "cook-up" rice. Cook-up rice is boiled up with either split peas or black-eyed peas. Next I prepare the potato Au Gratin and the Macaroni and cheese. My sister would make the salad and the Lasagna. For the salad, she would cut the cucumber slices skinny, while leaving the lettuce in leaves, and the tomato cut thick. The lasagna can be made in a rectangular dish. First you put in the boiled noodles, then my favorite meat: ground turkey. It is cooked in onions, tomatoes and a lot of spices. It has a rich smell. It reminds you of a hamburger freshly made that is seasoned just right. You put the meat on the noodles and add the white-flour/milk and cheese sauce. It's spread over the meat. Then you add more cheese and noodles and repeat the steps for another layer. Bake, and let cool. Once again, one can find the bunch of bananas waiting eagerly to eat the prepared meal. My youngest sisters holding their plates in their hands, ready for the food to be dished out to them. A tall, brown-skinned man looks at one of them and says "you know what you supposed to do before you eat, don't you Leslie?" “Oh yeah, I didn't say my grace...