My mother, Alice, was born an American of Middle Eastern descent and Orthodox Christian. Her parents, Sarah and Michael, came to the United States in the 1920s.

Michael opened a mom-and-pop-type grocery store in the local area. Sarah had four sons and three daughters (one was my mother).

My mother went to high school and was a cheerleader for the sports teams in her school. She graduated in 1945!Alice learned a lot from her mother Sara's cooking.

She also worked with a person who ran a Chinese restaurant and folks who ran a local pastry shop. She shared many of these delicious meals with her own family on any occasion.

My mother's cooking was usually the main event. She had tons of Kibbee and rolled grape leaves as well as other ethnic cuisine stored in a large freezer in the basement.

It was ready to be defrosted at a moment's notice. Alice would teach anyone who desired to learn anything about her cooking.

I remember walking into the house and seeing a small group of people pounding ground lamb with their fists in a large bowl to make Kibbee and Kibbee Nayee. I could not wait to be the guinea pig and try everything her students made.

Lucky me!There was a beautiful grapevine in the backyard, which my father started before he died in 1974. I continued to tend to the grape vine, in his honor, of course! When the grape leaves were tender-me and my children (her grandkids), would pick hundreds of them for her.

She would clean and freeze the grape leaves until it was time to start rolling and stuffing them with a mixture to make stuffed grape leaves. The butcher at the grocery store had to be exact when she ordered her lamb bones that would simmer with the stuffed grape leaves.

*Alice kept logs and notes of what she cooked, and now I would like to share some of them with you!. .