Papitas con Cebolla y Tomate

The above translates to Potatoes with Onion and Tomatoe. It's one of the first Mexican dishes I learned to make.

When I was little, my parents worked really hard to make sure we were always taken care of. One took a job in the morning and another in the evening. This way someone would always be present to take care of me and my sisters. My dad had the night job, so he would always cook us our breakfast. Now... my dad is not the best of cooks. I firmly believe that if my mom died, my father would soon follow due to starvation. Every day for two months my dad the blender to make us each a Slimfast shake for lunch. To change things up a bit, he would add strawberrys one day or a raw egg the other. According to the label it had all the vitamins and nutrients a person needs. So my father banked on that and fed it to his three daughters.

After a while he decided to try actual cooking.... He fed us scrambled eggs for two consecutive months after that. So at the tender age of ten, I learned how to cook... Not because I liked it, even though I do now... but out of survival. I was 14 before I could eat scrambled eggs again... never had Slimfast since.

Now I love cooking... I find that it is a good stress reliever since I tend to pour my emotions into my food. My family can always tell my mood by how spicy, bland, or amazing my food is. I look forward to having my own place one day. Something you should know about the Mexican community is that so much is centered around the table. We love to feed and be fed and I look forward to having my own kitchen to do that one day.