May 18, 2020

This week, we highlight diverse voices of university students from Baylor University and Salem State University whose lives were suddenly upended by COVID-19. Along with their teachers, students made the move to emergency online/remote teaching, pivoting over the course of a few days to ensure that they could complete their courses. Many were also forced to pack up their belongings and move out of residences with little notice, either returning home to quarantine with family members or finding alternative living arrangements on short notice. Others have continued to work, often full time, as essential workers in nursing homes, restaraunts, and grocery stores. Today’s posts are from Baylor students, one appears here this morning and another will be posted this afternoon. These stories and recipes speak to two themes: family food memories that connect the authors to home; and food strategies for enduring quarantine/shelter in place directives. Throughout the rest of the week, students from Margo Shea’s Intro to Public History course, herself a co-editor of Historians Cooking the Past, will share their reflections on similar issues: family memories and connecting to cuisine from the corners of the world they and their families call home.

Going to my grandparents’ house on the weekends was the highlight of my childhood. As soon as I walked in I'd be greeted with a hug and the smell of food cooking in the kitchen. While many traditional Cuban dishes were made, my favorite has always been tostones. My siblings and I would fight for the last one every time my grandmother made them, and she would happily make more until our bellies were full and we were satisfied. Tostones are a simple dish to make and they are eaten as a side or an appetizer.

Ingredients:
5 tbsp Cooking Oil
1 Green Plantain
3 cups Cold Water
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Peel the plantain and cut it into 1-inch chunks.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Place the plantains in the oil and fry on both sides for approximately 3 1/2 minutes per side.

3. Remove the plantains from the pan and flatten them by placing a plate over the fried plantains and pressing down.

4. Dip the plantains in water, then return them to the hot oil and fry 1 minute on each side. Salt to taste and serve immediately.

Gianelle Fernandez is half Cuban and half Puerto Rican. She lives in South Texas.

Every year during Christmas, my grandmother makes these amazing egg rolls. She's made them for as long as I can remember and I look forward to them every year, my whole family does. This year, I had my wisdom teeth taken out a week before Christmas, and I wasn't able to eat them and it was so hard for me to watch everyone else do so! Christmas 2020 couldn't come any sooner. I’m looking forward to gathering with my family and eating this special dish so much!

Ingredients:
6 cups cabbage shredded
1 carrot shredded
1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 celery stalk diced
2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)
1 (4 ounce) can shrimp drained
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
black pepper to taste
1 egg beaten
cornstarch
20 egg roll wrappers
vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together cabbage, carrots, sprouts, celery, and onion. Stir in shrimp, soy sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper.

2. Pour beaten egg into a skillet placed over medium heat; cook flat and thin, flipping once, until done. Remove from skillet, cool, and chop finely. Stir egg into cabbage mixture. Sprinkle top with cornstarch, mix, and allow to sit 10 minutes.

3. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water. Set aside.

4. Place 2 or 3 tablespoons of the shrimp mixture into the center of an egg roll skin. Dip a spoon into the water and cornstarch mixture, and moisten all corners but the bottom corner. Fold the egg roll skin from the bottom over the mixture, making a tight tube of the shrimp mixture. Fold corners in from the sides, and press to stick against folded roll. Then roll the rest of the way. Repeat with remaining egg roll wrappers.

5. Pour vegetable oil into a deep frying pan to a depth of 3 or 4 inches, and heat oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Carefully place egg rolls into hot oil, and fry until golden brown. Remove to paper towels.

Kaitlyn McMillan is a freshman in college who loves to cook and values family traditions.

Growing up, my mom always made kimchi fried rice when she had leftovers from the day before. It has always been one of my favorite meals, so it is not surprising that it was the first dish I ever cooked at college. Kimchi fried rice is an easy, sharable dish that encourages fellowship and reminds me of home. It’s also a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients and Directions
1. Generously butter a non-stick pan.
2. Dice a whole can of spam and dice half a clove of garlic.
3. Sauté garlic and spam in the buttered pan.
4. Put a whole jar of kimchi in the pan and sauté.
5. Add about 2 cups of frozen rice to the pan and sauté further.
6. Pour the juice from the kimchi jar into the pan.
7. Add soy sauce to the pan (to your liking).
8. Burn the bottom layer until crispy and serve.

David Koo is a Korean-American college student who really enjoys but misses Korean food.

To this day, I still believe my grandmother makes the best banana bread in the world. When I was little, I used to think banana bread was made from monkeys, and she always played along with this silly thought.

Ingredients:
3 Ripe Bananas
½ cup of Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs Beaten
1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Vanilla (Optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 /180

2. Cream together butter and sugar then add eggs and crushed bananas. Combine well.

3. Sift together flour, soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla. Mix just to combine. Do not overtax.

4. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes.

Maddy Bomba is a Baylor University student who dedicates this post to her grandmother, Nana Bomba.