Someone is always cooking in my household. Whether it’s my mom who cooks every meal, my brother who tries weird recipes he finds online, or if you ever find me in the kitchen I’m baking cookies or any dessert I desire that day.

Our home is always filled with different aromas coming from the kitchen everyday. My family is big on eating from home so we rarely eat out at restaurants. I guess we get this from my parents Romanian background where cooking every meal at home is just how it’s always been.

My mom loves trying new recipes but we eat a lot of traditional Romanian meals as well. The most popular in my household being Sarmale, (cabbage rolls) Mici, (grilled sausages) and Cozonac (sweet bread). The recipes for these meals have been passed down from my grandparents. When my grandmother visits from Romania she is always in the kitchen making everything from scratch. So naturally my mom now makes everything from scratch.

I’m a picky eater but I do my best to try all the different foods my family makes. However, I will never say no to Romanian pastries. My mom and I have made some of my grandma’s famous pastries during our time in quarantine and no one in my household complains about it. If there is one thing I’ll take with me when I move out of my parents house is one of my grandmother’s cookbooks filled with all of her own recipes.