I’ve always hated cinnamon, but everyone in my family loves it. I always asked my mother to prepare the apple pie without it, probably starting from when I was 3; I was revolted by the taste. Every time when preparing the pie she would make two pies, one with cinnamon and one without. She never made me feel left out - that's what I love about her. My grandma who moved here from Ukraine was the original creator of the recipe; she always made it in Ukraine, everyone loved it, so it stuck. My mom and her family moved here in 1984 in hopes of having a better life and to get away from all the corruption happening back home. They had to come through Ellis Island just like everyone else. My mother was 17, and her brother 31. My uncle settled in with a job right away at a nearby restaurant. For my mother though, it was harder, she was only 17 and spoke no english. Therefore, when everyone was out, my mom would teach herself how to cook, she started with learning her favorite recipe, my grandma's apple pie. She then learned how to cook different foods after my grandfather got her a cookbook for her 18th birthday. She was usually the one cooking for the family. My mom's love and talent in cooking has given me the opportunity to be able to have grown up with delicious home cooked food always by me, and the learning opportunity which I will now be able to influence into my home and with my family in the future and for future generations to come. 

– Bridgette S.

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant