Grace Young touched my heart when I first heard her speak at a cookbook conference in February.  When Grace decided to spend time with her Mom and relatives in San Francisco chronicling the family recipes, she got the unexpected - stories, wisdom, lore and love.  Her journey to preserve her family recipes yielded a far richer experience.  In addition, while the original intent was to keep the recipes alive for future generations, another unintended consequence occurred.  Grace's Mom has aged.  And it's when Grace makes her Mom a treasured family recipe that her Mom perks up.  The smell and the tastes take her Mom back to a happy place.  So, a project started to help future generations has actually touched an older generation.  And now you see why Grace's talk brought tears to my eyes!!

Her cookbooks are an amazing chronicle of not only her family recipes and stories, but also Grace has traveled and collected many other Chinese recipes and stories.  Grace, like me, believes that the story is what gives a recipe context.  It's what connects us to our past and bridges us to the future!

Grace has shared 2 recipes from her books.  Chinese Trinidadian Stir-fried Shrimp with Rum from Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories and Vegetable Lo-Mein from The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing.