I made empanadas with my daughter for the first time last week. She's only 3, so I'd thought I'd have to help her a great deal. She caught on quickly: three spoonfuls of stuffing, fold, seal. I don't know if I caught on so quickly.
To be honest, I don't remember the first time I made empanadas with my own mother. I know I did it. I know I would stuff them, and she would have to help me seal them, until I learned how to fold the edges properly myself. I do remember when she taught me to do that.
I don't really know how to cook a lot of the food my mom would make. I'm not as well-versed in Latin American cuisine as I would like to be. I want to share what little I have with my daughter, but I also want to learn it for myself. I want to connect with my heritage. I don't want my daughter to lose it.
My daughter is an amazing, curious, clever kid. She deserves so much. Being quarantined is a weird thing, in that we're all basically shut in here except for brief walks and quick trips to the store for me and my husband. At the same time, I feel like it's more an opportunity than a limitation. Maybe it's an opportunity to think more and be creative and catch up little things that need it. But most importantly, maybe it's an opportunity for me to share all these things that I want with her..
