Opening my 75th Birthday gift from Matthew Mori I was reminded of my long ago craving for authentic almond cookies.
Tamaki, (Tommie) to her friends, taught me many important things. One of the most important was almond cookies from a Chinese bakery near one of the bus stops on her way to work. There were many times she took me to China Town and we'd stop at that magnificent bakery on the way home with a large still-warm box of almond cookies for those occasions we'd be visiting family at Aunt Stella's home in Whittier, California.
In Chinese cosmology, heaven has 9 levels,
九天), Jiǔ Tiān or
三十六天, 36 heavens, Sānshíliù Tiān
My mother taught me to always arrive with a hostess gift or a treat for the family, if not the best almond cookies, then a one pound box of See's candy.
I learned from my friend Yuji of Niimi in Okayama Japan of the importance of bringing a treat for the Buddhist priest who was essential to finding the Kobayakawa side (which my mother never knew existed) of my family ancestry.
Click HERE for Yuji's short form documentary.
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