Hi Everyone! Welcome to my first-ever cooking blog! I know, I’m behind the times. I’ve always been more interested in cooking food, eating food and taking a picture of my food to reminisce about how good the food was. My family and friends have been telling me to start a blog, a YouTube channel, an Instagram, or a TikTok to share recipes. I’ve been too lazy, too busy, or not interested. It was conversations with my sister that pushed me to do it finally (the Insta and the blog).
A bit of background first. My name is Ming Smith (yes, Smith is my married name). I live in Mississauga, Ontario, which is located in the Greater Toronto Area. We’re located in Peel Region, one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 in Ontario.
Mississauga has close to a million people from many different cultures and backgrounds living in the city. We also host (pre-covid) North America’s largest Japanfest every year. Our diverse city allows for easy access to many amazing ingredients you wouldn’t find at a regular grocery store.
I have four siblings - I’m the middle child, wedged between two older sisters and two younger brothers. All of us are married, with families of our own, so it’s loud when we get together. I mean LOUD.
Of my four siblings - I am the only one living in Ontario. Everyone is back home in British Columbia. When we get together, it is always around food, laughter, loud-talking, and sometimes arguments. My husband has always said it isn’t a Le family visit until one of the sisters gets into an argument.
We are a family that loves food. We love to eat, and we love to eat together. We text each other, “What’s for dinner?” or “What are you eating?”. We continuously text pictures in our family chat of what we are eating. I mean, it’s unhealthy how often we send pictures trying to one-up each other or make each other jealous. When we get together, we recreate our recipes or food we’ve eaten to share. I have flown over 3000 km with the infamous Smith Family double -chocolate-fudge cake (made by my mother-in-law) on my lap for my brothers to satisfy their cravings.
For a family obsessed with food, I have two siblings that don’t cook. My baby brother, but his wife is a great cook. Then my second oldest sister, Lien.
Lien can’t cook. If Lien was a contestant on Canada’s Worst Cook (is that a show?), She would win. This post is not meant to disparage her; she knows I’m writing this. Lien would be the first person to agree that she doesn’t know how to cook.
When I was 13, my mom and older sister went overseas to visit family, leaving my dad, brothers, and sister at home. Lien, with her big heart, decided to make us all dinner. Without going into details, I have not eaten anything my sister has cooked since.
When COVID-19 locked us all down, Lien asked me to record a few videos to share my recipes and techniques to learn and make them for her family. Right now, we FaceTime and I walk her through recipes or how to use her air fryer, and it’s not efficient. I have filmed a few videos (still have to edit them) and have started writing down my recipes for her (which is hard because I never cook with recipes) but needed a place to post the video/recipes for Lien to access. Ten months later, I finally created Ming’s Table, 100% dedicated to my sister Lien.
Lien and I have a plan. When the pandemic is over, and we can safely travel, Lien will make me dinner; until then, she will try the recipes that I share, and I’ll post the pictures on the blog!