Fiona Quinn | The Kitchen Grandmother

Lynx is a special operative who helps solve the riddle in WASP, the first book in the Uncommon Enemies Series (2017, SilverHart Publishing)

Lexi Sobado (AKA Lynx) Lexi was an un-schooler. Un-schooling is homeschool on
steroids, where everything and everyone could present a learning experience. Now
that she's an adult, her non-traditional upbringing gives her a unique world
view -- different from those around her. She doesn't stand out as weird or
awkward; she just stands out.

I thought you might like to get to know one aspect of Lexi's un-schooling
experience, her Kitchen Grandmothers.

I’ll let Lexi introduce you to her Kitchen Grandmothers in her own words:

So much of my education happened around the stove, under the watchful eyes of my
Kitchen Grandmothers, so much warmth and goodness. It was Snow Bird Wang who
decided that I needed the Kitchen Grandmothers. She was worried that I would
lack women’s skills, making it hard for me to find an honorable husband. She
knew that my mother’s illness, that had left her bedridden since I was twelve,
would keep her from teaching me “wifely” skills. So Snow Bird chose, amongst her
friends at our apartment building, five grandmothers who were willing to take me
under their wings

While Snow Bird’s idea seemed incredibly old-fashioned, I could see the value of
learning from so many kindhearted older women. And too, I didn’t have a family
beyond my parents, and it felt good to be welcomed into these women’s homes and
families.

Each grandmother chose a day of the week, and that was her day to teach me to
clean, to market, to cook, tend children, anything and everything. It was a
cornucopia of culture and language, spice and ability. My mother was thrilled.
“This will give your life such wonderful flavor,” she said. She was right. I
adore my Kitchen Grandmothers. I love that they enfolded me into their family
life, sharing their skills and knowledge.

Each day of the week Lexi would study with a different Grandmother.

My Jadda (the name her grandchildren called her) was born in Turkey and married
a man named Khaled at a very early age. They lived here and there in the
Mediterranean as Khaled climbed the business ladder. Finally, he became a sales
rep here in D.C.

The thing I remember with the most clarity about Khaled was that he had an
amazing voice. His voice reminded me of rich warm spices: nutmeg and allspice, a
twist of lemon, and cinnamon. When he was happy, which was most of the time,
Khaled's cinnamon scented voice was like rice pudding on a snow day - comfort
food. But like too much cinnamon, too much Khaled -- the angry Khaled -- could
burn my sensibilities.

Khaled entertained a great deal - and this recipe for stuffed dates is the one
he liked for Jadda to make up and have on hand. She liked the ease and quick
clean up. I, of course, just liked eating them.

Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese

VIDEO Demonstration