As I reminisce on Sunday mornings with my Grandma in Jamaica, I can still smell the aroma wafting through the house. Beef kidneys with fried dumplings was one of our favorites. Sometimes she made liver and light, but the kidneys always won my heart.

Nowadays, it’s winning my children’s hearts. My American born children. I have been feeding them beef kidneys since birth. My oldest Robert, can seem to get enough of it. He’s not into liver, but give him some beef kidneys and his heart smiles.

People often ask, “how do you get your children to eat beef kidneys?”
I for one, was never into fast food. For as long as I can remember, I had always been cooking from scratch, even when I was unaware of being a foodie. Beef kidney was regularly on my breakfast list and they got accustomed to it. They weren’t curious children or picky eaters, asking lots of questions. They knew their moms food was d’luscious and couldn’t wait to gobble it up. They both love some fried dumplings.  As long as I’ve got them around, the fried dumplings will be golden, brown and d’luscious.

Being raised by my grandma is such a blessing because it exposed me to an array of cuisines. I earned my title as the Domestic Goddess because of her. I was introduced to flavorful, herbaceous food because of her. My tastebuds are sophisticated because of her. I’ve inherited her culinary traits and have passed them on to my children. Y’all should witness my youngest son D’Angelo make a cup of hot chocolate. Trust and believe, it ain’t no regular hot chocolate, so I know they got flavor in their bones.  Thank God for grandmas, grandchildren and beef kidneys!

What childhood memories do you have of your grandma?