When you were a child, how did you get your food?

We grew a small garden, we had a cherry tree, an apple tree, a pear tree and a plum tree, that’s where we got a lot of food, and where we bought our groceries in those years was at a corner store. We had to walk to the corner store and carry all our groceries home, we didn’t have a car. My mother had a garden, and I helped in the garden.

When you were young, how did you keep your food?

We had a pantry, it was a small room off the kitchen where we kept all the food stored, and my mother made applesauce out of the apples,canned the fruit and the vegetables. We had an outdoor cooler with a screen door on it. We didn’t have fridges.

How was getting food different when you were a kid?

Well, in those days we didn’t have cars, so we went to little corner stores, we had to pack our groceries home, so we might go there a couple of times a day, and we could run an account there. You didn’t have to pay right away, you could pay at the end of the month, which made it easier for families.

What is your favorite local food?

I would say it was the fresh fruit and vegetables that we would get. My favorite would be the peas or beans out of the garden, fresh.

Tell me about a favorite food memories from when you were a child.

There were six of us. We had a coal and wood stove, and when we had corn on the cob my mother would put a big boiler on the stove and put in a dozen cobs of corn. That was our favorite. On Sunday my mother always made a pie, different kinds of pie.

What seasonal foods do you eat?

Pretty well anything that comes out of the garden at the time of season. Lettuce, tomatoes, any of the green foods.

How do you overwinter your food?

I do some canning and some freezing.

Where do you shop?

In a Safeway at Coquitlam.

Why did you choose the macaroni recipe?

Well, it just seemed to be a food that was…a comfort food, they call it? It was a family favourite.

What foods make you think of spring?

New potatoes, and carrots, and peas off the vine, because they’re fresh, and we don’t have them all winter.

What foods make you think of summer?

Vegetables that you’ve grown, and are ready to pick.

What foods make you think of fall?

The fruits that are getting ripe on the trees, because I just love them!

What foods make you think of winter?

Well, we have the vegetables like cabbage, and carrots, the winter vegetables, because they keep you warm, they keep your body warm.