Home is where my stomach is

I don't usually get homesick, but the thought of going home makes me even more anxious for the occasion. I'm leaving on Sunday and won't be back until the following Sunday. What am I looking forward to?

1. My parents oh-so-unbelievable cooking

2. Drinking in the back yard with my dad

3. BBQing

4. Beer Pong and bar hoping with the amigos

5. Pick up basketball games

6. Playing with the little cousins

7. Hercules, my wimp of a poodle-terrier mix

8. Hitting up the beaches

9. Spending a day on Naushon

10. Spening another day on Martha's Vineyard

11. Showing a special someone all of it.

Just to elaborate how good my parents cooking is - what follows is a tribute:

I didn't realize how good their home cooking was until I had left for college. I guess I had assumed all parents can cook like they can. Growing up we never went out to eat and only on rare occasions would order pizza. Once I got to college, I was shocked! It's not that the food at GW and around campus was bad, it just wasn't incredible. Even to this day, when I go home to Boston there is only one restaurant I really look forward to: 174 Pond Street.

They make everything from scratch, using authentic Vietnamese recipes with their own improvisions. They know the good markets to get fresh seafood and vegtables. My dad grows fresh peppers. Our kitchen is huge, and their collection of cooking tools are expansive.

My dad is the mastermind. He's an incredibly ingenuitive man. My sister took my parents to a thai restaurant in NY a while back. Two weeks later he was making a Pad Thai that would kick all other Pad Thai's butts. He used more scallions, a lighter vinergar mix and fresh sprouts.

My mom is the desert chef. She makes this pound cake that requires whipping eggs until they are foaming. The end product - AMAZING. She is also an expect at the proportions of Vietnamese coffee, brewed on top of sweet condensed milk right on top of your glass.

Other incredibles: Mom's spring rolls, Dad's steak tips, Their Pho -Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup, Dad's friend rice, Mom's fried bananas, Dad's sushi platter, Mom's tomato and beef stuffed tofu, Dad's Shrimp dumplings on sugar canes, Mom's surf and turf crepes.

Okay, I'm hungry now.