Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until golden, about 8 minutes..

He usually cooked for holidays and on Sundays, because my mother played the piano at church.Day-to-day cooking was usually my mother until when I was about 11 or 12.

My mother went back to work and then Leigh and I cooked during the week.. For most things that I learned to cook, if somebody showed me how, it was my father.He was much more of a teacher, and my mother was in the "I can do it myself.I can do it faster myself."

category.. We had a lot of time to watch what was happening, but one big thing in our family: my father did not cook rice.He only cooked rice if it was some kind of emergency, like he was making dinner and my mother hadn't gotten home yet.

Whenever made it, he would say, "I really can't cook rice."

It was never the perfect pot of rice.1/ 3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed.

1/ 2 cup whites of scallions, finely chopped.Dash of salt (optional).

Process the garlic to a paste in a food processor.Add the hearts of palm and process to a course purée.