“Oh, but you’re not a real Southerner,” she exclaimed with a wave of her hand and a laugh. “Your ancestors came from CHINA!” I had just bumped into a woman outside the pizza shop who knew my sister. She loved hearing about my cooking classes and tours connecting food and culture which highlight the best of East, West and the Deep South. Noticing my puzzled look, she ... Continue Reading
Fusion at its Best: Asian Cuisine Experts, Teachers, Food Historians
Fusion at its Best My Mom: Country Asian Chef and Teacher of the Year My mother was born in Hunan, China, grew up in Taiwan, and immigrated to the U.S. to attend graduate school. Her dream was to become a journalist but decided to became a schoolteacher. First landing with a host family in Houston, Margaret got her first job working in the law office of her dear “Jewish ... Continue Reading
Video Interview: Growing up Asian and Southern, Five Spice Rutabaga
https://vimeo.com/69388655 My mom invented Chinese fast food long before Panda Express ever came along. She told friends, “I worked full-time as a school teacher, had three kids, and they didn’t sell tofu or soy sauce at the local Winn-Dixie grocery store back then. Who had time to make dumplings for dinner?” Margaret was way ahead of the popular cooking class trend. She ... Continue Reading
Video Interview: Redefining Authentic, Fusion Food
https://vimeo.com/69388655 Natalie shares about growing up in Smyrna, Georgia and how family dinners and fusion comfort food like "five spice rutabaga" and mom's Hot Hunan Catfish helped her cope with being different and one of the few Asian families in town. ... Continue Reading
Humor at the Table: Chicken Surprise
Dad loves jokes and is a great joke-teller. Sometimes he translates Chinese jokes into English for us and other times, they lose meaning in English (play on tones or vocabulary) so he tells them in lively Chinese! Since Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language (Be careful: don't call your mother a horse (same word, different tones!) These are the times I am glad that I can speak ... Continue Reading
Rotisserie Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Prep time: 15 mins Total time: 15 mins Serves: 3-4 Ingredients 1.5 cups roasted or rotisserie chicken (chopped) ¼ cup fresh green onions (chopped) 1 tablespoon fresh mint (chopped) 1 tablespoon fresh basil (chopped) ½ teaspoon roasted sesame oil (a.k.a. Chinese sesame oil) ¼ cup WILD WILD EAST Asian BBQ & Teriyaki sauce ¼ cup ... Continue Reading
Best of East-West:Happy New Year!
I celebrated a wonderful birthday over the holidays with friends and family. My mom made me a unique cake and card with "Happy Birthday" written in Chinese calligraphy and English--how special is that?! Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes! What an awesome year: Presenting Asian chef demonstrations and cooking classes with Mom; making new friends through the Metro Atlanta ... Continue Reading
My Homecoming (Georgia Gazette, GA Public Radio)
Listen to Natalie's live version of Only Asian Kid in School on Georgia Gazette, 5 minutes (click link on Media page) ---- For the first 20 years of my life, I did everything I could to avoid being called a "chink." You see, we were the only Asian family in the neighborhood. Before the 1990's, Smyrna was really considered the boonies. Even the local newscasters mispronounced ... Continue Reading
Boiled Peanuts, North Georgia
Required stop, snack when visiting North Georgia, boiled peanuts, a family favorite! ... Continue Reading
Cooking Classes, Asian Grocery Tour, Business Marketing Opportunities
-------------- NI HAO, Y'ALL! UPCOMING EVENTS ------- Featuring seasonal culinary and cultural traditions and the best of the East, West--and the Deep South! Call about customized chef/food service trainings, in-home cooking classes and business marketing/promotional demos! *Popular, traditional dishes de-mystified; healthy & home-style *Practical grocery & ... Continue Reading
Farmers Market Chef Demo photos
Enjoy these photos from our Morningside Farmers Market "Farm to Wok" Chef Demo, featuring Asian Pesto and a Chinese Stir Fry with garlic scapes from Denton Flower Farms! ... Continue Reading
August-September, Cooking Classes – Asian Tacos, Wraps plus Vegetarian, Gluten-free topics!
-------------- NI HAO, Y'ALL! UPCOMING EVENTS ------- Featuring seasonal culinary and cultural traditions and the best of the East, West--and the Deep South! Call about customized chef/food service trainings, in-home cooking classes and business marketing/promotional demos! *Popular, traditional dishes de-mystified; healthy & home-style *Practical grocery & ... Continue Reading
Cooking Grandma's Recipes with Aunt Julie!
Cooking Grandma's Dishes with Aunt Julie! Chinese 5-Spice (plus) Pot Roast with duck, chicken, whole eggs... and Spicy Chinese Noodles with handmade pasta and sauce! Yum! Paired with Napa Valley Cabernet... ... Continue Reading
Business News Daily: Mother Daughter, Family Teams
Read about Natalie & Margaret Keng in Business News Daily: Mother Daughter, Family Business Teams --- Every day with mom is "Daughter's Day" for me! Love, Honor, Cherish...and LAUGH!  These are the days to remember... ... Continue Reading
Qing Ming Holiday, photos
We didn't grow up celebrating Chinese holidays. My parents were less traditional and in 1970's Smyrna, Georgia, there was no Asian community, no where to buy incense or Chinese paper money! It's neat and odd to reconnect now as an adult to the thousands year-old cultural tradition of Qing Ming, Clear Brightness Holiday of remembering passed loved ones, and for the first time ... Continue Reading