Instead of giving away candy on Halloween, Jess Huang's grandfather had a different tradition: he would cook some of the dishes he knew by heart and share them with the people he considered family. One of the things that he remembered most about that time were the three pumpkins which his grandfather strapped on at the backseat of their car on their way home.
It was a tradition born out of my grandfather’s love of cooking, and merged with an appreciation for his adopted country’s traditions. And through this custom, he showed me how kindness through food, shared yearly with neighbors who went from not knowing anything about Asian dishes to becoming some of my grandfather’s biggest fans, could tighten the bonds of a once-anonymous suburban neighborhood.
(Image credit: Megan Chong/Thrillist)