A family fed; a neighborhood caffeinated; 5 kind & hardworking boys; & 5 grandchildren; she fed us in ways that taught us: you feed those that you love with whatever you have...that is the legacy of her hands.

Bula is our mother, but also notably the neighborhood’s cafetera (coffee maker) and on most days you can find her, upon returning from work, sitting outside entertaining the neighbors with conversation, laughs, and a cup of coffee. She always has some steeped, and everyone seems to know it. Whether its neighbors, nephews, distant cousins, or her best friends, she seems to hold the title of “favorite” in many people’s lives; coffee perhaps being the best excuse to just spend a little time with her each day. She shows her love by brewing it, and everyone else returns that love by making sure her efforts are never for nothing.

"Conversation, laughs, & a cup of coffee"

Bula!

Meet

"Mami"

If you were to ask Bula how old she is, she would laugh and tell you she doesn’t know, but it also doesn’t seem to matter. Bula is the mother of this family and although wise in years she has a strong youthful spirit. Her sweet-tooth ensures that beyond loving and nourishing us well, we are always being surprised by a perfectly timed Dominican sweet dish: Habichuela con dulce, arroz con dulce, pan de yuca, dulce de coco, majarete to name some of her favorites. She is the place to come if you need a sweet potato popsicle on a hot day; and shares whatever she has no matter how small the piece. She raised 5 boys that became good humored, hardworking, kind men and if you were to quiz her on their actual names, on any given day, she would laugh, only remembering the nic names she gave them long ago.

Bula plants, harvest, and shells almost all of the “habichuelas” beans & “guandules” that we eat on a daily basis and saves the seeds from all the “aji gustos” peppers that she cooks with and manages to plant them, even before her dish is pulled from the coals. You can't forget what you already did, and in this way she ensures we never run out; use some, leave some, plant some. It is because of her, they grow all throughout our property. Her green thumb is also partial to creating beauty, doing her best to make sure our yard is full of flowers; always planting, splitting, or propagating something in spite of the animals and children that seem to follow behind undoing her hard work. She is patient, hard working, and funny; and I hope you get the chance to sit at her table someday.

…Although your government name or birthday may not be at the top of the list of things remembered, you will never be forgotten. Bula will feed all who come, seek out those that didn’t, and prepare enough for those she never even expected. Cooking over a wood fueled fire, she gages temperature by heart; pulling & placing wood branches from/in the fire that heats her cauldron; a seemingly effortless dance with wood she chopped into the perfectly sized pieces herself, there are no cutting corners in her art-form. Cooking for her is the perfect balance of her softness: the love she puts into every dish, juxtaposed by her strength: the effort it takes to chop the wood, start the fire, manage the flame, move the cauldron, and withstand the heat. A demonstration of love, smokey & sweet just like the traditional sweet dishes she so lovingly cooks over an open fire. She keeps both us and tradition alive by way of her “Fogon”...