Elise Kim ‘25 and Chip Downes-Le Guin ‘25

From English to science to math, from faculty to student, and family to family, food has a way of connecting us all. At the Catlin Gabel School (CGS), teachers have more than just lessons to teach. They have recipes to share.

This article not only details scrumptious recipes to make over the weekend but also gives an insight into faculty traditions and memories that are held close to heart. From hearty sickness-curing soup to flavorful dumplings to a sweet holiday treat, we are proud to present a culmination of faculty recipes.

Ginia King’s “Jane’s Carrots”

Rendition of Jane’s Carrots.

Photo by Elise Kim ‘25

When searching for a dish with both a personal story and academic garnish, look no further than CGS English teacher Ginia King’s “Jane’s Carrots.” King was first introduced to this dish during the balmy summers of New Hampshire, where her grandparents and fellow Harvard professors would get together.

King’s grandmother Edith Clark Lowry (right) with her father and daughter

Photo courtesy of Ginia King

Here, the professors and “their children and their children’s children and their children’s children would all go to the same place, on the same hill”. One of these children would be Jane Wellington and over the years, King and Wellington would spend lots of time together.

“Her family is…super close with my family, and we still are” stated King. Every Thanksgiving the two Kings and Wellingtons would share the holiday and break with each other.

King’s Family’s New Hampshire House

Photo courtesy of Ginia King

It was during these Thanksgivings that King would be first introduced to “Jane’s Carrots”. “Jane would make these carrots, and now every time I make them, people would go crazy for them,” stated King.

The sweetness of the boiled and slow-baked baby carrots painted with a sauce containing “the crazy taste of horseradish”, onions, and mayonnaise, finished with bread crumbs makes the side dish both delicious and easy to put together.

The recipe, originating in Wellington’s family in Pennsylvania, continues to be shared between King and other CGS families during the holiday seasons. King recalled making the recipe back at home in North Carolina and now in Oregon with the help of her daughter.

“Jane’s Carrots” offers an example of recipes that both transcend families and generations, serving many for years to follow.

Emily O’Sullivan’s “Grandpa Graul’s Spice Bars”

Rendition of Grandpa Graul’s Spice Bars.

Photo by Elise Kim ‘25

If you’re ever pining for the comfort of a wintry spice-filled treat but sick of the overserved gingerbread or peppermint cookie and don’t know what to choose, look Grandpa Graul’s way.

With warm flavors of molasses and cinnamon, blended with walnuts and raisins, these treats are a Christmas tradition of CGS math teacher Emily O’Sullivan and her family. The recipe originated in her ancestry, beginning with her great-grandfather, Edward Graul.

Graul began his apprenticeship as a baker in 1906 when he was 13, working with his uncle where he would commute to the bakery in Sausalito from his family in San Francisco. He worked at many bakeshops over the years, but it was in San Francisco where he would eventually open his own bakery. Here, Grandpa Graul’s Spice Bars would be born as a signature item.

Because of this industrial genesis, the original recipe contained instructions for bakery-sized portions not easily replicable at home. “It’s great. Two pounds of butter, three pounds of this, and five pounds of flour, and you’re like ‘okay half and half again and half again and half again and half again, and now we can make it,’” stated O’Sullivan.

Some of the scoops and other measuring tins used for these massive proportions have been passed down through O’Sullivan’s family, being well over 100 years old. “It’s really cool to have a few of those physical things live in our family,” said O’Sullivan.

Scoop, measuring cups, and molds that were used in Graul’s bakery.

Courtesy of Emily O’Sullivan

Although not always used, these heirlooms and the recipes they’re associated with are an important connection between O’Sullivan and her family. Every year it is important that they make these cookies for O’Sullivan’s grandma, Nana, as she enjoyed eating them during her childhood and they remind her of her family. And with their rich, sweet, warmly-spiced taste and slightly chewy texture, who wouldn’t want a piece?

As typical of a cookie, Grandpa Graul’s Spice Bars do not require an exceptional amount of time to make, nor any particular skill. With a mixer in hand, creating the dough and rolling it out takes an amount of time typical to any cookie.

Tips from O’Sullivan for others interested in testing out this recipe included chilling the dough and adding “a little milk or egg washer on the top” to make them shiny.

Katy Yan’s Napa Cabbage and Pork Dumplings:

Rendition of Katy Yan’s napa cabbage and pork dumplings.

Photo by Elise Kim ‘25

While some cultures commemorate the coming of the New Year with the ball drop and hearty singing of “Auld Lang Syne”, CGS science teacher Katy Yan celebrates with a tradition that is pleasing to the stomach. Every Chinese Lunar New Year (as well as any major holiday) freshly made Chinese Napa cabbage and pork dumplings with their soft, slightly chewy exterior and soft, flavorful insides can be seen on the menu.

Yan recalled from her childhood that her parents would make each dumpling from scratch. “My dad would be the one that would make the dough… [He would] roll it out, cut it, and flatten it, and my mom would usually be the one to make the filling,” said Yan. “Then we would all make it together and wrap the dumplings.”

According to Yan, making this recipe is by no means a recent tradition, as it has been passed on from generation to generation orally. She believes it originated in the eastern and northern parts of China, where her parents are from.

The reason for the dumpling’s popularity extends beyond its delicious taste. In Chinese culture, these dumplings, which are meant to bear a resemblance to traditional Chinese gold ingots, symbolize wealth and prosperity, something Yan explains is always “the big wish for the year.” Thus it is no surprise this dish is made so frequently throughout the year for who wouldn’t want more riches and fortune?

Since moving away from her parents to Oregon, she often missed the tradition of celebrating the New Year by sharing a meal with close friends and family members. Yan explained that despite the distance she wants to ensure that the tradition lives on for her five-year-old and her new family by making Chinese dumplings as a family every Lunar New Year.

In fact, this past Lunar New Year she invited her friends and in-laws to sit around the table to make Chinese dumplings just as she did when she was a child. Yan pre-makes the filling, however contrary to her father she buys wrappers instead of making the dough from scratch. She described the dumpling-making process as “kind of chaotic” but “super fun” as the sound of laughter, overlapping conversations and the slight clanging of numerous spoons scraping the filling bowl filled the air.

The children joined in on the fun, and Yan who is “a cleanliness person” had to remind herself that it was alright if the children “make a mess as long as there’s no raw pork going into the mouth.” In addition, as a result, they get “all sorts of shapes of dumplings”, which is no issue as Yan stated that “as long as they’re mostly sealed they’re edible.”

Yan emphasized the equal importance of both maintaining traditions from her culture, while also starting her own. In this pursuit, Yan plans to introduce a new dish to the Lunar New Year dinners: sticky rice and crab.

“I think traditions should evolve. People change. Society changes,” said Yan. “It’s cool to keep the things that are meaningful, but then put your own twist on it and try new things.”

She has certainly taken this philosophy of innovation to heart, as she has made her own vegetarian version of the traditional dumplings by substituting dried shrimp and Szechuan spice for shiitake mushrooms and white pepper.

Some tips Yan has for the filling is to use “fairly fatty pork” and not the lean kind for more flavor and to add diced water chestnuts for a “little bit of crunch”. And for those who are beginners when it comes to folding dumplings, she suggests to “start small” and eventually with more experience work up to making more “chubby” dumplings.

Cristy Vo’s Pork Rib and Papaya Soup:

Rendition of Cristy Vo’s pork and papaya soup

Photo by Elise Kim ’25

At one time or another, especially during the winter season, we’ve all found ourselves sitting up weakly in bed with a slight cough, a runny nose, and a chill down the spine that no number of fuzzy blankets can fix. And if you’re lucky enough a loved one might carefully slip through the door, holding a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup. And with one sip, momentarily, all feels well, as the hot broth eases your soft throat, spreading a warm feeling through the body.

The same occurred to CGS English teacher Cristy Vo when she was sick as a child, although her mother wouldn’t serve her a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup. Instead, Vo’s mother would serve a recipe of her own: Vietnamese pork rib and papaya soup. From the tender pork ribs that fall right off the bone, the light, salty, fishy broth bursting with flavor, to the slightly sweet pillow-soft papaya cubes that practically melt in the mouth, the soup is always comforting to Vo and reminds her of memories shared with her mom.

“It’s weird because when I’m sick now I do crave something that’s a little bit sweeter because I was always given this papaya soup. There’s this…connection that I have to it,” said Vo. This is so much so that chicken noodle soup which is often served to sick children in the U.S. does not meet her expectations.

According to Vo, the soup cannot be found in a Vietnamese restaurant because she believes it might have originated from Mương Mán village in Southern Vietnam where her mother grew up. She also theorized that the dish has roots in the Mương Mán train station, which connected North Vietnam to the South. Steaming bowls of the hearty soup were served at her mother’s apartment storefront for the passengers at the station.

“If this recipe did ever pop up or find its way in other places, it was because of this train station, because people would stop at this station, pick up a lot of papaya from this small village that had a lot of it,” said Vo.

It was also tradition for pregnant women to be served the soup due to the nourishing vitamins and antioxidants that are found in papaya. During harvest season, there would be an “excess of super ripe papayas” in the village which, instead of being thrown out, would be turned into a soup.

“For my mom, growing up she said they would have it [papaya soup] almost every day when this high harvest season would happen,” said Vo.

In addition, like her daughter, Vo’s mother was served the dish when she was sick as a child and eventually was taught how to make it herself. To this day, the dish is close to Vo and her mother’s hearts, as it is something that “feels close” and reminds them of their childhoods.

The recipe, according to Vo, is “relatively easy to make” as the only challenge is to pick the “right papaya.” The key is to look for the right color (somewhere between a green and a red orange) which signifies the papaya is in a stage between unripe and ripe.

We urge our readers to not only try these delicious recipes over the weekend but also use them as food for thought. Our meals are more than just a way to sustain ourselves— they are a bridge between family and community, past and future generations, and traditions and innovations.

For Yan, dumplings provided cultural stability after moving to Portland. For King, carrots create connections with families. Finally, for O’Sullivan and Vo, their cookies and soup each are reminders of the family members that came before them.

Whether it is a holiday meal or one of these recipes, the next time you sit down to eat, consider the stories that have been baked into every bite.

Tasting Faculty Family Recipes