Final Edits

The final details are being worked out between us and Melody Lacina, an editor at Wilstad & Taylor, the firm hired by the Press to copy-edit and design our book. We are VERY glad they are perfectionists, but sometimes it seems like we will never be done. We have both decided that when the last "t" is crossed and the last "i" is dotted, we will take our husbands (in our respective cities) out for a nice meal to celebrate - with someone else doing the cooking and the cleanup. Take a look at the pile of manuscripts we have created in the last year, going back and forth with revision after revision.

Gran Torino

Have you seen the movie, “Gran Torino” yet? It is about an angry, lonely old guy (Clint Eastwood) and his Hmong neighbors. It’s a beautiful movie, on many levels. We have decided that we need to thank Clint Eastwood with the very first copy of our book; because his movie has at least part-way solved a marketing dilemma for us. Many people used to have a blank look on their faces when we explained that our book is about Hmong cooking and culture. Now everyone who has seen the movie, knows at least a little bit, about the Hmong. So, ua tsaug (thank you) Mr. Eastwood, and all of the people who created the story and brought it to life! We hope that you ate lots of great Hmong food while filming the picture.

Finishing Our Book

Hi everybody! We have been so busy finishing up our book that we have not been putting new posts on our BLOG. In January, Sami traveled down to Sheng’s and we worked out the final recipes for our book. It was fun and exhausting. We cooked and cooked and wrote and wrote. Here is a photo that was taken then: From left to right are Sheng’s husband, Leo, Sami’s husband, Don, Sheng’s oldest son, Eddie and his wife, Maikia, Sheng’s daughter Frances, Sheng’s sisters, Blia, Der and “Little” Sami, “Big” Sami, Sheng and Sheng’s parents, Mai and Kao.

Publish Date

Several people have asked us when our cookbook will be available to buy. The answer is - the spring of 2009. We plan to have the manuscript to the publisher in the first month or two of next year. The editing, formating and printing process takes about a year. We have been gathering recipes and writing the book for several years now, so we are also very anxious to actually see the book on the shelves. If we have your email address, you will be one of the first to know when it is available. Our email address is: sami.scripter@gmail.com Please send us a message so we can notify you when it is ready.

Rice Wine Dessert

So many people in Saint Paul shared information with us to use in our book, it would be hard to list them all.

One special interchange happened early one morning at the Saint Paul bakery, Cakes by Fhoua. Sami watched and listened while baker, Fhoua Yang, shared her “story” and decorated beautiful made-to-order cakes. The following week, Fhoua and her business partner, Koa Yee Xiong, shared a marvelous recipe with Sami and Sheng. It consists of sponge cake, iced with coconut-laced whipped cream and topped with a little ball of fermented sticky rice. It is decorated with strings of caramelized sugar and soaked with sweet wine from the fermented rice. The dessert is a combination of an age-old recipe they learned from Koa Yee’s mom, Chia, and Fhoua’s recent Cordon Bleu Patisserie and Baking School training. The dessert represents the balance of modern and traditional elements of Fhoua and Kao Yee’s world. It will be included in the Desserts and Beverages chapter.


When Sami got home from Saint Paul she tried out the recipe and shared it with some of her Portland Hmong friends. Everyone who tried it voted a big “thumbs up” for the dessert.