Submitted by Elda Capuni-Lemmon, Apalachin, New York My childhood food memories are of simple cooking, big and small family gatherings and celebrations, and food lines and rations. I was born in communist Albania, which remained so until 1991. Food diversity was limited, so every family cooked very similar dishes. Climbing my apartment building’s stairs, I could often tell by the smell what each family was cooking. Some smells, such as that of white or red bean stew (a cheap weekly staple in every household), I didn’t find inviting. Other smells I found lovely: fried green sweet peppers stuffed with feta, baked chicken and potatoes, byrek with feta or other fillings, warm cornbread (nonsweet), and the rare beefsteak! Most of these dishes only required a few ingredients, directed by necessity. Then there were the desserts: baklava and kadaif (a shredded phyllo dough pastry), homemade bonbons and fruit cakes, and shendetli (a walnut cake …