Pierogi is the food that makes me think most of my Nana. Sadly she died of cancer in 2015 when I was 8 years old. Whenever I feel sad or miss her, I think of the special ______ we shared together.

My Nana was Polish. Her parents were born in Poland and came over during the war. Nana was born in one of the Polish camps in Crewe. Food was an important thing that ______ the Polish community together.

Meals were often ______ because life was very hard then. The adults and children had to ______ potatoes, mushrooms, rabbits and herbs in the woods.

My Nana's heritage was very ______ to her. When her cancer was at its worst, she often thought of the times in the Polish camp and ______ the potato dumplings called pierogi she would always lovingly make for me and my mum.

Because of Chemotherapy, foods she once loved became ______ for her to cook, smell or even eat. My Mum and I would make her soups or noodles instead. But when Nana was feeling “well”, there was ______ better than making pierogi that could bring her joy and happiness. I watched and helped. How skillful and happy she was when making these Polish dumplings! The ______ of making this special food with her will always be in my memories.

Towards the ______ of Nana’s life, I knew she was slowly leaving us. So one afternoon, Mum and I made our own pierogi ______ her. It was one of those meals that I will never ______. She was excited with our pierogi.

Nana died on June 13th, 2015.

Mum and I ______ make cheese and potato pierogi to this day and treasure the tools that Nana has used. This simple flour, egg and water dough that is made on the wooden board was ______. We sometimes cheat with ready-made one ______ it is still my most favorite food in the world.

Thank you Nana for giving me the love of food and cooking.

【推荐3】I have never expected what power enthusiasm (热情) has. It was another person’s enthusiasm that set me to moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.

I was nine years old when she entered our home in rural Virginia. My father introduced me to her with these words: “I would like you to meet the boy who is ________ for being the worst in this county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no ________ than tomorrow morning.”

My stepmother walked over to me, ________ my head up and looked me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and said, “You are wrong. This is not the worst boy at all, ________ the smartest one who hasn’t yet found an outlet (发泄途径) for his enthusiasm.”

That ________ began a friendship between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my ________ as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that.

She changed many things. She ________ my father to go to a dental school (牙医学院), from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the country seat, where my father’s career could be more ________ and my brothers and I could be better ________.

When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand ________ and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, I ________ it, and I saw how it had already changed our lives. I accepted her ________ and began to write for local newspapers. Luckily, I got a chance to interview Andrew Carnegie and received the task which became my life’s work later. I wasn’t the only beneficiary (受益者). My father became the ________ man in town. My brothers and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.

What power enthusiasm has! When that power is used to support the certainty of one’s purpose and is ________ strengthened by faith, it becomes a powerful force which poverty and short-term defeat can never match.

You can ________ that power to anyone who needs it. This is probably the greatest work you can do with your enthusiasm.