About Rena Lee
As long as I can remember I loved to cook in the kitchen with my mom. I was a bit of a nerd and somewhat a loner when I was a child, except for my best friend of 50 years Mari. Cooking for me was a way to be creative and find a place to fit in, everyone likes to eat. I was an overweight child and very much an 'old soul' not wanting to hang out with kids my own age but to cook and almost every night our mom had dinner on the table for my dad who worked two jobs just to make sure she could stay home with the four of us kids, Ted, Lori, Rita and I.
On one of the many nights at dinner, mom reminded us "there are starving kids in the world so appreciate what you have and eat everything on your plate". So I did. Food was and still is a way that we give love. For me, I love to see the look on people faces when they eat something that I prepared with so much joy.
I remember when we were kids my mother used to cook all day and then package the food she cooked, put the four of us in the station wagon, and drive around to feed the homeless. I guess it would be resembling something like "Meals on Wheels" back then or maybe "Mom on Wheels". So many wonderful memories.
I have done so many things in my life some glamorous and some not. Every now and then I would say to myself "What am I really supposed to do with my life"? Well, "They say" whoever they are to follow your passion. I have come full circle in my life and at this stage of life I have learned what my true passion is.
In recent years our French grandmother "memere'" passed away at the age of 103. I was the fortunate person to inherit her recipe box. As I started going through it I was on a visual journey of all the wonderful moments in our family celebrating holidays with food. Memere's Canadian Meat Pie and her Potato Pie was a holiday staple filling the apartment with aromas of family and Christmas. My Aunt Rita and Lorraine shared some of those memories with me recently and it had me thinking…… Let's keep it going.
Cooking with Rena Lee is a labor of love, family and good, hearty and sometimes really healthy food. We have introduced soups, stews and pies filled with the finest ingredients cooked from scratch and served to your family as we carry on our family tradition... From our Home to Yours. We hope you enjoy our food…..
As my sweet Rachel always says…Happy Life.
Always, Rena Lee
