Jake Bickelhaupt, 42 grams (Chicago).

(16-ounce) pkg.. frozen pearl onions., thawed and patted dry.

sweet Marsala wine.Heat grapeseed oil in a large saucepan over medium-high.Add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 5 to 6 minutes.

Add sugar and salt; stir to coat.Add chicken stock, and cook until stock has reduced by about one-fourth and onions have softened, about 6 minutes.

Stir in wine, and cook until reduced by one-fourth, about 6 minutes.

Stir in vinegar, and cook until sauce is slightly reduced and onions are glazed with syrup, 20 to 24 minutes..And it lead to that Great Migration that lead to a lot of the food that we cook today.

I think this dinner is an opportunity to be authentic to ourselves, to show who we are and what we’ve done.We’re proud of our heritage, but we’re also evolving..

As a kid we never celebrated.I didn’t have that kind of relationship with my parents, with my father dying when I was extremely young and with my mother being incarcerated.