I loved my Mom more than
anything and I loved her Blackberry Cobler more than anything too.

Everything she touched she made better including all of us. It didn’t matter what she made because it was always cooked to perfection. It didn’t matter where or what oven or what stove it always came out just right. Anyone watch the Matrix? Remember the scene where the Oracle is sitting by the oven waiting for the cookies.. My mom, Sharon Kramis, was an oracle of the kitchen. She didn’t need timers or thermometers, she just waited for the exact moment when it was ready. If you’re a baker you know what I’m talking about. When something is done it’s done and it fills the entire house with a sweet aroma. My Mom had a gift and it would light up a room just like her smile.

Little miracles would happen for my Mom a lot, in the kitchen and in her life. When we would go sailing on our family vacation we would often end up in some pretty precarious situations. One time we decided to take a short cut on the outside of Whidbey Is and across the Straight of Juan De Fuca. It was a sunny day with a small craft wind warning and the seas got very rough. My Dad, Larry, and Uncle Fr Joe were at the helm. Fr Joe was hooting and hollering and never feared much because God always seemed to bail him out.

Partners in crime, My Dad was exuberant and thrilled that the starbird rail was burried under water and the waves were crashing over the bow. Meanwhile, Mom was in the galley saying Hail Mary’s and trying to secure the potato salad while making sure none of us ended up overboard. The prayers worked and we safely made it around cattle Is and into a safe San Juan Is harbor. Sharon was once again able to do her thing. Be an incredibly loving wife, a heroic Mom and a kind and generous person.

She barely used any fowl language. She saw the good in people and all things. She rarely had a bad day because every single day she loved whipping things up in the kitchen that made her and everyone around her happy including her five 6 ft plus Grandboys!

Her Husband, Larry, Aka the Snack Master, passed away a few years ago Right before the sh*t hit the fan with Covid. My Dad had a knack for snacks. Snacky was not overweight by mistake! He had the longest time with Sharon and he loved every single second of it. If my Mom was up in the kitchen my Dad was up to, right by her loving side. And if you think about it, who wouldn't want to be right there next to her. She was just as passionate about family as she was about food.

My Mom didn’t need much to make an incredible dish or best selling cookbook. When in Seattle she knew where everything spectacular was. She would often go to the Pike Place market and while saying hello to all of her favorite vendors she would collect a basket full of fresh seasonal ingredients and some fresh flowers. She knew exactly when certain seasonal things would show up at the market from fiddlehead ferns to spot prawns. Her recipes always highlighted the seasonal ‘star’ ingredient. She had a knack for making good a heck of a lot better!

One Summer, we were eating our way thru Italy with the Grossis from Mercer Is who had four boys. I was one of the youngest on the trip. It was 1979 and I was 12 years old. It was an easy year to remember because the Seattle Super Sonics won their one and only NBA Championship that same year. The Grossi boys and I got into a water fight with some Italian school kids celebrating summer break. I was being chased by a boy with a pail of water and ran right into the street. Within a split second I was hit by a Peugeot and I flew into the air, up and over the car that hit me, crashing down on to the cobblestone! When I came to there was a mob of Italians gathered around me yelling at my Dad, “don’t touch, don’t touch!” I heard the Sirens approaching and off I went to the ER in an ambulance. My Mom was there so I knew I was going to be ok. The young Italian Woman driving the car that hit me was also there. My Mom removed her gold necklace and gave it to her and they embraced. I was waving at them and said, ‘hello’ I'm the one that almost got killed!

I was released later that day and on the way out I looked at my Mom and asked her, “why did you give away your beautiful necklace?!” She looked at me with those knowing eyes, smiled and said, “I didn’t need it anymore”. That was just her doing her thing. This became a bad habit of hers. I often saw her give and give and give!

A Chef of my Mom’s caliber would only hold things dear to heart for a short time before giving them up. All those wonderful ingredients that She would buy or forage would end up in her ‘magic pan’. Her wizardry in the kitchen would soon render a masterpiece that she would give away to make everyone around her satisfied and full of joy.

The life of a Chef is very selfless business and my Mom turned it into the art of giving.