Healthy cooking runs in the Family

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By Rachel Hauser
People photos by Tim Murphy
Food photos by Pete Krumhardt
Food styling by Dianna Nolin
Prop styling by Marisa Dirks and Sue Mitchell

Will Wagenlander grins as he lobs a few toasted almonds at his mother, Mary Lee Chin, who adeptly dodges the flying nuts. She and Will, 26, often play together in the kitchen on nights when Will brings his family over for dinner. In fact, Will picked up much of what he learned about cooking from his mother, a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in clinical nutrition.
           
At least once a week, Will and his family—wife Ashley and daughters Ella and Lucy—drop by to have dinner with his mother and father, Jim Wagenlander. The younger Wagenlanders appreciate the help as they juggle the needs of two small children and two jobs, along with life’s less extraordinary demands. Occasionally, Will’s brother, Tom, away at college, comes home for a visit too. Often the menu is spiced with Cantonese dishes, traditional foods that Mary Lee learned from her mother, who immigrated to the United States from southern China.
           
As her two sons grew up, Mary Lee passed on many Cantonese traditions, along with her love of cooking. Will, whose natural culinary talent is driven by a voracious appetite, now cooks for his own family. He has a well-earned reputation for on-the-fly dinner creations. Using just the ingredients his mother has on hand, Will has been known to whip up some tantalizing dinner concoctions, such as mussels in a white wine sauce.