Naalumon’s started as a way to share my mom’s fabulous dessert recipes with the San Francisco Bay Area community. In 1994, my mom, Suchin Normand, began cooking two distinct desserts at the Wat Mongkolratanaram Buddhist Thai Temple in Berkeley, California. Today, people are still enjoying her desserts.

Suchin passed down her passion for the Thai culture and desserts to her daughter, Naalumon Normand. During family get-together’s and when I visited my mom’s kitchen, food has always been important. None of the recipes have been written down until I became interested in the history of the food and began trying my own hand in making the desserts.  I am proud to continue the tradition of my family with handmade Thai desserts that are not usually found in the average Thai restaurant.

As a 2006 graduate of the Oakland Adult and Career Education’s VESL entrepreneurship program, which is run in collaboration with the community-based organization C.E.O. Women, I have spent years helping my mom make these delicious desserts and evolving the recipes to fit how food is thought of today with only the best ingredients.

In 2007, I was recognized by the Students Succeed project in Oakland, California. The Students Succeed project identifies learners who have reached their life goals as a result of their participation in the adult education system and are now active in their communities.

Thank you for taking this culinary journey with me.