Eva Goldstein was raised in Tijuana. Her grandmother took care of her while her parents were busy working all the time. She learned to make the desserts she shared for the program from her. She grew up in a small apartment behind the synagogue of TIjuana, a proud member of the Tijuana Jewish community. Her father started a perfume export business when a client at the business where he worked gave him an opportunity. Today, the business has grown and is run by Eva’s son and other family members. Her mother (in her 80s) still goes to the office across the border nearly daily.

Eva moved to San Diego when her children were teens, but still goes back and forth several times a week for personal reasons and to stop by the family business. After many years of working there, she stopped and now dedicates her time to helping her children take care of her grandchildren.

Eva made arroz con leche and chocolate gelati, dishes she learned to make from her grandmother. She shared the recipes that were handwritten by her grandmother.

Eva is very proud of her multiple identities–Jewish, Mexican and American–she embodies the cross-border experience and the diversity of Mexican culture.

She calls being a grandmother “the coolest club in the world.”