09/09/2026
Cooking to feel something. I felt grief, oddly, making this beautiful plate of food. It’s truly southern, the kind of plate you serve to people you love. Creamy baby lima beans, smoked barbecue pork chops, cornbread muffins with butter, sliced garden tomatoes with a drizzle of vinegar.
One of the hardest parts of living so far away from South Africa for me is not being there when it matters most. I wish I could share this homely dinner with my sisters Aretha and Kim. Aretha has had a tough week, the worst week any mother could imagine, and I just want to be an eldest daughter right now.