Long Life Short Stories By Darcel Dillard-Suite
Long Life Short Stories By Darcel Dillard-Suite
When Food Becomes A Bridge To Those We Miss
Grief doesn’t wait for January to calm down; it shows up between cinnamon sticks and twinkle lights. We open the door to that complicated mix of joy and ache, and walk straight into the kitchen, where a single sweet potato pie can light up a whole life story. With nutmeg, amaretto, and a well-worn recipe card, we explore how food turns memory into presence and transforms an empty chair into a seat that still feels warm. Tune in
Hey there storytellers. Welcome back to Long Life Short Stories where we dive into our moments that make life well life. I'm Darcell DillerSweet. We are in a season that often conjures up feelings of joy, merriment, and sometimes sadness. But it's our memories that can help us balance out the malaise and fill up our hearts and inner soul with that spiritual food of love. That festive food during the holiday season speaks right to our heart. How many of you listening have lost a loved one and can recall a favorite dish, meal, or recipe that no matter when you make it, the aroma and taste becomes a distinctive, delicious memory that reconnects you to that sister, brother, husband, wife, bestie, or dad and mom who may no longer be with you. I've had some losses. I know we all have, and they hurt deeply, especially around the holidays. It makes me personally cherish every memory of my loved ones because that's when they come alive again in my cooking and in my kitchen. There are special dishes that my mother used to make that I now make seasonally, and every time I make them, I reconnect to her personality, her big smile, her laughter, and her mama kind of loving energy. Her spirit comes alive again when I bake her sweet potato pies. I can see us still dancing around together, around the stove, checking on the potatoes and prepping the pie crust. She left me with the sheer joy of reviving her recipe and spreading love to so many of my friends when I gift them one of my mama pies. My mama's sweet potato pie. And I only make them during the holidays. I hate to say it, but I kind of think I make them even better than she does now. And yet I can hear her sweet voice in my ear when I don't add enough nutmeg or amaretto saying to me, girl, ask some more. You know that's our secret ingredient. So if you had one of my pies recently, oh, don't you know how guided my hand in my kitchen and my heart was so helped right every minute of it by my mama. So what dish do you make that reconnects you with a distant memory of a loved one? Or what food do you savor? Because just tasting it when you close your eyes takes you right back to that moment of happiness and closeness that special person brought into your life. Food is a connector. A good meal is a reminder of family, fellowship, and fun times. Be it spicy, salty, or sweet, these sacred flavors that wake up our taste buds, they really do reconnect us to a more divine, delicious memory that can help make the holidays, believe it or not, more tasty and more tolerable. So for those of you like me, missing a loved one this holiday season, bake up some gluten goodness or stir up some soulful gourmet specialties and add to that menu a delicious memory full of favorful love. Until next time, I'm Darcy Diller Sweet. Happy, delicious holidays.