INSPIRATION

My love of food is a family legacy: from my grandmothers, mother, and aunts, all terrific cooks; from my father and uncle, both serious gardeners.

I had a special bond with my grandmother, Estelle Lawson. At five, I moved in to "look after" her. She taught me to cook and to appreciate fine, fresh food. Our gardens grew peas, beans, corn, okra-to name a few! We had pigs, cows, and poultry. Each season brought new, delicious tastes.

Down our dirt road was a wild berry patch where we'd pick buckets of blackberries for jam and cobblers. In my earliest memory, I'm standing on a chair at the stove, stirring a pot of jam, the flavors intense and perfect!

Among our fruit trees, we had a pomegranate. A scraggly little bush, in Fall it bore amazing fruits-red balls with elegant jewels inside! My sister and I checked the fruit for weeks. When it ripened, we ceremoniously ate the seeds one by one. Grandma used the earthy juice in fruit salads. The seeds made meat and vegetable dishes seem exquisite.

My grandmother died when I was 18 years old, but I feel she's with me still. In her memory I've planted a pomegranate - its ancient myth the perfect symbol for her love of great, seasonal food.