Kim James 
Her mom’s cookie recipe reminds Deborah VanTrece that she is robust and succesful. (And sure, the cookie is on the menu at her restaurant.) I preserve a recipe on my bedside table. It’s for chocolate chip cookies with black walnuts, and it’s handwritten by using my deceased mother. She obtained the recipe from her mom and passed it to me lengthy earlier than I’d go directly to end up a professional chef. I preserve it safe in a plastic bag, and I probably have a look at it three or four instances a month, extra regularly if matters are rough.
I grew up inside the Midwest during a time of civil unrest, in the technology of segregation and racial tension. As a child, I spent several times with my mother inside the kitchen. It turned into the region in our domestic wherein family accrued. My mother taught me a way to navigate this time and the way to free myself from limitations set by others. When I finally moved to Atlanta to pursue my restaurant profession, I skilled some lifestyle shock: I became a black, homosexual girl all of sudden living in the South, running in an enterprise ruled with the aid of white guys. A lot has been thrown at me, and there have been struggles. As a commercial enterprise owner, I’ve learned the significance of tenacity and the fee of networking with others. In these various environments, I’ve observed many structures of assist and know-how.
But I also still rely frequently upon the training my mother taught me. She made me understand that something is possible. She made me fearless: Failure isn’t always something I entertain. And that is why I maintain that cookie recipe so near me. When I study the recipe, it makes me feel like my mother remains with me, and it reminds me that I can face this commercial enterprise with self-assurance. My mom was a hardworking girl, and after I keep in mind all she did for us, it offers me strength. I produce other recipes from her. However, the fact that this one is handwritten feels special — she entrusted me with a piece of who she becomes, and it lets me have little conversations together with her. Today, I’m the chef and owner of Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours in Atlanta. And, of course, Mama Helen’s Chocolate Chip Cookie is on our menu. It can place a grin on every person’s face.
