By Summer begins. Isaiah is home, sprawled on the couch like he owns it, which he does, because this house belongs to everyone who has ever eaten at this table. He's taller, thicker, more man than boy now at twenty. He walks through the house with the casual ownership of someone who knows where the snacks are and doesn't need to ask. I love having him home. The house changes when he's here — the ESPN returns, the shoes reappear by the door, the refrigerator empties at an alarming rate.
Zoe and Isaiah have developed a rapport that delights me — she shows him her art, he pretends to understand it. She asks about basketball, he explains plays using salt and pepper shakers as players. They are siblings in the truest sense: they irritate and adore each other in equal measure.
A fourth rejection letter arrived. I read it, put it in the folder, and made fried chicken. Not Mama's anniversary chicken — just regular fried chicken, the Wednesday-night kind, the kind you make when life hands you a rejection and you need to remind yourself that you can make something good out of basic ingredients. The chicken was excellent. The rejection was filed. The filing and the frying are both acts of defiance.
Derek and I went to see the Cascade Heights house on Saturday. We walked through it with a realtor named Brenda — BRENDA — and I almost laughed at God's sense of humor, sending me a realtor with my dead mother's name to show me a house three streets from where my dead mother cooked. The kitchen was better than the photos. Gas stove, granite, the window over the sink looking out at a magnolia tree. A MAGNOLIA TREE. I stood at that sink and I could see the future and the future looked like a kitchen I'd been building toward my whole life.
Fried chicken was what I made that Wednesday — but grits are what I keep coming back to when the rejection folder gets thick and the world needs answering. There’s something about standing at the stove, stirring slow, that settles the noise. You put in the work, you pay attention, and something plain becomes something worth sitting down for — which is exactly the kind of reminder I needed that week, standing in that kitchen with Brenda, imagining a gas stove and a magnolia tree and a future I’m still cooking toward.
Grits
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 cup stone-ground grits (not instant)
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
Instructions
- Bring liquid to a boil. Combine water, milk, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Watch it closely — milk can boil over fast.
- Add the grits. Once boiling, slowly whisk in the grits in a steady stream. Reduce heat to low immediately and keep whisking to prevent lumps from forming.
- Cook low and slow. Simmer uncovered on low heat for 20–25 minutes, stirring every few minutes with a wooden spoon. The grits are done when they’re thick, creamy, and no longer gritty between your teeth.
- Finish with butter and cheese. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter until melted, then fold in the shredded cheddar. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve immediately. Grits tighten up as they cool, so get them to the table warm. Top with a pat of extra butter, a crack of black pepper, or whatever your Wednesday calls for.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 280 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 36g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 480mg