Pretty Cherry Parfaits

April. Ida is five months. She is sitting up with support and has started reacting to food smells in a way that I find very promising. When I cook something good she turns her head toward the kitchen. When Tyler makes his scrambled eggs she does not turn her head. This is objective evidence that she has excellent judgment already.

The daycare kids are deep in spring energy, which is a specific kind of loud. We went outside every day this week because the only cure for spring energy is to take it outside and let it run itself out on the playground. I have been doing this job for ten years. I know all the cures. The cures are all variations on the same thing: be present, pay attention, meet them where they are, give them room to become.

Wrote a long blog post this week about what it means to cook for a baby who cannot eat yet. How I find myself making everything more intentional. Tasting things more carefully. Thinking about what she will taste eventually. I am already cooking toward her. Not yet for her, but toward her. She is watching everything from the bouncy seat and I am showing her without knowing what she is receiving. That is fine. That is how it always works. You show them. They receive. Later they show someone else and do not remember who showed them first.

The small Bright Beginnings Daycare in the small downtown Prattville is the small workplace. The small toddler-room teacher role (ages 18-36 months). The small daycare-worker-salary plus the small fiancé-Cole’s small carpenter-paycheck is the small two-income engaged-couple budget. The small wedding-saving has been the small two-year-project.

Tyler Clarke (the small fiancé, 29, diesel-mechanic-from-Millbrook) works at a small trucking-company. The small wedding is planned for October 2026 with Gloria walking Savannah down the aisle. The small marriage will be the small first-stable-adult-relationship Savannah has had. The small foster-care upbringing means the small family-of-origin had been the small unstable-shape.

The small foster-care-history: Savannah went into the small Alabama-foster-care system at age six after the small mother’s incarceration and the small father’s absence. The small seven-foster-placements between infancy and age sixteen. The small last placement (Gloria and James Martin in Prattville, who became the small forever-parents) since age fourteen. The small Martin-foster-parents continued to be the small only-parents until James died in 2024 at 77 from a heart-attack mowing the lawn.

The small self-taught-Southern-cooking is the small kitchen-identity. The small no-grandmother-recipes-passed-down meant the small YouTube-and-cookbook-self-teaching from age sixteen onward. The small fried chicken, the small biscuits, the small mac-and-cheese, the small banana pudding, the small sweet tea are the small staples.

The small Gloria-Martin kitchen-mentorship (Gloria is the small foster-mom-now-mom) has been the small adult-cooking-development since the small fourteen-year-old. The small Gloria-Sunday-dinners-with-Savannah-cooking-now are the small weekly-rhythm since James passed. The small Gloria-recipes (Black-Southern-comfort-food the small chain of Gloria’s mother and grandmother) are the small heritage-by-adoption.

The small Prattville-small-town-community is the small social-context. The small First Baptist Church congregation is the small church-family. The small daycare-coworkers are the small adjacent-friend-network. The small Martin-family (Gloria, James who passed in 2024, plus the small current-foster-child Destiny age 6 in Gloria’s care) is the small chosen-family. The small Tyler’s-family-in-Millbrook (Debbie, Roy, and four-brothers) is the small in-law-family.

This week I kept thinking about what it means to make something worth looking at—worth smelling, worth turning your head toward—when the person you’re making it for can’t eat it yet. These Pretty Cherry Parfaits were exactly right for that. They’re layered and bright and they smell like spring, and I made them slowly on a Sunday afternoon while Ida sat in her bouncy seat and watched the whole thing from across the kitchen. I don’t know what she received. But I showed her.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granola
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Whip the cream. In a chilled bowl, beat heavy whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 3—4 minutes. Set aside.
Prep your glasses. Set out 4 clear parfait glasses, mason jars, or tall dessert cups. Clear sides let you see the layers, which is most of the point.
Build the first layer. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of granola into the bottom of each glass.
Add the yogurt layer. Spoon 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt over the granola in each glass, spreading it gently to the edges.
Add the cherry layer. Spoon 2—3 generous tablespoons of cherry pie filling over the yogurt in each glass.
Add the cream layer. Dollop a generous spoonful of whipped cream over the cherries in each glass.
Repeat the layers. Add a second round of granola, yogurt, cherries, and whipped cream, finishing with a crowned spoonful of whipped cream on top.
Garnish and serve. Tuck a fresh mint leaf into the top of each parfait if using. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 2 hours before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pretty Cherry Parfaits — Making Something Beautiful While Ida Watches