Alice Walker's "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens"
             Alice walker raises a point that the creative spirit held by our mothers was very often not held in high regard by anyone at that time as an "artistic" or "special" talent. Simple things like: pruning a garden, knitting, singing a song, or cooking were religious activities that at the time held no particular place in society other than fulfilling their own personal needs.
             Cooking holds a special place for me, because I grew up in a family that did not use recipes for cooking. They simply pulled out ingredients, and pulled meals together. What we know as "soul food" is the descendant of soul food. It is the brilliant masterpiece that derived from want. Soul food is distinct in its use of greens, beans, and the parts of the pig rejected at the plantation house: pig's knuckles, ears, tripe, hog maws. These were added to the corn rations, which were sometimes the only food allotted to the slaves. I've watched my grandmother and godmother, and asked questioned about how they used to cook. How their mother used to cook. She would tell me that meals were cooked in open fires using black kettles or were barbecued in open pits. The people who cooked just knew how to do it. They didn't need to follow a recipe. Most food was made using only one pot, as time for cooking and money for its tools were both hard to come by.
             Both my Grandmother and Godmother amaze me, because if I made a meal for them, they can tell by taste the spices and ingredients that I used to make it. In their eyes, I am playfully referred to as a "dummy cook." Meaning, I use a recipe. Now in my defense, the recipe merely serves as a guideline to my own special flavor and expertise. In the past, African American foods were prepared in many ways. Since there were no refrigerators or freezers years ago, meat was smoked in a smokehouse to make sure it wouldn't...