Letter From the Editor
With Gratitude
The Holiday Issue
“Well, I am still here,” is what my great-grandmother used to say. This was her response to the question, “How are you doing today?”
I’d roll my eyes, sigh and follow up with a more specific question: “Come on, Mimi. What did you do today?” She’d eek out the activities: what she ate, what she watched, what she had growing in the garden.
It took a global pandemic for me to understand the profoundness of her initial answer: “I am still here.”
More than 8,498,200 people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 223,400 have died, according to a New York Times database.
In spite of all the pain, the fear, the loss (and there’s been so much loss), we are still here. It is with gratitude that I introduce our holiday issue.
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We look to four survivors of the coronavirus to tell us about the dishes they’re most looking forward to enjoying this holiday season.
Angela Llano from the Bronx can’t wait to make her special flan, a recipe she brought over from the Dominican Republic. Her version is a firm custard and is subtle on sweetness.
John Williams, a minister from Brooklyn, will be making his special snapper steaks. In creating his dish, he said he wanted the fish to be able to hold its own when placed next to a glorious turkey and all the holiday fixings.
Kimberly Jean-Pierre found out she was infected in March, then shortly after learned she was pregnant. She’s expecting her baby girl to arrive just in time for Thanksgiving. She has a lot to be grateful for this holiday and krema — a spiced Haitian beverage — is one of those blessings. Like an extra sweet Bailey’s, krema is meant to be sipped.
Kelynne Edmond, a nurse practitioner who was bed-ridden for about six weeks, is looking forward to her husband’s diri ak djon djon– a mushroom-flavored rice that works nicely with turkey and gravy.
Each survivor had lost their sense of smell and taste — a common symptom of the virus. We join them in approaching this holiday season with a renewed sense of gratitude.
Happy holidays,
Rochelle Oliver
