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When is a stew more than a stew?

Three side by side images of a woman sitting down looking at the camera in a black and white checkered outfit and curly…

Photographed by Jess Feran

On timid cooks:“Chefs aren’t showing you every time their bread doesn’t rise.

Cooking isn’t necessarily intuitive.

you oughta practice.”

A pink ombre mascara tube with a black spoolie on a white background

On food as a form of healing:“I don’t have the best childhood memories.

There’s a chapter in my cookbook called I Dont Know My Grandma,' because I don’t.

I used to feel so ashamed of it, not having a family special [food].

A transparent perfume bottle with a black cap on a white background

I could give a rat’s ass [now]….

Cooking is my coping mechanism.

It’s how I deal with pain.

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The good moments I remember with my mom were with food.

Full transparency: All of the culinary work I do comes from a trauma space.

As a codependent person, I want to make people happy.

A brown tinted eyebrow gel spoolie in a pink transparent tube on a white background

I want to feed folks.”

When I’m stressed or sad, it’s something to put my feelings into."

On giving back:“I take at least 60 percent of my income and redistribute it.

A pink mushroom coming out of a plastic brown bag on a white background

When I was a kid in foster care, I got one new pair of shoes every year.

I’m 33 years old and I’ve been wearing theseKedsmy whole life.

Lose money, lose time, lose resources.

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That’s what real advocacy is about.”

On the power of scent:“My partner wearsVio-Volta by D.S.

& Durga, and I am obsessed with it.

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It’s like electricity in a smell.

It smells like lightning.”

On washday:“I blow-dry about 50 percent of the way, and then useAveda Brilliant Retexturing Gel.

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Let the record show, the back three or four inches of my head are shaved.

You’ve got to do the undercut.”

& Durga

D.S.