By Dakota Chambers
An arduous labor for a delicious ending. Prep is the hardest part, somehow taking 30 minutes or even an hour when the recipe card says it shouldn’t be more than 15. By the end of it, our backs ache and our cutting boards are filled with minced veggies, the smell of onions and garlic making our noses itch and eyes water. The oven has been fully heated up and is ready to roast now, or the water is finally boiling if pasta is the night’s dish. Music is playing, probably whatever DJ D-Nice is spinning on his Instagram Live. The throwback R&B jams act as a background soundtrack to the overwhelming oven fan. We’re laughing, messing with the stove that ticks uncontrollably when the flame is too high and seasoning the chicken just a bit more than the recipe asks us to. When it’s done, we sit around the table, enjoying the silence while our creation of the day disappears into our mouths. The kitchen is a mess, but the time spent with my mother is priceless.
Dakota Chambers is a senior studying Television, Radio, & Film and Sociology. She’s originally from Brooklyn, New York, but lives in South Jersey with her family and new puppy. She loves screenwriting and is working on a TV script for her Honors thesis, and she also practices journalism as an assistant copy editor at the Daily Orange!
