Tiana Clark

Loving Something Enough By Tiana Clark

I had never made a pie from scratch, and it intrigued me to create a slow and tedious dessert within the confines of a kitchen. I craved a nurturing act, replete with love. Pie means something different to all of us, but I think for me, making a sweet potato pie meant I had some tactile way to manipulate my grief and gratitude. The act also felt personal: Sweet potato pie is a Southern tradition, and a very Blackity, Black-Black one at that. Growing up, I ate my auntie’s slice of dark-orange heaven with notes of brown sugar and nutmeg every Thanksgiving.