June 1, 2025

Every meal I cook for others begins with a fundamental ingredient: love. Never more so than when I’m cooking for our adopted granddaughter, Sahara, who has been a light in our lives since the day she was born.

Sahara is actually the daughter of two former colleagues whose relationship ended before she was born. When her mother asked if I’d be willing to be present at the birth, I agreed without hesitation. Minutes after she entered the world, she was placed into my arms. Phil met her a few days later, and it was love at first sight.

When she was learning to talk, she gave us our names: Poppy and Udder Mudder or Mudder, for short. Over the years, we shared magical moments, many of them in my kitchen. When she finished her degree and decided to move from Los Angeles to Portland to be close to us, we were over the moon.