From a culinary standpoint, this isn’t the most lavish meal I’ve ever made. However, I wanted to include this dish here because it represents one of the things that food means to me. This was one of my earliest cookouts. A ribeye steak, garlic butter baked potatoes, sautéed vegetables, along a chimichurri.

I made this for my mother because I feel as though I always understood how she felt through her cooking, and it was my way of giving back my appreciation for her. Intentions, emotions, and motivations show on a plate, in my opinion. It’s one of my favorite ways to communicate with the people closest to me, and even if it may not be the best steak some random person has ever had, it tastes better to the person it was meant to be made for.