Anything I could see, I tried to know at least a little something about it. They call that a dilettante, and that’s supposed to be a bad thing—but in my mind, I was versatile! Multitalented! Twice as good at everything, as we aspirational Negroes had to be back then. So, you know, I watched Miss Julia Child come on TV, and after that I was going to the white folks’ markets to find things like fresh parsley and thyme, and on Sundays, when Pearl was back from whatever marathon church session she was wailing at that day, I’d serve up the prettiest roast chicken you ever saw.
