Susan Chase
Where I live: a neighborhood in southeast Springdale. It's connected to everything, easy to get anywhere you want in Fayetteville.
Occupation: Executive director of the Chase Family Foundation, which helps meet needs for the elderly and those escaping domestic abuse.
My favorite space: my kitchen.
Why: It's where everyone loves to gather. I haven't cooked much since my bout with cancer. I'm still recovering, and I miss cooking. I love to have people over. When people arrive, I want them to know, to really feel, that I'm honored they are here. Cooking is the way that I show love. Mom, who everyone called "Honey," did too.
The women in my family were amazing cooks. You'd take a bite and oh, the joy you would feel. I have so many family recipes that I love, Grandma's noodle soup, for instance, with noodles made from scratch. When I made Mom's chicken for my nephew Chris, he got this look on his face, shook his head and said "This tastes like Honey's," which is the best compliment I've ever been given. It's difficult to follow her recipes because she never measured ingredients for her meals. I had to watch her do it a lot. When I cook, I feel close to my family. I miss them so much.
If I could make one change to improve this space, I would: want a much, much bigger kitchen so I could have more people over and more space to work.
-- April Wallace
HomeStyle on 03/10/2018