This is an essay about cooking and all the shame and rage and frustration that can accompany this art. Writer Sarah Miller describes her desire to be loved and appreciated for her fig galettes, and her decision to quit cooking altogether.

Sarah is the author of the novels Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn and The Other Girl, and she contributed to the bestseller The Bitch in the House. She has written for Details, Lucky, Marie Claire, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Guardian.

Also thanks to Ralph Henson of KVMR in Nevada City California for recording the story.