My name is Olivia, and I grew up (and currently reside) in Altadena. My favorite thing about my hometown — which my family moved to in 2000 and which survived the Eaton Fire — is my next-door neighbors. They taught me how to hold a kitchen knife and make dishes like hot cross buns and orzo salad when I was a kid, and for me they encapsulate the beauty and specificity of the Altadena community as a whole.

I started this project because creating art helps me process hard things, and because I want to create something that helps neighbors feel connected to each other and to their memories from Altadena before the fire.

Regardless of your association to the 91001, cooking recipes and reading stories from Altadena is a way to acknowledge that real people had real lives here. The fire and its aftermath took the lives of neighbors, pets, trees. Over 9,400 structures were destroyed, and these were people’s safe spaces: homes, schools, churches, gardens, restaurants… real people’s kitchens and backyards where they made things like bread and shortbread cookies and gumbo and BBQ, and where they grew things like lemons and persimmons and figs and boysenberries.

I find food to be a unique way of sharing the story of who somebody is and where they are from, and I care deeply about preserving these soft histories from my hometown after so much was lost.

Meals are transient, yet memories of meals are often long lasting. Cooking and baking are art forms that require fire to be made, yet fire and displacement can’t erase the home cooked meal whose recipe (or less exacting methods) you know by heart. The kitchen, for many, is a place to feel in control of something when all else feels unruly. Creating art with one’s hands can be an outlet for expression when there are simply no words to be verbalized.

If Altadena is (or has ever been) the place you call home, I would love to hear from you. I am accepting a wide range of stories, recipes, photographs, and art from folks of all ages. You can get in touch with me through the google form or email buttons linked below. I look forward to being in touch.