Mac set the bowl on the table in front of Mrs. R. As soon as her employer picked up her spoon, Mac returned to the stove where she could watch without being quite so obvious. Mac had never made chicken and dumplings before—and rarely had she ever cooked something with the recipe’s proprietor sitting across the room talking her through it from memory and peppering in anecdotes illustrating the importance of the dish to her family. Mac had never felt like both her job and home depended on getting one dish just right.