February is Black History Month, and various feature and news stories celebrating the accomplishments of black people from Erie have appeared in the Times-News throughout the past 26 days. The cover story on today's Food section focuses on 84-year-old Christine Tolbert, a mother of 10, grandmother of 60, and great-grandmother of 10, who spends four hours every Sunday whipping up mouth-watering soul food dishes for dozens of family members.

Erie Times-News food columnist Jennie Geisler, who wrote the portrait of Tolbert, spent several hours with her over the course of two recent visits. "The first time, we cooked together," said Geisler, a young wife and mother who is winning acclaim in this region for her down-to-earth columns about working hard to become an accomplished cook. Jennie writes as if she's strictly a neophyte, but on the days she cooks and brings her food to the newspaper to be photographed, a long line of hungry reporters and editors hang around, hoping for a handout.

Geisler's profile of Tolbert is excellent. We get a real feel for the woman who for years has been turning out platters of steamed cabbage, black-eyed peas, fried chicken, corn bread, candied yams, peach cobbler and other specialties. In Tolbert's house, cooking is a family affair, as Christine's 60-year-old daughter, Rose Williams, and other family members often pitch right in.

Not only is Geisler's writing first rate, the recipes that accompany the feature are to die for. I could taste that delectably-seasoned chicken and tempting peach cobbler as I read the words and scanned the photos. Even better, a video on GoErie.com/video/soulfood brings Tolbert and her cooking to life. We see her behind the stove in her kitchen, handling the multitude of pots and pans as if she's a maestro, conducting a 25-piece orchestra.

She explains in the video that her grandfather inspired her to cook by telling her, "You know, I think you're a better cook than your grandmother." At almost every step, her grandfather's praise inspired her to attempt more complicated dishes, until she'd become an expert.

You get a sense that few things are as important to Christine as preparing large platters of good food for her family. Geisler writes, "She starts cooking right after the 11 a.m. service at Shiloh Baptist Church, 901 E. 5th St. Her two daughters -- Rose Williams and Jaylynn Williams, 44 -- and her daughter-in-law Sherrie Powell, 50, help out, as does her son, Earnest Williams, 59, and other family members."

Geisler almost always passes my personal test for convincing newspaper writing, because she leaves me hungering for more. In this case, it was more soul food and homespun charm from the kitchen of Christine Tolbert.

-- Kevin Cuneo