Oprah Winfrey Says the Most Romantic Thing She Does for Stedman Graham Involves ‘Hot Water Cornbread’ (Exclusive)

“Every time I do it it’s like the most romantic thing I’ve ever done,” ‘The Color Purple’ producer tells PEOPLE of cooking for her partner Stedman Graham

The way to Stedman Graham’s heart is through his stomach.

In this week’s cover story, Oprah Winfrey tells PEOPLE that she shows her love for her longtime partner by making a no-frills dish.

“The most romantic thing I do is make hot water cornbread,” she tells PEOPLE of the simple recipe.

The pan-fried cornmeal cakes are an old-fashioned, Southern dish. While other recipes tend to include vegetable shortening, lard or butter in the batter, Winfrey’s version only requires cornmeal, water and oil.

Oprah Winfrey for the cover of PEOPLE. 

“Mothers around the world feed their children on it and all you do is add the hot water to the meal and you make these little flat cakes and you fry them in a pan,” says Winfrey, who co-produced the new movie, The Color Purple.

No matter how many times she makes the classic dish, Graham loves it. “Every time I do it it’s like the most romantic thing I’ve ever done,” she says.

Graham shows his love in small ways, too. “The most romantic thing he does for me at this point is going to the corner every Sunday and getting The New York Times and bringing it in to me,” says Winfrey.

Graham’s favorite foods can be quite eclectic, Winfrey explains, spilling that Graham likes to eat octopus.

“The tentacles and the head are there. He likes it seared [or] sautéed with okra and greens,” Winfrey says.

Oprah Winfrey discusses gratitude in this week’s cover story. 

The media mogul doesn’t share the same passion as Graham. She “never” tries it, she says. “He’s the only one who eats it.”

If fans wonder where one procures an octopus whole, the A Wrinkle in Time star tells PEOPLE “you have to go to a special fish market to get it.”

She also spoke about her outlook on feeling thankful everyday as part of her candid cover story interview with PEOPLE. Winfrey, who starred as Sofia in the the 1985 Oscar-nominated classic The Color Purple, said it changed everything” for her. “It was a spiritual opening for me to see my life in a different way,” she adds.

The musical movie adaptation of the 1985 original film and Broadway show based on Alice Walker’s acclaimed novel will premiere on Christmas Day. Steven Spielberg and Winfrey co-produced the film.

Winfrey begins and ends each day with “Thank you”, the touchstone of a cherished practice in gratitude she recommends to everyone. “If you train yourself to do that, you walk through life feeling the abundance instead of the scarcity,” she says. “Obviously, people will say, ‘Yeah, well, that’s easy for you to say, Oprah.’ But I’ve been doing that forever.”