Act of resilience
Annie & Alison Newsletter #3
I’ve been thinking a lot about how cooking can be an act of resilience.
Since Alison has at least 30 dessert recipes, I decided to tackle them at a rough once-a-week pace. At first I thought to go in the chocolate > fruit direction because fruity desserts feel more like summer to me. But after reading through a handful of recipes, I realized that a summer dessert in the winter was actually the right call. I chose the Crushed Blackberry and Cornmeal Cake.
Berries in the winter are an act of resilience. They’re a burst of hope for warmer days. I realized that my heart needed a reminder that seasons don’t last forever. Seasons are just that—seasons. Something good is always around the corner. Baking this cake felt like a sign of resistance against melancholy, despair, and even the cold.
Choosing what to cook directs my mindset and spirit. To make a decadent meal in the middle of grief says, “Against all odds, I can still find pleasure.” Even better, cooking for someone else in the middle of grief says, “I will find it within myself to be a blessing.” Food is a physical, incarnational way to express love and concern for other people. It’s the most tangible way I know how. The best part of making this berry cake, besides berries in the winter, was sharing it with other people.
Here is this week’s reviewed recipe round-up:
During this week of cooking…
I learned… that all this time (since 2000) I’ve been missing out on a fantastic little show called Survivor. I know, I utterly missed that train. Netflix recently put up two seasons and we are devouring them. The game is brilliant and complex, and the drama is juicy but not raunchy, (honestly, why aren’t there more reality shows like this?!). After much debate, I’ve decided that if I found a hidden immunity idol, I’d never give it to someone else or tell another soul that I had it. I would dominate the puzzle challenges, but I’m not so sure about killing a chicken with my bare hands. I’m also not a convincing liar, which would be a problem. (“The tribe has spoken.”)
I listened to… Coldplay on shuffle. Don’t call me #basic. Or do, I don’t care. While not all of their albums are equal (X&Y, Ghost Stories, and Viva la Vida are my top 3—thanks for asking), Chris Martin’s voice makes any song worth listening to. Coldplay CD’s were the soundtrack during some of my angsty years (circa 2007-2011). And 10 years later they still give me the same kind of feels.
I read… The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon, an Episcopalian priest. This half theological rumination / half cookbook is easily becoming one of my all-time favorite books. I’m savoring every paragraph. Capon makes the case for why it is absolutely God-like to care about cooking excellent food. He calls God “the ultimate materialist,” which, the more I think about that, the more I’m delighted. To think that cooking is a spiritual practice! Capon encourages us to revel in the complexity of an onion and the intricacy of an artichoke. To marvel at a carrot is to marvel at it’s Creator. I’m quickly becoming a food nerd, I know, but how incredible is it to think that a vegetable is just as sacred as it is secular!
This coming week, I hope you are able to take a moment to really look and wonder at the design, beauty and function of a piece of produce. Might sound weird, but give it a try.
xo,
Annie V
This lasagna is very good. However, in my humble opinion, it’s not as good as A Nice Lasagna by Julia Turshen. That said, I would be so thrilled if anyone wanted to have a passionate, yet civil, Lasagna Debate. If you have a lasagna recipe that you think cannot be beat, please send it to me. I may very well try it, and will most definitely want to talk about it with you.