An exhale.
Annie & Alison Newsletter #9
I’ve felt as if I’ve been holding my breath for months now. I live in downtown Minneapolis, and to say the air has been buzzing with tension is an understatement. The tension didn’t stay on the streets… it seeped in through the windows of every apartment and boarded storefront like an invisible fog. Fog thick enough to cloud my heart and weigh down my chest.
Injustice is like that, and rightfully so. We’re not made to be comfortable with injustice — it should make us feel sick. That’s something I’ve come to realize particularly in this past year, ever since the alarm bell went off in my heart as the news of George Floyd’s murder spread across the nation. And I had to ask, how long ago should the alarm bell have sounded for me? It’s not like this kind of backward inequality is new. Why am I just hearing it now? How can that be true for so many of us?
I’m tempted to feel ashamed that I didn’t enter these conversations around privilege and inequity sooner. I also know that shame does nothing to fix the problems before us. Now is as good a time as any to lean in, learn, stand for what is right, get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Since May, I’ve held my breath. This past Tuesday manifested an exhale. I felt hopeful for the state of our world for the first time in a year, and I know I’m not the only one.
That’s why I share this here, in a newsletter about cooking. I know you’re here to read about food, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to name that exhale because I’m betting at least one other person here felt that same relief. I’m guessing I’m not alone in feeling inadequate and late to the “party.” I also think it’s a good time to collectively ask, “what next?” We clearly have a long way to go yet.
(Overheard in someone’s living room: (in a slightly skeptical tone) “I wonder how she’s gonna segue from injustice to food? She’s really got herself in a bind.”)
Alright, I hear you. Well, food is something that unites us. We all need it to survive. Eating together forms community, and a foundation to have meaningful conversation. At least that’s what I hope for. With that in mind, here were this weeks’s reviewed recipes:
During this week of cooking…
I learned… or rather, was reminded of, the beauty of asking for help. In the introduction to nothing fancy, Alison states her three guiding principles for having people over for a meal. One of them is to ask for help. This has several benefits. Chief among them that it’s nice to have help! Especially when there are multiple dishes over the fire, and they all need tending to/plating at the same time. Sharing the work also helps your guests feel more invested in the meal. I don’t know about you, but I certainly take extra delight in meals that I’ve had a small hand in. Finally, collective cooking brings about a deeper sense of community. Which is why I asked all of the meal partakers in the Grilled Lamb dish to participate in the preparation. It tasted that much better because of it.
xo,
Annie
