In the past few days I’ve been reminded of how powerful it is to step away from things.
I’m just back from Denver, where I was earlier this summer. I’m working with Ashley on cookbook photography, and we had a few big pieces of the project to finish this week.
To shoot the food, we needed to cook the food. I hadn’t eaten some of the dishes in over a year, thanks to the time it has taken me to work on the book.
I was not-so-secretly terrified that the recipes wouldn’t work, that they’d taste funky or fail to stand the test of time. Much to my surprise, everything tasted good.
I rarely reach an end point with recipe development. Just when I think something’s as good as it can be, I tweak it or add something that changes it. There are a few recipes that I’ve made time and time again, and now they’re so beloved that I won’t touch them. But most of my other recipes are perpetual works in progress.
Even so, it’s really nice to reach a point where a recipe is decidedly good enough. And that’s most of what I experienced this week. A few recipes still need work, but it’s time to let go of most of them, which is a relief. (A little scary, but a big relief.)
It’s funny to think that my last trip to Denver was less than five months ago. A lot has changed since then, not in an apparent way, but interiorly and in the daily workings of my life. The contrast is sharp, and it makes me a little sad.
Yet the time between then and now has had some good effects. It has given me perspective and taught me something about letting go. As far as this book is concerned, I can now cook the recipes that took me so much work and second guessing, and I can appreciate them. I’m starting to trust that maybe someone else will, too.
Time, distance, pauses, releases, returns. Such powerful forces.
Happy Sunday, friends. Here are some recipes and reads.
Recipes
Sausage oatmeal pancakes?! Leave it to Isa.
I’m 100% in the mood for Sophie’s butternut squash harissa dip.
There are plenty of potato gratins making the rounds at this time of year, but I’m really intrigued by this zucchini gratin.
Two words: tofu mozzarella.
Living alone, I could often use a recipe for a small batch dessert. What could be more enticing than these small batch brownies?
Reads
1. Daniel Engberg has crafted such a sensitive portrait of James and Lindsay Sulzer and their daughter, Livie. Livie’s traumatic brain injury in May 2020 has changed the work of her two parents, who had previously devoted their respective careers to rehabilitation-focused medical technologies. The article brings up challenging questions about faith, optimism, and acceptance.
2. A look at the complexities and controversy surrounding a blood test that is purported to diagnose fibromyalgia.
3. A nuanced look at the role that cemeteries are coming to play in contemporary life and how our entire approach to handling remains might be shifting.
4. The New York Times Magazine takes a very cool look at how the pandemic afforded us an unprecedented opportunity to study dreams.
5. I was touched by an interview with young naturalist Dara McAnulty. I especially loved this comment:
The entire battle of the book for me—people take different things away from the diary, but the one that I resound with the most is this inner struggle in me about whether or not art or writing or music is worth it. Can it make a difference? Can it change people’s minds? Can it change the world? I think at the end of the book, I realized that yeah, it can. It’s done it before. It changes people’s minds. It shows people the way that the world could be, in spite of the way that it is now. And only by seeing that future can we work towards it.
Have a nice evening, everyone. I’m back in NYC and happy to be here today. I’ll return with some new food this week!
xo
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Thanks for these thoughts and offerings, Gena. I can so relate to that relief that time and distance brings when we finally can accept that what we’ve created is worthwhile in a lasting way. On a small scale I make it a practice not to decide what I think of a piece of writing or a drawing until I’ve at least slept on it. Even if it needs work, it always looks better in the morning. This view, though, is from my 60’s; when I was your age I didn’t know how to do that at all. So I salute you for noticing and embracing the grace of it. Really loved the article about cemeteries and look forward to the interview with the young naturalist. Love you xo