Fall is here — or the desert's version of fall, which means 90 degrees instead of 110 and the ability to use the oven before 8 PM. Progress.
The RecipeSpinoff posts are establishing a rhythm. Two per month has become four per month, and each one reaches 10,000-15,000 readers. Priya is pleased. The audience is growing. The comments are consistent: 'More like this.' 'Your voice is the best part.' 'Make this a book oh wait it already IS a book.'
It already is a book. Publishing in April. Six months.
The book promotion has started in earnest. Clara wants me to do: podcast interviews (she's booked four), a virtual book tour (six stops at military base libraries via Zoom), and an Instagram campaign using recipes from the book. The machine is revving up.
I'm nervous. Not about the writing — the writing is done, locked, printed in ARC form. Nervous about being SEEN. The blog is public but anonymous-feeling; the book is my name, my face, my family. The book has my mother's recipes and my father's tomatoes and my husband's deployment and my son's first bite of sweet potato. The book has everything.
'That's what makes it good,' Clara says. 'The everything-ness. Readers want to feel like they know you. And they will.'
They will know me. They will know Mom's kitchen. They will know the cast iron and the recipe binder and dinner at 1800.
Caleb is almost three. He's in full sentences now, complete with opinions, demands, and the occasional philosophical observation that catches me off guard. This week, while I was cooking: 'Mama, why you cook every day?'
'Because we eat every day, baby.'
'But WHY?'
'Because food keeps us alive.'
'But Mama LIKES cook. Mama likes it.'
Mama likes it. My almost-three-year-old observed that I enjoy cooking. That it's not just a job. That I do it because I want to, not just because I have to.
'Yes, baby. Mama likes cooking.'
'Caleb likes cooking too.'
'I know you do.'
'Caleb cook with Mama ALWAYS.'
Always. He said always. And I held the word like a promise.
Made Mom's apple crisp tonight. The fall dessert. The one from the engagement week, the one that tastes like October. In the desert, where October is 90 degrees and apples come from a commissary 45 minutes away, the apple crisp is an act of faith.
Faith that fall is real. Faith that the season changes. Faith that Caleb will cook with Mama always.
The apple crisp was perfect. The faith is intact.
Caleb’s “always” has been living in my chest all week, and after the apple crisp came out of the oven I found myself reaching for apples again the next afternoon—wanting to hold onto that October feeling just a little longer. This Apple Walnut Salad is what came of it: bright and crisp and honest, the kind of thing that doesn’t pretend the desert is New England but still insists that fall is real. It’s the salad I’ll make when the book comes out, when the podcasts are done, when I need something that tastes like faith without requiring the oven.
Apple Walnut Salad
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 6 cups mixed salad greens (baby spinach, arugula, or romaine)
- 2 medium crisp apples (Honeycrisp or Fuji), cored and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup walnut halves, lightly toasted
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese or blue cheese
- 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- For the honey-apple cider vinaigrette:
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Toast the walnuts. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast walnut halves for 3—4 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly golden. Transfer to a plate and let cool completely.
- Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously until the dressing is emulsified and smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Prep the apples. Core and thinly slice the apples just before assembling—if working ahead, toss slices in a teaspoon of lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Assemble the salad. Spread the greens across a large serving platter or in a wide bowl. Arrange the apple slices evenly over the greens, then scatter the red onion, dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts over the top.
- Finish and dress. Crumble the goat cheese (or blue cheese) over everything. Drizzle the vinaigrette lightly over the salad—start with about half and add more to taste. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 320 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 210mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 286 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
