The pandemic is easing, slightly. California is talking about reopening. The base is loosening restrictions — masks still required, but more facilities open. The playground is back. The commissary is fully stocked. The world is inching toward something that isn't normal but isn't crisis either.
The blog has settled at around 50,000 views per week, which is still enormous compared to six months ago but feels stable now. The daily quarantine posts have ended; I'm back to three times a week. The column continues at MilSpouseLife. And the book is being written at 5 AM in a kitchen that smells like last night's dinner.
Chapter One is drafted: 'Norfolk.' The chapter about Mom's kitchen, Dad's Navy career, the seven schools, the recipe binder. It's forty pages. Clara says it should be thirty. I'll cut. Cutting is the hardest part — every word feels necessary, but thirty pages means thirty pages.
Caleb has discovered the playground again and his joy is boundless. He runs from the slide to the swings to the sandbox like someone released from prison, which he essentially was — eighteen months of pandemic apartment life, and now there's a SLIDE. The slide is the greatest invention in human history, according to Caleb, who goes down it face-first and screams with delight.
Soo-Jin and I had our first in-person dinner since the lockdown started. She made Korean BBQ on her patio grill. I brought Mom's potato salad and my now-signature California fish tacos. We ate outside, at a reasonable distance, with masks pulled down to eat, and it felt like the most luxurious meal I've ever had.
'I missed you,' she said.
'I missed you too. Also, your bulgogi.'
'The bulgogi missed you too.'
Friendship. Food. The table. Back.
Memorial Day is next week. Ryan will be at the ceremony. I'll be in the crowd. Caleb will be in the carrier. The flag will be there. The bugle will play.
Some things the pandemic can't cancel. Some things survive everything.
Made Soo-Jin's bulgogi tonight — her mother's recipe, the one with the pear and the soy sauce and the embarrassing amount of garlic. Ryan ate four servings. Caleb ate rice.
The world is opening. The kitchen never closed.
That dinner on Soo-Jin’s patio — masks pulled down just long enough to eat, her bulgogi sizzling on the grill, the California evening finally warm enough to feel like something again — reminded me that food is how we say I missed you without having to say it twice. When I made beef at home that week, I kept thinking about that same combination: tender marinated meat, something fresh and green, the smell of something good hitting heat. These asparagus beef roll-ups carry that spirit — not the recipe itself, but the feeling of it, the way beef and vegetables together on a grill can make an ordinary Tuesday feel like a celebration of being back.
Asparagus Beef Roll-Ups
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef sirloin or flank steak, sliced thin against the grain
- 16 asparagus spears, woody ends trimmed
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for grilling
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the marinade. Whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, minced garlic, and grated ginger in a shallow bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Marinate the beef. Lay the thin-sliced beef in the marinade and turn to coat. Let sit for at least 10 minutes at room temperature, or up to 30 minutes in the refrigerator for deeper flavor.
- Prep the asparagus. Blanch asparagus spears in boiling salted water for 90 seconds, then transfer immediately to an ice bath to stop the cooking. Pat dry. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Roll. Lay one slice of marinated beef flat on a clean surface. Place 2–3 asparagus spears at one end and roll the beef snugly around them. Secure with a toothpick if needed. Repeat with remaining beef and asparagus.
- Cook the roll-ups. Heat vegetable oil in a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Place roll-ups seam-side down and cook for 2–3 minutes per side, turning carefully, until beef is cooked through and lightly caramelized on the outside, about 8–10 minutes total.
- Finish and serve. Remove toothpicks. Arrange on a platter and drizzle with any remaining pan juices. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 265 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 7g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 620mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 217 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.
