The movers come next week. The apartment is boxes. The kitchen is the last holdout — I'm cooking in a shrinking space, like a chef on a submarine.
Packed the kids' rooms first. Caleb watched with the stoicism of a child who has done this before, even if he doesn't consciously remember. He's four. He's moved three times. The packing instinct is in his bones.
Hazel doesn't care about boxes. Hazel cares about the BOXES — the cardboard itself, the flaps she can open and close, the echo when she yells into an empty one. Packing day is her carnival.
Second book edits came back from Sarah. Light edits — she's happy. 'The strongest thing you've written. The Iowa chapter and Houston chapter are extraordinary. Your chapter — the nine kitchens — is the heart.'
Publication is scheduled for early 2024. Another year of waiting. The publishing industry moves at the speed of a pot roast.
Said goodbye to Soo-Jin this week. Not goodbye-goodbye — she'll be in San Diego in two years — but the base goodbye. The 'I'm leaving this gate and you're staying' goodbye.
She brought short ribs. Of course. The recipe that started everything.
'Make them in San Diego,' she said. 'Make them everywhere.'
Made Mom's meatloaf tonight. In the shrinking kitchen, with walls getting closer as boxes stack up. The meatloaf doesn't need much room. The meatloaf just needs an oven.
Soo-Jin said to make her short ribs everywhere, and I will — but tonight belonged to Mom’s kitchen, the one I carry with me in muscle memory. When I looked at the last box still open on the counter, the one I hadn’t packed yet, I found the card for Grandma’s Cranberry Stuff, written in Mom’s handwriting on an index card soft at the edges from years of handling. It doesn’t need the oven or a cleared counter or even a kitchen that makes sense anymore — just a bag of cranberries and something to catch the pulp. Some recipes are built for submarines.
Grandma’s Cranberry Stuff
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes (plus 1 hour chilling) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
- 1 medium navel orange, unpeeled, cut into eighths and seeded
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
- Pulse the cranberries. Add the cranberries to a food processor and pulse 8—10 times until coarsely chopped. Do not over-process — you want texture, not puree. Transfer to a bowl.
- Process the orange. Add the orange pieces (peel and all) to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add to the bowl with the cranberries.
- Sweeten and season. Stir in the sugar, salt, and cinnamon if using. Taste and adjust sugar — the relish should be tart with just enough sweetness to take the edge off.
- Chill. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. The sugar will dissolve and the flavors will meld. This keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Serve. Bring to room temperature for 10 minutes before serving alongside meatloaf, turkey, pork, or anything else that needs a little brightness.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 25g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 35mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 376 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.
