New Year's Eve in the desert. Temperature: 52 degrees, which is COLD by Twentynine Palms standards and practically tropical by Norfolk standards. The desert can't make up its mind about seasons. Neither can I.
Caleb stayed up until 9 PM, which is his version of midnight. He wore a plastic party hat and banged a wooden spoon on a pot (the noise-making tradition begins early in the Abernathy household) and said 'YAY' at absolutely nothing because two-year-olds celebrate existence itself.
Ryan and I toasted with sparkling cider (still not drinking — I've never really started; military families and alcohol are a complicated combination, and watching Dad navigate PTSD without alcohol taught me that sobriety is a choice worth making). We watched the ball drop on the phone. We kissed. Caleb was asleep by 9:15.
2021. Resolutions:
1. Finish the book manuscript (due April)
2. Survive Twentynine Palms (ongoing)
3. Cook 52 new recipes — one per week, from the reader submissions or the cultures I haven't explored yet
4. Get Caleb to eat broccoli (stretch goal)
5. Call Mom every night (non-negotiable, non-resolution, just life)
The book is at 98,000 words. NINETY-EIGHT THOUSAND. Two chapters left: Chapter Eleven ('The Desert') and Chapter Twelve ('Dinner at 1800'). The final chapter will be about the philosophy — the thesis, the big idea. The idea that dinner at 1800 is not just a time. It's a declaration. It's a woman standing in a kitchen saying: I'm here. You're here. We're eating. The world is hard and the day was long and the deployment is ongoing and the desert is hot but THIS — this meal, this table, this time — is ours.
Dinner at 1800. The book's title. The book's purpose. The book's heart.
Mom called at midnight Eastern (9 PM Pacific). 'Happy New Year, Rachel. How's the book?'
'Almost done, Mom.'
'How many words?'
'Ninety-eight thousand.'
Silence. Then: 'Ninety-eight thousand words about my cooking.'
'About EVERYTHING, Mom. About the family. About the food. About all of it.'
'Ninety-eight thousand.' She sounded small. Overwhelmed. The way she sounded when I told her about the blog, when I told her about the publisher, when I told her that her recipes were being read by hundreds of thousands of people.
'Is that a lot?' she asked.
'That's a novel, Mom. That's a full novel about your kitchen.'
Donna Abernathy. A novel about her kitchen. She didn't ask for it. She never would have asked for it. But it's coming. In April, the manuscript is due. By spring 2022, it'll be a book on a shelf.
Her kitchen. On a shelf.
Happy New Year. Ninety-eight thousand words. Two chapters left. A mother who doesn't know she's the hero of a book.
2021. Let's finish this.
Sparkling cider, a toddler asleep by 9:15, and 98,000 words sitting in a manuscript file — that’s a New Year’s Eve worth honoring with something a little festive, even if the party is small and the desert is quiet. Mom’s kitchen has always been about making ordinary moments feel like occasions, and nothing says “we made it through another year” quite like a cheese log rolled in pecans on a cracker board. This is the kind of appetizer she would have set out without fanfare, the kind that disappears before dinner and makes everyone a little happier — and right now, with two chapters left to write about exactly that kind of cooking, it felt like the only choice.
Pecan Cheese Logs
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes + 2 hours chilling | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for garnish)
- Crackers, sliced baguette, or crudites, for serving
Instructions
- Mix the base. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Add the shredded cheddar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, smoked paprika, and salt. Mix until fully combined and uniform.
- Shape the logs. Divide the mixture in half. Place each portion on a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log roughly 6 inches long. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours, until firm.
- Coat in pecans. Spread the chopped pecans (and parsley, if using) in an even layer on a large plate or shallow dish. Unwrap each chilled log and roll firmly in the pecan mixture, pressing gently so the nuts adhere on all sides.
- Serve. Transfer logs to a serving platter alongside crackers, sliced baguette, or fresh vegetables. Let the logs sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving for the best spreadable texture.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 240 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 4g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 210mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 248 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.
